Rivinvaihtomerkinnät

Rivinvaihtomerkinnät, known in English as line break characters or carriage return characters, are invisible control characters used in computing to indicate the end of a line of text and the beginning of a new one. Different operating systems and text file formats utilize different combinations of these characters to signify a line break.

The most common conventions are:

Carriage Return (CR) and Line Feed (LF) together (CRLF): This is the standard line ending used in Windows operating systems and many internet protocols. It represents the physical action of moving the carriage of a typewriter back to the left margin (CR) and then advancing the paper to the next line (LF).

Line Feed (LF) only: This is the line ending convention used in Unix-like operating systems, including Linux and macOS. It simply advances the paper to the next line.

Carriage Return (CR) only: This convention was historically used in older Mac operating systems but is now largely obsolete.

The use of different line break conventions can sometimes lead to compatibility issues when transferring text files between different operating systems. For example, a text file created on Windows and viewed on a Unix system might display unexpected characters or formatting if the line endings are not properly interpreted. Many text editors and software applications have settings to handle these different conventions, allowing users to convert between them or display them correctly. Understanding rivinvaihtomerkinnät is crucial for anyone working with text files and data processing across various platforms.