Dreamweaver, FTP error, space before filename on server

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Sometimes Dreamweaver will not be able to read (get) files from the remote server. You can view the files, but not retrieve them. If you click on the remote file as if to edit the name, it will become apparent that the file name begins with a space. This is the cause of the problem. If files are listed out of alphabetical order on the remote server, it may be an indication that this problem exists. Interestingly, if you go to the server using any other program, you will realize that the files, indeed, do not really have a space in front of them. This is an anomaly with Dreamweaver.

For smaller websites, it is possible to fix the problem by using another FTP program to copy the problem files from the remote computer to the local computer (into your website folder), then delete the problem files from the remote computer (using the third party FTP program), and then publish them again using Dreamweaver.

The problem may be a result of using different versions of Dreamweaver on different computers (including going between Windows and Apple). More anecdotal stories about this problem are below. For more information about Dreamweaver, The Macromedia website is available here:
http://www.macromedia.com/


OTHER USERS SHARE THEIR FRUSTRATIONS WITH THIS ISSUE

"Bogus space in folder name and file name. My remote view of files & folders is in error. This occurs in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and the 'Choose Image On Website' window in Contribute 2.0. About half of the files and half of the folders appear in the remote view with an initial space in the name. I can't see a pattern of why some names are correct and others are in error. The same names are in error each time I open the program. Names appear correctly when viewed directly on the unix server and when viewed through Windows Explorer and when browsed with a browser. The error only occurs in Dreamweaver & Contribute. The names that are OK will Open correctly. Names with a leading space return an error message on attempted Open: 'An FTP error occurred. Cannot get filename.html. Access Denied. The file name may not exist, or there could be a permission problem.' (There seems to be an extra space before the file name in the error message, too!) When trying to rename the file in the Dreamweaver remote files window, this error message is returned: ?An FTP error occurred 'cannot rename filename.html to filename.html. A file or folder with that name already exists.' I have uninstalled and reinstalled Dreamweaver and the Update. Problem persists." - posted by hiway41s at 2004-04-23, 5:33 pm on this page.

"I have upgraded to MX 2004 and installed the upgrade, and still have trouble with the display of files that haven't been touched in a year. In the remote view, some of the files show up with a space in front of the file name, and you can't check them out. Looking at them on the server, it's apparent that it's only the older files that haven't been touched in a while (due to the way the dates are displayed on the AIX box, the datestamp format is different). Has anyone else had this problem? I talked to support back in Jan/Feb, and
they said they were aware of the problem, but haven't heard anything since. Even tho I paid for this product, I am still using the old MX version because of this issue." - posted by shtymie at 05-25-2004, 11:19 AM on this page.

"Good question. I have the same problem, and Support doesn't seem to want to do anything about it." posted (in response to shtymie above) by zupermench at 05-26-2004, 09:52 AM on this page.