code: def ftp_login(folder=None):
      
      pwDir=os.path.realpath(__file__)
      for i in range(3):
          pwDir=os.path.dirname(pwDir)
      pwFile = os.path.join(pwDir,"passwd.txt")
      print(" -- looking for login information in:\n   [%s]"%pwFile)
      try:
          with open(pwFile) as f:
              lines=f.readlines()
          username=lines[0].strip()
          password=lines[1].strip()
          print(" -- found a valid username/password")
      except:
          print(" -- password lookup FAILED.")
          username=TK_askPassword("FTP LOGIN","enter FTP username")
          password=TK_askPassword("FTP LOGIN","enter password for %s"%username)
          if not username or not password:
              print(" !! failed getting login info. aborting FTP effort.")
              return
      print("      username:",username)
      print("      password:","*"*(len(password)))
      print(" -- logging in to FTP ...")
      try:
          ftp = ftplib.FTP("swharden.com")
          ftp.login(username, password)
          if folder:
              ftp.cwd(folder)
          return ftp
      except:
          print(" !! login failure !!")
          return False
docs: return an "FTP" object after logging in.