Ftp-WG: NLST vs MLSD

Frank da Cruz writes:
> But from the user's point of view, a
> command that once worked will no longer work

Wrong.

> the user is not allowed to send this argument to the server

You are spouting nonsense. Users don't talk to servers. Users talk to
clients. Clients talk to servers. Specifically:

   (1) The user tells your software ``mget pics/mae-west-*.jpg''.
   (2) Your software tells the server ``CWD pics'' and ``NLST''.
   (3) The server tells your software the filenames.
   (4) Your software extracts the filenames matching mae-west-*.jpg.
   (5) Your software retrieves those files, one by one.

What's the problem?

If that isn't how your client software works, your software is broken.
You are relying on features that aren't guaranteed by the protocol and
aren't provided by all servers. Fix your software.

This has nothing to do with the filename list format.

---D. J. Bernstein, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics,
Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago