First off, the more I code over the years, the more I find myself using Notepad++, even against other commercial products. So thank you for an excellent product, and its extensibility. Especially the TextFX features. (If only someone would create a UNICODE version of the color picker [insert rolling-eyes emoticon here]).
Now, on to new 5.2 functionality...
I really like the new 'replace in files' feature. I have wanted this for a long time.
I must admit I'm not that thrilled with the way the new search results are now laid out. For one thing, my custom color scheme no longer seems to work with some of the text styles, in particular 'search result > NUMBER', which doesn't seem to correctly recognize the background color for line numbers. Also, keeping previous search results in the search window should be an option, not a rule. I do a lot of searching, and don't generally need to keep previous results. It starts to clutter things up after a while, even if it is collapsible. I know that you can DEL results as needed, but I'd rather just not have them saved at all, given the choice.
I do like the 'Searching... Press Enter to Cancel' feature. It is a nice option, just in case.
I do NOT in any way like the fact that when a search is over that the search window now closes. I search for things constantly in code and keep the search window open with transparency as a rule. Having to reopen the window seriously interferes with my workflow. So much so that I uninstalled 5.2 and reinstalled 5.1.4. Please, please, please create an option somewhere to keep the search window open after a completed search. Please! I do not want to keep hitting Ctrl-Shift-F every time I need to do a new search. Seems like a small thing, I'm sure, but it's a big thing to me. Half of my 'programming time' is spent searching for functions/variables/etc. in mountains of other people's code. Having the window stay open helps my life considerably.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
PS: The news section of the webpage (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) is pretty dated. You should probably just link to the Sourceforge page (https://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus/), or kill the section off entirely for this site version. It almost makes it look like Notepad++ is abandoned - the last version being listed as 4.9 Worker's Day Edition.
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I'm sure many of use share your appreciation of N++.
Thanks for pointing out that the News section on the N++ home page is out of date. A few weeks ago I volunteered to start work on documentation which includes the contents of web pages. At the moment I'm still putting together a comprehensive plan but you should start to see improvements in the organization and quality of content of online pages in the next four weeks. I have to organize permissions and decide on priorities before I can really get to work.
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Regarding "keeping previous search results in the search window " and "search window now closes" options - I agree, it should be optional but Don doesn't want to clutter the settings dialog (more than it is now).
Just wondering, if you keep the search dialog constantly open, you still need to set the focus on it before searching, this can be done only by using the ctrl+shif+f or by using the mouse, as far as I know. Do you find using the mouse easier?
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Greg, just don't want people getting the wrong idea about where N++ is at.
Thank you, cocinerox, for the color picker link. Much appreciated.
Y N, I will look into your 'custom color scheme' error. I no longer have 5.2 installed, so it's not so much an issue currently, but that could very well be the problem I had.
True, I do have to click the mouse to activate the search window, but as I generally need to click on the 'Find what', 'Directory, or 'Match case' fields, too, amongst others, it's easier than keying Ctrl-Shift-F, then mousing the options I need separately. I regularly use extended and regular expression modes and match case modes, changing between them often, so my mouse needs to be in the neighborhood as it is. Given the 3 or 4 clicks I'll be doing anyway, one more click hardly kills the flow.
Also - and this is huge - I can click one time to get either the 'Find', 'Replace', or 'Find in Files' window, depending upon what I need at the moment, without having to remember the distinct keyboard sequence for each one separately. The alternative might unfortunately be keying the one I remember, then adding the additional step of clicking on the window I actually wanted. Not cool. And I'm sure I'm not alone in not remembering every keyboard shortcut.
Bottom line, the additional keyboard step winds up making N++ much less speedy.
I realize it's just a convention I'm used to, and I'm sure it seems like a small thing, but heavy searching is integral to my workflow and one of the main reasons I use N++. So I'm not happy with the development ... which seems like a step backwards, to me. I think of N++ as more of a pro tool, not a newbie friendly, "I'll do the thinking for you" utility. I don't want N++ to start turning into a Dreamweaver, "doing the clicks for you", losing its focus as a professional programming tool, trying to be "friendly".
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Just so you know - there's an easy way of selecting the extended and regular expression modes 'Find what', 'Directory, or 'Match case' fields, and so on, using the keyboard:
press the alt+<key> where key if the letter which is underlined in the dialog box.
also - "tab" moves between the different fields as well, space selects things etc.
