Please explain \n and \r

Anon

I need someone to explain to me the difference between \r (carriage return) and \n (newline).

I often don't use them in my scripts, I just use <br> instead. I'm sure I'm missing out on something. Thx.

Richie.

Anon

<br> is an HTML tag, so it is completely different from \n and \r. So get the idea that they are the same out of your head.

\n - new line, in *nix's this functions the same way you would expect hitting return on a new typewriter to function. It moves the cursor down 1 line and all the way back to the left margin. On DOS machines (all windows) this only moves the cursor down 1 line it doesn't return it to the left margin.

\r - carrige return, in *nix's this doesn't do anything that I've been able to figure out (in text files) it is however used in some programs as a delimiter. The HTTP specification uses \n\r to signify the end of a line in a set of headers. On DOS machines (all windows) it works to move the cursor to the left margin.

Basically DOS based machines behave like an old typwriter (one with an arm to move the "carrige") if you hit the return key all you get is the paper moved down 1 line, you have to use the arm to move back to the left to start typing again. So on DOS machines you need both \n and \r to get the same results that using just \n will get you on *nix machines.

jrottman

Well I've never used /r, but the difference between \n and <br> is simple. \n starts a new line in your source code. You dont need, it cuz it will look the same on your webpage either way. But this way the souce code looks neater when you go to your page and click view source. <br> obviously starts a new line on your actual webpage, you will notice a difference there.

Example 1:
echo "<title>";
echo "<body>";
echo "hi";

The above will show up in your html code as:

<title><body>hi

Example 2:
echo "<title>\n";
echo "<body>\n";
echo "hi\n";

The above will show up in your html code as:

<title>
<body>
hi

Hope this helps!

Jason Rottman
Webmaster
Project Manager
www.stardefenders.com

Anon

Thanks guys.

I've always expected \n and \r to do something in my html output, but now I know they only format the code itself.

Anon

\r and \n are used as follows:

\r only: Macintosh creates text files this way

\n only: *nix creates text files this way

\r\n: DOS/Windows creates text file this way.

A good standard is to use whichever one your websites operating system uses. If you don't know, use \n.

Oh, another note: If you use FTP from one operating system to another, remember to transfer text files as the ASCII type, as it converts the line breaks.