git not changing crlf to lf when changing encoding of a file

When you change the encoding of a file in Git, Git doesn't automatically convert line endings from CRLF (Windows) to LF (Unix) or vice versa. This is because Git doesn't track line ending changes directly; it tracks file content changes.

To ensure consistent line endings in your repository, you should set up Git's line ending handling configuration properly. Here's how you can handle this situation:

1. Configure Line Ending Handling:

   You can configure how Git handles line endings by using the core.autocrlf setting. Open your Git bash and run the following commands:

   For Windows users:

   arduinoCopy code
   git config --global core.autocrlf true
   
   

   For macOS/Linux users:

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   git config --global core.autocrlf input
   
   

   The true setting will convert CRLF to LF when committing, and LF to CRLF when checking out. The input setting will convert CRLF to LF on commit, but won't change LF to CRLF when checking out.

2. Re-normalize Line Endings:

   If you have files in your repository with mixed line endings, you can re-normalize them using the following commands:

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   git rm --cached -r .
   
   git reset --hard
   
   

   Be cautious when using these commands, as they can remove uncommitted changes.

3. Commit Line Ending Changes:

   After you've configured line endings, make sure you commit any changes in line endings. If you've changed the encoding of a file, make sure to commit that change along with the line ending changes. Remember that Git doesn't track line ending changes directly, so they will be part of the file content changes.

4. .gitattributes File:

   To handle line endings more precisely, you can use a .gitattributes file in your repository. This file allows you to define rules for specific file types. For example, you can specify that all .txt files should have LF line endings:

   arduinoCopy code
   *.txt text eol=lf
   
   

   This way, you can control line ending behavior on a per-file basis.

Remember that changing the encoding of a file and ensuring consistent line endings are separate concerns. If you change the encoding of a file, it might be a good idea to re-normalize line endings afterward to ensure consistent behavior across different platforms.