How do I write non-ASCII characters using echo?
On my terminal,
printf '\012' >>output.txt
works for both the octal representation of the ascii character, and the corresponding hexadecimal:
printf '\xA' >>output.txt
The command
echo -en '\012' >>output.txt
however, does not function properly. Only hexadecimals seem to work with echo -e. The -n removes the default extra newline from echo.
If you care about portability, you'll drop echo and use printf(1):
printf '\012'
Use
echo -e "\012"