Atom Messes Up Formatting In Emacs File

Question

I used the scp command to copy a file from a remote Linux computer to my local Linux computer (this file was edited using Emacs on that remote computer). I tried to open the file in Atom on my local computer, and the formatting and new lines did not preserve. I'm not sure how to come up with a fix for this.

Sample of code when opened in Emacs
Sample of code when opened in Atom

Answer 1

I think this is not atom "messing up" the formatting, but that atom does not recognize mac line endings. The emacs image hints that you have mac line endings (notice the -UU-(MAC) thing on the status line. Atom seems to ignore the mac line endings (0d), probably expecting the unix ones. I don't know atom well enough but you can convert it to unix (0a) line ending on emacs with

C-x
RET
f
utf-8-unix

You may choose another encoding besides utf-8 if you wish.

I am sure there are also atom-specific approach, just search for "atom mac line endings"

Answer 2

Atom may not recognise the line endings. UNIX uses an LF character, macOS uses a single LF character, and older mac operating systems may use a single CR character for new lines. You can switch between them at the bottom right corner of the atom text editor next to the encoding and syntax selection.