JavaScript

Set FTP Command and Directory-Listing Charsets

Demonstrates the CommandCharset and DirListingCharset properties, which control how non-ASCII text is encoded in commands (including remote paths and filenames) and how directory-listing responses are decoded.

Background: FTP predates Unicode, so servers vary in how they encode filenames; getting non-ASCII names right means matching the server's encoding on both sides. CommandCharset (default ANSI) governs outgoing paths and filenames, while DirListingCharset governs decoding of LIST/NLST/MLSD replies. Modern servers typically use UTF-8 — often negotiated automatically via OPTS UTF8 ON — but setting these explicitly resolves mojibake with servers that do not advertise it.

Note

This example is intended for running within a Chilkat.Js embedded JavaScript engine. All Chilkat JavaScript examples require Chilkat v11.4.0 or greater.

JavaScript

var success = false;

var ftp = new CkFtp2();

ftp.Hostname = "ftp.example.com";
ftp.Username = "myFtpLogin";

//  CommandCharset is the encoding used for commands containing non-ASCII text, including remote
//  paths and filenames.  The default is ANSI; set utf-8 when the server uses UTF-8 filenames.
ftp.CommandCharset = "utf-8";

//  DirListingCharset is used only to decode directory-listing responses (LIST, NLST, MLSD).  It
//  does not affect commands or paths.
ftp.DirListingCharset = "utf-8";

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
ftp.Password = "myPassword";

success = ftp.Connect();
if (success == false) {
    console.log(ftp.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

//  Non-ASCII remote paths and listings are now encoded/decoded as UTF-8.
var listing = ftp.GetTextDirListing("");
if (ftp.LastMethodSuccess == false) {
    console.log(ftp.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

console.log(listing);

success = ftp.Disconnect();
if (success == false) {
    console.log(ftp.LastErrorText);
    return;
}