Question:
We have been using the freeware version of Chilkat FTP ActiveX component. We were having issues with it pertaining to error reporting and need a more reliable component. Since it would be easier to switch between versions of Chilkat (rather than a new tool), could you please explain to me the difference between FTP (freeware) and FTP2 (licensed) apart from the fact that FTP2 has support.
Answer:
We never intended on having to build a Chilkat FTP2 component. The Chilkat FTP component was built on top of WinInet, which is provided by Microsoft and is a layer above the raw TCP/IP FTP protocol. Unfortunately, we encountered many problems that were not resolvable because we did not have access at the TCP/IP socket level (i.e., access to the FTP protocol directly). Because of this, it was decided to implement the FTP protocol directly. This was of course quite an investment in time and effort, so it was not possible to release it as freeware. We’ve kept the old FTP component available out of goodwill, but the FTP2 component allows us to examine and fix just about any problem — so long as the FTP server is not the one behaving badly.
In addition, all new development will be in the FTP2 component. The original FTP component is frozen and we do not investigate problems nor change anything.
