DOCUMENT:Q175132  25-MAR-2002  [win95x]
TITLE   :MGET Command Returns Unintelligible Characters from IBM Host
PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
PROD/VER::
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbenv kbnetwork kbtool win95kbfixlist

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows 95 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) tool included with Windows 95 to
send the MGET command to an IBM Host FTP server, the server may return extended
or unintelligible characters. For example, you may receive the following
characters from the server:

   ftp> bin
   200 Representation type is Image
   ftp> mget txt*
   mget ptpaeptp=ptp=ptp(? Y
   Error opening local file ptpaeptp=ptp=ptp(
   ptpaeptp=ptp=ptp(:Invalid argument
   ftp>

CAUSE
=====

This behavior can occur when you set the FTP tool to Image mode (binary).

RESOLUTION
==========


STATUS
======

This problem no longer occurs in Windows 98. To resolve this problem, install
the current version of Windows. For information about the current version of
Windows, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows.

MORE INFORMATION
================

IBM Host (mainframe or mini-computer [S/38 or AS/400]) uses Extended Binary
Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) as the character representation scheme,
whereas personal computers use American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII) characters. EBCDIC is an 8-bit code and ASCII is a 7-bit
code.

When you set the FTP tool to Image mode and send the MGET command as in the above
example, the NLST command is sent to the IBM Host FTP server in binary format.
The IBM Host FTP server has no way of knowing if the client making the request
is an ASCII or EBCDIC client. It returns the list of files using EBCDIC, which
is its default encoding scheme. Personal computers do not understand EBCDIC, so
extended or unintelligible characters are displayed.

For additional information in this issue as it affects Windows NT, please see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Q164542 MGET to an IBM Host FTP Server Returns Garbage Characters

Additional query words: garbage

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Keywords          : kbenv kbnetwork kbtool win95 kbfixlist
Technology        : kbWin95search kbZNotKeyword3
Version           : :

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