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The recode reference manual

13.2 Representation for end of lines

The same charset might slightly differ, from one system to another, for the single fact that end of lines are not represented identically on all systems. The representation for an end of line within recode is the ASCII or UCS code with value 10, or LF. Other conventions for representing end of lines are available through surfaces.

CR

This convention is popular on Apple's Macintosh machines. When this surface is applied, each line is terminated by CR, which has ASCII value 13. Unless the library is operating in strict mode, adding or removing the surface will in fact exchange CR and LF, for better reversibility. However, in strict mode, the exchange does not happen, any CR will be copied verbatim while applying the surface, and any LF will be copied verbatim while removing it.

This surface is available in recode under the name CR, it does not have any aliases. This is the implied surface for the Apple Macintosh related charsets.

CR-LF

This convention is popular on Microsoft systems running on IBM PCs and compatible. When this surface is applied, each line is terminated by a sequence of two characters: one CR followed by one LF, in that order.

For compatibility with oldish MS-DOS systems, removing a CR-LF surface will discard the first encountered C-z, which has ASCII value 26, and everything following it in the text. Adding this surface will not, however, append a C-z to the result.

This surface is available in recode under the name CR-LF and has cl for an alias. This is the implied surface for the IBM or Microsoft related charsets or code pages.

Some other charsets might have their own representation for an end of line, which is different from LF. For example, this is the case of various EBCDIC charsets, or Icon-QNX. The recoding of end of lines is intimately tied into such charsets, it is not available separately as surfaces.