ftp return format

[Andrew M. Kuchling]

blues-l at cyberus.ca writes:
> Okay, probably a dumb question but could it be that the transfer should be set
> to binary mode and is using the default ascii mode?

Or vice versa, having done something similar in a past life.  If the
FTP server is an AS/400, I assume it uses EBCDIC.  If the file
transfer is done in ASCII mode, it's the FTP server's responsibility
to translate to EBCDIC (the relevant RFC says transfers are in ASCII,
with no provision for different character sets); if it's in binary
mode, you'll get the original EBCDIC data which will be difficult to
deal with on a PC/Unix system.  So, maybe you're *not* in ASCII mode.

-- 
A.M. Kuchling			http://starship.python.net/crew/amk/
Destiny is the oldest of the Endless; in the beginning was the Word, and it
was traced by hand on the first page of his book, before ever it was spoken
aloud.
  -- From SANDMAN: "Season of Mists", episode 0