ftp-generate-response

ftp-generate-response

Generate RFC conforming strings for an FTP server connection.

Install the normal node way.

Use like this:

var generate = require('ftp-generate-response')
var lines = [
	'Welcome to the server.',
	'Contact an admin for help.',
	'Vist the IRC at #our-site'
]
var output = generate(220, lines)

For which the expected output would be:

220-Welcome to the server
 Contact an admin for help.
220 Visit the IRC at #our-site

It is possible to specify a different string to prepend multi-line strings, e.g. like this:

var generate = require('ftp-generate-response')
var lines = [
	'Welcome to the server.',
	'Contact an admin for help.',
	'Vist the IRC at #our-site'
]
var output = generate(220, lines, '    ')

For which the expected output would be:

220-Welcome to the server
    Contact an admin for help.
220 Visit the IRC at #our-site

Notes on a common style

The following response style is found in many FTP server implementations:

220-Welcome to the server
220-Contact an admin for help.
220 Visit the IRC at #our-site

Strictly speaking, according to the RFC this is not acceptable:

If an intermediary line begins with a 3-digit number, the Server must pad the front to avoid confusion.

The reason the above style is interpreted by clients correctly is because the RFC also states:

The user-process then simply needs to search for the second occurrence of the same reply code, followed by (Space), at the beginning of a line, and ignore all intermediary lines.

This means that the above message would (after parsing) become:

Welcome to the server\r\n220-Contact an admin for help.\r\nVisit the IRC at #our-site

Additionally, although the RFC states that the Server must pad, it is unclear what padding is required. The example in the RFC pads the intermediary lines with <SP><SP>, but does not require it.

Although many FTP clients will interpret the above string correctly, we recommend to not use this style and instead pad with <SP><SP> on all intermediary lines, as shown in the RFC.

Multi-line messages contructed in this way will look like:

220-Welcome to the server
  Contact an admin for help.
220 Visit the IRC at #our-site

Parsing this can trim all <SP> characters at the start of each line, generating the following usable string:

Welcome to the server\r\nContact an admin for help.\r\nVisit the IRC at #our-site

License

VOL