Directory listings messed up (HOST type wrong?)

dekker500 · 03-08-2004, 09:49 AM

First, pardon the long post, but usually more detail is better than less.

FlashFXP v2.1.924 [trial download]
Win2000, Not sure about router, FTP site is on the same side of the firewall as I am (so firewall should not be an issue), McAfee AV, T3/LAN

Just thought I'd try out your product, and it works pretty nicely for all functions, and for most FTP uses. Kudos on the great work!

But I do have a bug (?) or configuration error (possible).

On most other FTP clients, for each site, you can set a HOST TYPE (see attachment). Yes, some programs auto-detect, but there is usually an override available. FlashFXP does not appear to offer this option.

One particular server I have to connect to does not seem to auto-detect well , and even wu-ftp requires me to set a host type. When I wanted to use FlashFXP, the symptom I have is that all directory entries are missing the first 2 characters of the filename, and the owner/attributes/size/etc are mangled.

BUT: when I view raw directory entry, everything was received properly, and the directory names are correct. I believe the server type is MVS.

And no, I have no control over the FTP server, and so I can not change any options/configurations related to it or the lan.

All other web sites connect fine. Using ws_ftp, all other sites connect fine, and this ftp site also connects fine (after setting host type).

Here is a clip from an example logon (sorry for the editing):

WinSock 2.0
Connecting to YT Server
Connected to YT Server -> IP=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx PORT=21
220-FTPD1 IBM FTP CS V1R4 at xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx, 14:33:38 on 2004-03-08.
220 Connection will close if idle for more than 10 minutes.
USER yyyyy
331 Send password please.
PASS (hidden)
230 yyyyy is logged on. Working directory is "xxxxx.".
SYST
215 MVS is the operating system of this server. FTP Server is running on z/OS.
REST 100
504 Restart requires EBCDIC data type.
This site may not allow file resuming
CWD /u/
250 HFS directory /u/ is the current working directory
PWD
257 "/u/" is the HFS working directory.
TYPE A
200 Representation type is Ascii NonPrint
PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,7,240)
LIST
125 List started OK
250 List completed successfully.
List Complete: 1 KB in 0.49 (1.34 KBps)

This is what is in the [View Raw Directory] output window:

total 352
drwxrwxrwx 3 AXV001 OMVSGRP 8192 Apr 15 2003 Alex
drwxrwxr-x 11 @WEBBTH OMVSSYS 8192 Jul 12 2002 Applications
drwxrwxr-x 4 1042726 OMVSDIS 8192 Jun 27 2001 Infoman
drwxrwxr-x 2 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Oct 23 2001 JInsight
drw-rw---- 2 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Oct 31 2002 SSL
drwxrwxr-x 3 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Sep 30 18:53 Software
drwxrwxr-x 25 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Nov 17 21:19 Web
drwxrwxr-x 26 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Feb 17 19:39 WebSphere
drwxrwxr-x 7 @WEBBTH OMVSRSS 8192 Feb 17 19:40 Web_Software
drwxrwxr-x 2 @WEBBTH OMVSSUP 8192 Feb 20 13:26 bin
drwxrwxr-x 8 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 May 27 2003 db2
drwxrwxrwx 2 AXC132 OMVSSYS 8192 Oct 8 13:04 dumps
drwxrwxr-x 10 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Jan 11 11:54 logs
drwxrwxr-x 4 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Oct 18 2001 mqm
drwxrwxr-x 3 @WEBBTH OMVSSYS 8192 Dec 4 2002 mqm-MA88
drwxrwxr-x 3 @WEBBTH OMVSSUP 8192 Sep 3 2003 mqm-zOS
drwxrwxr-x 3 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Jun 27 2001 mqm2
drwxrwxr-x 2 PDT120 OMVSGRP 8192 Feb 5 14:45 pdt
drwxr-xr-x 3 PXD123 OMVSGRP 8192 Mar 9 2001 xd13
drwxr-xr-x 2 @WEBBTH OMVSSYS 8192 May 16 2000 reports
drwxrwxrwx 3 @WEBBTH OMVSGRP 8192 Apr 29 2003 support
drwxrwxr-x 6 @WEBBTH OMVSSYS 8192 Jun 25 2002 users

But in the actual GUI window, all the directory entries are there but the first 2 characters are missing, etc. Please see second attached file.

Any suggestions? Or should I simply use another FTP program?

Dekker500

dekker500 · 03-08-2004, 09:51 AM

Addendum:

I forgot to mention: I can not download successfully from the FTP server because FlashFXP tries to request files using the truncated name and of course the FTP server can not find the file requested.

I can not upload to that server, so I can not test that function.

Dekker500

dekker500 · 03-08-2004, 10:11 AM

Navigation does not work by double-clicking directories,

but if I do a raw command to change directories (and type in the correct un-truncated name), the change directory works.

Dekker500

bigstar · 03-08-2004, 10:52 AM

When a FTP server reports MVS in reply to SYST the file listing is parsed using the MVS format, However this ftp server appears to be using the UNIX L8 standard list format.

The current version of FlashFXP doesn't allow you force a specific server type however this will be changed in the next release.

dekker500 · 03-08-2004, 11:16 AM

Thanks for the quick response!

I'll re-check the site in the upcoming months for the next version!

Dekker500

bigstar · 03-10-2004, 02:12 PM

I've got some good news. I came up with a solution that appears to work great. No special settings are required.

This solution will be available in the next beta release, build 977.