Forum OpenACS Q&A: CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions

Posted by MaineBob OConnor on 01/24/02 11:05 PM

I have a MAC user that is using BBEdit to create and edit .adp files and the variables sucked out of the database do not show up... The error message is:

Error: can't read "db": no such variable

From this code:

<%
set db [ns_db gethandle]
set user_id [ad_verify_and_get_user_id]
set selection [ns_db 0or1row $db "select first_names, last_name,
email, screen_name, tgn_status, registration_date from users 
where user_id=$user_id"]
# and more not shown...

So, Linux RH7/ AOLserver AOLserver/3.3.1+ad13 / Postgres 7.1 Doesn't like MAC .adp files...

I first disovered that just saving the file in my Windows (DOS) editor makes the file work just fine because saving converts the CR to a CRLF pair.

Also I can translate the MAC CR to the *NiX LF character using this *Nix command:

tr '
' '
' < mac1.adp > lixux1.adp

I post this for others who might run into this problem...
AND
I wonder if there are options with BBEDIT to save the file either with the *nix LF or dos CRLF pair so that we don't have to do the "tr..." conversion every time an .adp file is uploaded.

IF there is a BBEDIT user out there, please tell me how to set it up for *nix or dos new lines.

Thank you.

-Bob

2: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by mark dalrymple on 01/24/02 11:09 PM

(just a note - 'Mac' isn't an acronym, so it shouldn't be capitalized)

BBEdit can save with unix line termination. In the text window, there's a little popup (the one which looks like a little file) that lets you change them on a file-by-file basis. BBEdit will honor the line termination of opened files (so once it's saved with unix line endings, BBEdit will keep them this way)

3: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by MaineBob OConnor on 01/24/02 11:10 PM

OK, on the web something was lost in the translation of the tr command above. perhaps 'cause of the single backslash... I doubled them up and show it here.

tr '
' '
' < mac1.adp > lixux1.adp

-Bob

4: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by Torben Brosten on 01/25/02 12:45 AM

Hi Bob,

Know that tcl automatically recognizes EOLs for Mac, *nix and MSDos systems. So you can create a short tcl script that automatically reads the file line by line, writing to a new file with the standard tcl (*nix) EOL. This gives you a way to automate/batch the process should files be inconsistently saved from various OS's in the future.

5: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by MaineBob OConnor on 01/26/02 01:41 PM

Hi Torben

"...Know that tcl automatically recognizes EOLs for Mac, *nix and MSDos systems. So you can create a short tcl script that automatically reads the file line by line..."

A better solution would be for tcl to automatically recognize the Mac CR the same way it recognizes the *nix LF character. It appears that *nix just totally ignores the CR which is why Win/DOS files with CRLF work just fine.

How deep do we have to go to make this work? Is it just an issue with .adp files?

Here is the ideal:

CR (by itself) -> One New Line
LF (by itself) -> One New Line
CRLF (pair) -> One New Line

-Bob

6: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by Torben Brosten on 01/26/02 11:31 PM

Hi Bob,

You ask: How deep do we have to go to make this work? Is it just an issue with .adp files?

In short, it's not deep, but pervasive.

I regularly use/mix MacOS and *nix files (sprinkling in some MSWin/DOS). This is a regular barrier of any text-based file on *nix coming from a Mac (that is not prepared for *nix). Still, it is not a difficult barrier to overcome.

There is an elegant example tcl script for converting files to *nix EOLs included in the 2nd ed. of "Practical Programming in Tcl an Tk" by Welch --I don't know if it is in the 3rd ed. It recursively reads a whole file before writing. The example works for most small files (I think).

Recently, I had to convert a 500MB+ file, so I could use linux tools on a mail collection file (less, grep, etc.). Previous to conversion, these linux utilities assumed the file was one long line and did not work as I had "wished". The linux machine froze while processing the file using the example script. (The Mac software crashed when reading the entire file also). I patched together a script that bypasses memory requirements; it writes a line as it reads a line --crude and slow, but it works.

7: Response to CRLF Mac *nix DOS conversions (response to 1)

Posted by Henry Minsky on 01/30/02 05:22 PM

Now that I am using a teletype I find that I need to put CR's back into text, or else the carriage just sits on the right margin printing all the characters on top of each other.