Re: [Help-nano] Altering DOS/Mac/Unix terminated text files

[Fergus Daly]

Thank you for getting back to me so rapidly.

>> If I use nano -N on a DOS file, then I see at the end of each and every line 
>> a ^M.  Don't you see this?
Yes I do.

>> Maybe the explanation of the option should be improved: it doesn't convert 
>> the actual file, it just converts the internal representation.
Yes: it's more "what you see" rather than "what you get".

>> I think that in general when one edits a file, one surely does not want the 
>> editor to change the format of the file without having explicitly asked it 
>> to do that.
I agree. The default 
        nano (no argument) = if not Unix, convert to Unix
was probably non-optimal (though it suited me.)

>> Secondly I think it is not an editor's task to convert formats -- sure, it 
>> would be cool if it could do that, but it is an extra bell or whistle.
I agree with both your assertions "not a task" and "cool if it could". I notice 
that nano (current v.2.4.0) now offers nothing at all on DOS / Mac / Unix 
formats other than the option -N which as we have already observed is not 
optimal, or at least not described optimally, (and might not even be useful).

How's this for an ambition for the next version? (And where should I go if I 
want to request it, do you know?)

nano (no argument) = do not change format 
nano -U = if not Unix, convert to Unix
nano -D = if not DOS, convert to DOS
nano -M = if not Mac, convert to Mac

So in general things i.e. by default are left as they are but nano does allow 
format changes.

Thanks again for your swift and knowledgeable response.

Fergus    


-----Original Message-----
From: Benno Schulenberg [mailto:address@hidden 
Sent: 24 March 2015 11:09
To: Fergus Daly
Cc: address@hidden
Subject: Re: [Help-nano] Altering DOS/Mac/Unix terminated text files


Hello Fergus,

On Tue, Mar 24, 2015, at 08:51, Fergus Daly wrote:
> Just started using nano 2.4.0. As with many previous versions
>       nano -help
> yields
>       -N    --noconvert    Don't convert files from DOS/Mac format
> carrying the implication that without the switch -N, files will be converted 
> to Unix format.
> But this is not what happens.
>       nano (no argument)
>       nano -N
> are identical: they don't convert.

Hmm...  If I use nano -N on a DOS file, then I see at the end of each and every 
line a ^M.  Don't you see this?

Maybe the explanation of the option should be improved: it doesn't convert the 
actual file, it just converts the internal representation.

> If you go back far enough the following beautiful behaviour is what happened 
> with v.1.3.4:
>       nano (no argument) = if not Unix, convert convert to Unix
>       nano -D = if not DOS, convert to DOS
>       nano -M = if not Mac, convert to Mac
>       nano -N = do not change format
> PLEASE could nano v.current be made to mimic the marvellous behaviour of 
> 1.3.4?

I think that in general when one edits a file, one surely does not want the 
editor to change the format of the file without having explicitly asked it to 
do that.  Secondly I think it is not an editor's task to convert formats -- 
sure, it would be cool if it could do that, but it is an extra bell or whistle. 
 There are tools like dos2unix or simple seds that can do that.

> Or, if not, how can I get
>       nano {? switch} = if not Unix, convert to Unix

Benno

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