how to "normalize" indentation sources

[John Salerno]

Tim Peters wrote:
> [John Machin, quoting reindent.py docs]
>>> remove empty lines at the end of files.  Also ensure the last line ends
>>> with a newline.
> 
> [John Salerno]
>> don't those two things conflict with one another?
> 
> No.  This is the repr of a file with (3) empty lines at the end:
> 
>    "a file\n\n \n  \t    \n"
> reindent.py changes that to:
> 
>    "a file\n"
> 
> This is the repr of a file with no newline at the end:
> 
>    "a file"
> 
> reindent.py changes that to:
> 
>    "a file\n"
> 
>> or is the newline added after empty lines are removed?
> 
> False dichotomy ;-)

So the line below the last line of the file isn't actually considered an 
empty line, even though you can move the cursor to it in a text editor?

If you have a file that has one line and it ends with a newline, at 
least in my text editor the cursor then moves down to the next line, but 
is this just a detail of the way the editor itself works, and nothing to 
do with the file? (i.e., there is really only one line in the file, not 
two?)