CLI File Extension Converter

A lightweight, practical command-line tool designed to convert plain text files (.txt or .md) into code scripts, batch files, or web documents.

Unlike a simple file rename, this utility handles background compatibility by correcting operating system-specific line endings and character encodings automatically.

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Core Features

• Line-Ending Adjustment: Automatically applies Windows carriage returns (\r\n) for .bat files or Unix line feeds (\n) for .py and .sh scripts to prevent execution syntax errors.
• Encoding Selection: Allows explicit conversion between utf-8, ascii, or Windows-standard cp1252 character sets.
• Safe Processing: Leaves your source document completely untouched and outputs the new file in the original directory.

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Step-by-Step Usage Guide

Step 1: Save the Script

Save the Python application code on your system as convert.py. Take note of the folder path where you place it (for example: /path/to/your/scripts/).

Step 2: Open the Terminal

• Windows: Press the Windows Key, type cmd, and press Enter.
• macOS/Linux: Press Cmd + Space (or your system shortcut), type Terminal, and press Enter.

Step 3: Navigate to the Script Directory

Use the change directory (cd) command to move your terminal focus to the folder containing convert.py:

cd "/path/to/your/scripts"

Step 4: Execute the Conversion

Run the script by passing the target file path followed by your desired file extension. Wrap the path in quotation marks if your file name contains spaces.

Example 1: Convert to a Python Script (.py)

python convert.py "/path/to/documents/notes.txt" py

Example 2: Convert to a Windows Batch File (.bat)

This example enforces the standard Windows character set (cp1252):

python convert.py "C:\(\path\to\documents\notes.\)txt" bat -e cp1252

Example 3: Convert to a Linux/macOS Shell Script (.sh)

python convert.py "/path/to/documents/script_draft.md" sh

The newly formatted file will generate instantly inside the same directory, positioned right alongside your original text file.

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Command Line Arguments

You can display the built-in manual inside your terminal interface at any time by running:

python convert.py --help

Argument / Flag	Description	Default
file	Required. The absolute file path to your source text document.	None
ext	Required. The target file extension to output (e.g., py, bat, sh).	None
-e, --encoding	Specifies the character encoding format (utf-8, ascii, cp1252).	utf-8
--no-fix	Disables automatic line-ending adjustments for cross-platform files.	Enabled