PowerBuilder

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.

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integer li_rc
integer li_Success
oleobject loo_Ftp
string ls_Listing

li_Success = 0

loo_Ftp = create oleobject
li_rc = loo_Ftp.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.Ftp2")
if li_rc < 0 then
    destroy loo_Ftp
    MessageBox("Error","Connecting to COM object failed")
    return
end if

loo_Ftp.Hostname = "ftp.example.com"
loo_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.
loo_Ftp.CommandCharset = "utf-8"

//  DirListingCharset is used only to decode directory-listing responses (LIST, NLST, MLSD).  It
//  does not affect commands or paths.
loo_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.
loo_Ftp.Password = "myPassword"

li_Success = loo_Ftp.Connect()
if li_Success = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Ftp.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Ftp
    return
end if

//  Non-ASCII remote paths and listings are now encoded/decoded as UTF-8.
ls_Listing = loo_Ftp.GetTextDirListing("")
if loo_Ftp.LastMethodSuccess = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Ftp.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Ftp
    return
end if

Write-Debug ls_Listing

li_Success = loo_Ftp.Disconnect()
if li_Success = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Ftp.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Ftp
    return
end if



destroy loo_Ftp