diff -r 88fe1ac48460 Doc/library/ftplib.rst
--- a/Doc/library/ftplib.rst	Mon Mar 07 08:31:52 2011 +0100
+++ b/Doc/library/ftplib.rst	Tue Mar 08 11:56:31 2011 +0000
@@ -320,6 +320,18 @@
    in :meth:`transfercmd`.
 
 
+.. method:: FTP.mlsd(path="", facts=None):
+
+    List a directory in a standardized format by using MLSD command
+    (:rfc:`3659`).  If *path* is omitted the current directory is assumed.
+    *facts* is a sequence of strings representing the type of information
+    desired (e.g. *["type", "size", "perm"]*). Return a generator of
+    (*filename*, *facts*) pairs, where *filename* is a string and *facts* is a
+    dictionary representing the server response.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
 .. method:: FTP.nlst(argument[, ...])
 
    Return a list of file names as returned by the ``NLST`` command.  The
diff -r 88fe1ac48460 Lib/ftplib.py
--- a/Lib/ftplib.py	Mon Mar 07 08:31:52 2011 +0100
+++ b/Lib/ftplib.py	Tue Mar 08 11:56:31 2011 +0000
@@ -527,6 +527,27 @@
                 cmd = cmd + (' ' + arg)
         self.retrlines(cmd, func)
 
+    def mlsd(self, path="", facts=None):
+        '''List a directory in a standardized format by using MLSD
+        command (RFC-3659).  If path is omitted the current directory
+        is assumed. "facts" is a sequence of strings representing the type
+        of information desired (e.g. ["type", "size", "perm"]).
+        Return a generator of ("filename", "facts-dict") pairs.  Content of
+        "facts-dict" dictionary, depends on the server and provided "facts"
+        argument.
+        '''
+        if facts is not None:
+            self.sendcmd('OPTS MLST ' + ''.join(fact + ';' for fact in facts))
+        lines = []
+        cmd = 'MLSD %s' % path if path else 'MLSD'
+        self.retrlines(cmd, lines.append)
+        return (self._mlsd_entry(line) for line in lines)
+
+    def _mlsd_entry(self, s):
+        facts, _, name = s.rstrip(CRLF).partition(' ')
+        facts = dict(fact.partition('=')[::2] for fact in facts[:-1].split(';'))
+        return name, facts
+
     def rename(self, fromname, toname):
         '''Rename a file.'''
         resp = self.sendcmd('RNFR ' + fromname)
diff -r 88fe1ac48460 Lib/test/test_ftplib.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py	Mon Mar 07 08:31:52 2011 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py	Tue Mar 08 11:56:31 2011 +0000
@@ -26,7 +26,21 @@
 RETR_DATA = 'abcde12345\r\n' * 1000
 LIST_DATA = 'foo\r\nbar\r\n'
 NLST_DATA = 'foo\r\nbar\r\n'
-
+MLSD_DATA = ('Type=cdir;Perm=el;Unique=keVO1+ZF4; test\r\n'
+             'Type=pdir;Perm=e;Unique=keVO1+d?3; ..\r\n'
+             'Type=OS.unix=slink:/foobar;Perm=;Unique=keVO1+4G4; foobar\r\n'
+             'Type=OS.unix=chr-13/29;Perm=;Unique=keVO1+5G4; device\r\n'
+             'Type=OS.unix=blk-11/108;Perm=;Unique=keVO1+6G4; block\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=awr;Unique=keVO1+8G4; writable\r\n'
+             'Type=dir;Perm=cpmel;Unique=keVO1+7G4; promiscuous\r\n'
+             'Type=dir;Perm=;Unique=keVO1+1t2; no-exec\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+EG4; two words\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+IH4;  leading space\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+6G4; f; ile1\r\n'
+             'Type=dir;Perm=cpmel;Unique=keVO1+7G4; incoming\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+1G4; file2\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+1G4; file3\r\n'
+             'Type=file;Perm=r;Unique=keVO1+1G4; file4\r\n')
 
 class DummyDTPHandler(asynchat.async_chat):
     dtp_conn_closed = False
@@ -208,6 +222,13 @@
         self.dtp.push(NLST_DATA)
         self.dtp.close_when_done()
 
+    def cmd_opts(self, arg):
+        self.push('200 opts ok')
+
+    def cmd_mlsd(self, arg):
+        self.push('125 mlsd ok')
+        self.dtp.push(MLSD_DATA)
+        self.dtp.close_when_done()
 
 class DummyFTPServer(asyncore.dispatcher, threading.Thread):
 
@@ -550,6 +571,11 @@
         self.client.dir(lambda x: l.append(x))
         self.assertEqual(''.join(l), LIST_DATA.replace('\r\n', ''))
 
+    def test_mlsd(self):
+        self.client.mlsd()
+        self.client.mlsd('/')
+        self.client.mlsd(path='/', facts=['perm', 'type', 'unique'])
+
     def test_makeport(self):
         with self.client.makeport():
             # IPv4 is in use, just make sure send_eprt has not been used