According to POSIX a text file is "a file that contains characters organized into zero or more lines" [1] and a line is "a sequence of zero or more non- <newline> characters plus a terminating <newline> character" [2]. Since we are claiming to produce a text file, it should have a trailing newline. [1] http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap03.html#tag_03_397 [2] http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap03.html#tag_03_206
John Keeping