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Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 00:55
by IK13
Last time I filed a bug I think was 15 years ago. I guess I might be one of the first users...

Anyways.

It seems that directory listing with a file mask (for example - NLST *.*) does not work anymore. Definitely used to work years ago.

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 01:07
by boco
Seems there is no wildcard support in the new server.

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 07:39
by botg
The RFC does not specify how globbing is done, which makes it functionality one cannot rely on. It's an artifact of the time when humans were still punching in raw FTP commands, reading raw directory listings and client computers did not have the processing power to filter directory listings and not networking bandwidth to receive unfiltered listings.

Ever since, any client that wants to filter listings while being compatible with all types of servers need to do this filtering client-side. It's trivially easy for modern computers.

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 16:21
by IK13
Be as it may, it used to work in FZ. There likely is plenty of existing automation that relies on this. What's the benefit of removing it?
Filtering on the server will still be more efficient, regardless of client's resources and network bandwidth.
We have clients using different FTP servers and so far FZ is the only one that does not support wildcards that we have reports of. In fact, the one client that brought this to our attention is preparing to move away from FZ because they are caught between their existing version having another issue and the new version not supporting wildcards anymore.

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 16:27
by botg
Why can't they fix the client software to not rely on unspecified behavior?

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-21 16:46
by IK13
botg wrote:
2021-09-21 16:27
Why can't they fix the client software to not rely on unspecified behavior?
They have no control over the client software. They can control the server, because it's theirs. The client software used for automation by connecting entities is not.

Re: Directory listing using a file mask/wildcards does not work anymore.

Posted: 2021-09-23 15:12
by paupau
botg wrote:
2021-09-21 07:39
The RFC does not specify how globbing is done, which makes it functionality one cannot rely on. It's an artifact of the time when humans were still punching in raw FTP commands, reading raw directory listings and client computers did not have the processing power to filter directory listings and not networking bandwidth to receive unfiltered listings.

Ever since, any client that wants to filter listings while being compatible with all types of servers need to do this filtering client-side. It's trivially easy for modern computers.
Fair enough, it's not mentioned in RFC 959. But it is a useful and often used feature. I wonder if there is any reason for changing the behaviour. Please consider adding tis functionality again.
"It's an artifact of the time when..." is in my opinion not a valid argument. A lot of modern APIs have possibilities to query and filter. Filtering on the client side may be VERY inefficient in some cases.