crystal tool format on Windows converts all CRLF line endings to LF

[kojix2]

This is usually a good thing for Linux and macOS systems, but it might not work well on Windows. This can be especially problematic if you're using Git core.autocrlf.

[erdian718]

I don't think it's a bug, it's a problem with tool configuration.
Also, I see that *.cr text eol=lf has been set in .gitattributes.

[kojix2]

How can I configure crystal tool format not to automatically convert CRLF to LF ?

crysatal-lang/crystal uses .gitattributes, but I don't think it is directly related to this issue.

[erdian718]

I mean, maybe the configuration of git and editor should be modified. Even on Windows, there's nothing wrong with using LF directly.

[kojix2]

That is correct. (I also set eol=lf in .gitattributes in some repositories. It works fine.)
Still, I don't think the behavior of crystal tool format converting CRLF to LF on Windows is quite as expected.

[straight-shoota]

This behaviour is indeed intentional. See #5831 (comment) and other comments in that issue.

The purpose of the formatter is to transform Crystal source code into a standardized format that ideally everyone can live with.
It standardizes on a the single newline designator for the purpose of simplicity. LF works on all platforms. Having to deal with different line endings is an avoidable pain when working across platforms.

When working with git the recommended setting is .cr text eol=lf to make sure Crystal files are always checked out with LF.

[kojix2]

I am by no means a CRLF enthusiast, and I agree with the policy of recommending the use of LF for practical purposes.
However, there is a certain difference between "recommended" and "no other option".

The newline codes used by the formatter are listed here, and it seems easy enough to change it to use CRLF.

crystal/src/compiler/crystal/tools/formatter.cr

Lines 4926 to 4927 in 63e2342

	result = lines.join('\n') + '\n'
	result = "" if result == "\n"

--- a/src/compiler/crystal/tools/formatter.cr
+++ b/src/compiler/crystal/tools/formatter.cr
@@ -4923,8 +4923,8 @@ module Crystal
           line.rstrip
         end
       end
-      result = lines.join('\n') + '\n'
-      result = "" if result == "\n"
+      result = lines.join("\r\n") + "\r\n"
+      result = "" if result == "\r\n"
       if @shebang
         result = result[0] + result[2..-1]
       end

(I'm not sure how to compile crystals on Windows, though. )

[straight-shoota]

There's always the option to use the formatter or not.

(Or your could use it and then convert newlines afterwards explicitly 🤷)

The formatter is supposed to be basic and a bit opinionated. It won't make it right for everyone. But it's intended to be acceptable by most.

Could you explain why you think it's important to use CRLF, what's your use case?

[straight-shoota]

Closing due to no activity. We can reopen if there are more substantial arguments.