ftp directory with spaces

[Xorgeo]

I noticed a bug in how the TC CE ftp plugin handles spaces in a directory name.

When running the ftp plugin and changing to a directory with a space in it's name, TC does not list any of the files in the directory.

[ghisler(Author)]

Unfortunately many FTP servers do not support listing directories with spaces in the name. The FTP plugin lists directories like this:
LIST /path/to/directory/name

I tried both
LIST /dir with space
and
LIST "/dir with space"

but it didn't work.

[Xorgeo]

If I use a different client, such as the Windows XP ftp client, it will display all of the files in a directory with a space. TC CE does not.

[ghisler(Author)]

TC for Windows works completely differently: It uses the CWD (change working directory) command to switch to the directory, and then send the LIST command. It seems that some servers support spaces in CWD but not in LIST. Unfortunately it's not possible to switch to this method because the FTP plugin has to use relative paths relative to the plugin root. Using the CWD command could cause redirections (links) or lead to directories which are even above the starting location...

[Xorgeo]

TC for Windows works completely differently: It uses the CWD (change working directory) command to switch to the directory, and then send the LIST command.

The ftp protocol is the same for both the Windows XP ftp and TC CE ftp.

I did a Wireshark capture of a Windows XP ftp session and it also issues the ftp CWD. PORT, and LIST ftp commands (without any ASCII quotes).

For my example the ftp commands to the server were:
CWD Cha File\r\n
PORT 10,10,10,10,19,142\r\n
LIST\r\n

[ghisler(Author)]

No, it's not the same! TC CE uses the absolute path in the LIST command:
LIST /path

[Hacker]

Christian,
That leads us to two questions:
1. Why does TC CE not use CWD?
2. Does LIST work when escaping spaces, like LIST /dir\ with\ space?

Roman

[Xorgeo]

No, it's not the same! TC CE uses the absolute path in the LIST command:
LIST /path

The protocol is defined in RFC 959 and RFC 3659
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc959
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3659

I have never seen TC CE list the contents of the files in a directory when it has a space in it's name. There are plenty of examples of clients that do list the files.

I did a Airscanner Sniffer capture of TC CE ftp session. It showed the client:
PASV\r\n
LIST /pub/depot/Cha File/\r\n

Note that the Windows XP ftp client did:
LIST Cha File\r\n

[ghisler(Author)]

I have already explained above why I can't use CWD:

Unfortunately it's not possible to switch to this method because the FTP plugin has to use relative paths relative to the plugin root. Using the CWD command could cause redirections (links) or lead to directories which are even above the starting location...

[Xorgeo]

Unfortunately many FTP servers do not support listing directories with spaces in the name.

If you were to use the ftp CWD, wouldn't you just have to keep track (store) of the 2 absolute paths for reconstruction, namely:
The absolute path to the ftp plugin-account and the ftp CWD path.

Then when referencing the ftp relative path, the absolute path could be reconstructed via:
/plugin/ftp/account/ftp-cwd

By using CWD, it appears that the listing of directories with spaces problem could be avoided.

[ghisler(Author)]

The problem is with symbolic links, they can transfer you ANYWHERE, so PWD would return a completely different location...

[Xorgeo]

The problem is with symbolic links, they can transfer you ANYWHERE, so PWD would return a completely different location...

If you did not use PWD, remember the path that the user selected, and use CWD, wouldn't that solve both problems?

[ghisler(Author)]

Not necessarily - for example, if the user goes down to a directory and then up (CWD .. or CDUP), the path could be something different from where the user came when he followed a symbolic link. Of course I could try to use CWD with full path, but this would probably have the same problems with spaces as using LIST with full path...

[Xorgeo]

Not necessarily - for example, if the user goes down to a directory and then up (CWD .. or CDUP), the path could be something different from where the user came when he followed a symbolic link. Of course I could try to use CWD with full path, but this would probably have the same problems with spaces as using LIST with full path...

How about doing a PWD after any user directed CWD .. or CDUP, then replacing the user selected path with the PWD response.

This way both the LIST directory space and the symbolic link problems would be averted.

[Xorgeo]

I guess you gave up on me.