Removing CRLF Using Vi

Posted by: admin  :  Category: Editors

Sometimes DOS files end up on unix systems without being converted. Files will then have those nasty ^M character at the line ending, which prevents some applications to work properly.

The reason for is is DOS to use CRLF (carriage return + line feed) for line endings while unix uses LF (line feed) only.

If only few files need to be changed, vi/vim is the tool of choice.

After opening up the file, enter command mode to run this macro:

:%s/^M$//g

To get the ^M do not actually enter it as is. Insert it by typing the CTRL-V CTRL-M sequence instead.

3 Responses to “Removing CRLF Using Vi”

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  2. Wrex Says:

    You could also do the following from the command line:

    strings oldfile>>newfile

    Not as eloquent, but does the job.

  3. gdelmatto Says:

    True, and also using any of dos2unix, tr or sed.

    The point is, that I was editing the file in vi, this is why I was posting it 😉