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Reflection NFS and ASCII End-of-Line File Format
Technical Note 1548
Last Reviewed 07-Jul-2005
Applies To
Reflection NFS Client version 10.0 or higher
Summary
Figure 1 - Menu Items
Technical Note 1548
Last Reviewed 07-Jul-2005
Applies To
Reflection NFS Client version 10.0 or higher
Summary
The Reflection NFS client provides several methods for translating ASCII file end-of-line characters from DOS (Windows) format to UNIX format, or from UNIX to DOS (Windows) format. This technical note lists and explains each of these options.
Note the following:
- The Reflection NFS Client standalone product is also included as a component of several Reflection products. For further details, refer to Technical Note 3000.
- For information about which versions of Reflection NFS are supported on each Microsoft Windows platform, see Technical Note 1866.
File Translation Options
Windows (DOS) and UNIX use different non-visible characters to indicate the end of each line of text in an ASCII file. Windows uses a CRLF (Carriage Return, Line Feed) to indicate the end of a line of ASCII text, while UNIX uses only a CR (Carriage Return).
Because these end-of-line indicators differ between the two operating systems, to edit a UNIX file in Windows you must first translate the UNIX end-of-line characters to the appropriate Windows format. The opposite is true for a file created in Windows and edited in UNIX.
Warning: You risk corrupting the file if you do not translate the end-of-line characters before editing a UNIX file in Windows, or a Windows file in UNIX. Some applications display these types of files as if they have been translated, even though the actual end-of-line characters have not been changed. Editing a file that has been converted only for display can create files that contain mixed end-of-line characters and may cause file corruption.
Reflection NFS client provides several ways to perform this file format translation. The following sections detail these methods.
Note: These utilities convert only CR to CRLF, or CRLF to CR. They provide no other file translation support.
Using Right-Click Drag and Drop
This option works only when moving files from one folder location to another. Follow the steps below to use this functionality:
- Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the files on your NFS host.
- Right-click the file or group of files you wish to convert and drag the files to the new folder location. When you release the right mouse button, you will see a menu. Click Copy Here with NFS File Translation:
Figure 1 - Menu Items- In the NFS ASCII File Translation dialog box, select Translate UNIX to DOS or Translate DOS to UNIX. (For further translation parameters, click the Options button).
- Click OK.
Using the NFS Utility
If the files you want to translate are on a mapped NFS drive, you can translate the end-of-line characters using the NFS Utility. Follow the steps below to use the NFS Utility's file translation options:
- Open the NFS Utility.
- In the NFS Utility, select your NFS mapped drive and navigate to the files or group of files you wish to translate.
- Select the file or group of files and click File on the NFS Utility menu bar.
- Select Translate UNIX to DOS or Translate DOS to UNIX, and then fill in the appropriate information fields.
- Click OK.
Converting Files from the Windows Command Prompt
If you need to convert files from a Windows Command Prompt or a batch file, Attachmate provides two Reflection NFS file translation executables; Dos2unix.exe and Unix2dos.exe. These files can be obtained from the Reflection NFS Products section of the Reflection Download Library at:
As the file names indicate, Dos2unix.exe converts DOS end-of-line characters to UNIX format, and Unix2dos.exe converts UNIX end-of-line characters to DOS format. Further syntax and usage information can be obtained by typing: Dos2unix.exe /? or Unix2dos.exe /?.
Note: These utilities rely on Reflection NFS client product files, and can thus only be used on a PC where Reflection NFS client is installed.
Using Host Side Translation
Some host operating systems or NFS server side software provide support for automatic file translation when a file is copied or moved from the host using NFS. For further information regarding this topic, check your host documentation or contact your host vendor.
