VB.NET

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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VB.NET

Dim success As Boolean = False

Dim ftp As New Chilkat.Ftp2

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) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Non-ASCII remote paths and listings are now encoded/decoded as UTF-8.
Dim listing As String = ftp.GetTextDirListing("")
If (ftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine(listing)

success = ftp.Disconnect()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If