SQL Server

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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SQL Server

-- Important: See this note about string length limitations for strings returned by sp_OAMethod calls.
--
CREATE PROCEDURE ChilkatSample
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @hr int
    DECLARE @iTmp0 int
    DECLARE @sTmp0 nvarchar(4000)
    DECLARE @success int
    SELECT @success = 0

    DECLARE @ftp int
    EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.Ftp2', @ftp OUT
    IF @hr <> 0
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Failed to create ActiveX component'
        RETURN
    END

    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @ftp, 'Hostname', 'ftp.example.com'
    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @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.
    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @ftp, 'CommandCharset', 'utf-8'

    --  DirListingCharset is used only to decode directory-listing responses (LIST, NLST, MLSD).  It
    --  does not affect commands or paths.
    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @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.
    EXEC sp_OASetProperty @ftp, 'Password', 'myPassword'

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ftp, 'Connect', @success OUT
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ftp
        RETURN
      END

    --  Non-ASCII remote paths and listings are now encoded/decoded as UTF-8.
    DECLARE @listing nvarchar(4000)
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ftp, 'GetTextDirListing', @listing OUT, ''
    EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ftp, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iTmp0 OUT
    IF @iTmp0 = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ftp
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT @listing

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @ftp, 'Disconnect', @success OUT
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @ftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ftp
        RETURN
      END

    EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @ftp


END
GO