In 5.2 I made sure that almost all fields (if not all of them - i can't remember) have this alt+<key> keyboard shortcut, so theoretically you can do anything using the keyboard (like in any professional tool).
And as for keyboard shortcuts (ctrl+f etc.) - everything is customizable by the user.
I don't really like using the mouse unless I have to but I completely agree that different users are used to different things and making everything optional is a good idea.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
> I do NOT in any way like the fact that when a search is over that the search window now closes.
A hidden setting (manually set dlgAlwaysVisible as "yes" in config.xml) will be added in the next version to restore this behaviour. However, the default behaviour will be "hiding the dialog if any result found". As well, almost all settings of find/replace dialog will be remembered on the next session.
> The news section of the webpage (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) is pretty dated.
I do my best to keep it updated. I'm waiting for a new design of site to get it done well.
If anyone want to contribute about it, they are welcome.
Don
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
For anyone who searches for this topic and finds this thread, you can't actually change the 'dlgAlwaysVisible' value in config.xml from within Notepad++ itself. If you do, when you close NP++, NP++ will overwrite the value automatically back to "no". So in order to make this change stick, you have to change it in some other text editor (like original Notepad) *when NP++ is not open*. Then when you subsequently open NP++, it will remember and keep this value setting. FYI.
Thank you Don for putting this option in. Makes all the difference for me. Much appreciated.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
First off, the more I code over the years, the more I find myself using Notepad++, even against other commercial products. So thank you for an excellent product, and its extensibility. Especially the TextFX features. (If only someone would create a UNICODE version of the color picker [insert rolling-eyes emoticon here]).
Now, on to new 5.2 functionality...
I really like the new 'replace in files' feature. I have wanted this for a long time.
I must admit I'm not that thrilled with the way the new search results are now laid out. For one thing, my custom color scheme no longer seems to work with some of the text styles, in particular 'search result > NUMBER', which doesn't seem to correctly recognize the background color for line numbers. Also, keeping previous search results in the search window should be an option, not a rule. I do a lot of searching, and don't generally need to keep previous results. It starts to clutter things up after a while, even if it is collapsible. I know that you can DEL results as needed, but I'd rather just not have them saved at all, given the choice.
I do like the 'Searching... Press Enter to Cancel' feature. It is a nice option, just in case.
I do NOT in any way like the fact that when a search is over that the search window now closes. I search for things constantly in code and keep the search window open with transparency as a rule. Having to reopen the window seriously interferes with my workflow. So much so that I uninstalled 5.2 and reinstalled 5.1.4. Please, please, please create an option somewhere to keep the search window open after a completed search. Please! I do not want to keep hitting Ctrl-Shift-F every time I need to do a new search. Seems like a small thing, I'm sure, but it's a big thing to me. Half of my 'programming time' is spent searching for functions/variables/etc. in mountains of other people's code. Having the window stay open helps my life considerably.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
PS: The news section of the webpage (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) is pretty dated. You should probably just link to the Sourceforge page (https://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus/), or kill the section off entirely for this site version. It almost makes it look like Notepad++ is abandoned - the last version being listed as 4.9 Worker's Day Edition.
See http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/notepad-plus/index.php?title=Configuration_Files for ways on using N++ to modify its own configuration files.
CChris
Hi Oroboros,
I'm sure many of use share your appreciation of N++.
Thanks for pointing out that the News section on the N++ home page is out of date. A few weeks ago I volunteered to start work on documentation which includes the contents of web pages. At the moment I'm still putting together a comprehensive plan but you should start to see improvements in the organization and quality of content of online pages in the next four weeks. I have to organize permissions and decide on priorities before I can really get to work.
Hi, Color Picker Unicode DOES exist: http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=5788484
Hi,
Regarding "custom color scheme" - I think that your stylers.xml is not updated.
Please see my message here:
https://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=6377406
Regarding "keeping previous search results in the search window " and "search window now closes" options - I agree, it should be optional but Don doesn't want to clutter the settings dialog (more than it is now).
Just wondering, if you keep the search dialog constantly open, you still need to set the focus on it before searching, this can be done only by using the ctrl+shif+f or by using the mouse, as far as I know. Do you find using the mouse easier?
Greg, just don't want people getting the wrong idea about where N++ is at.
Thank you, cocinerox, for the color picker link. Much appreciated.
Y N, I will look into your 'custom color scheme' error. I no longer have 5.2 installed, so it's not so much an issue currently, but that could very well be the problem I had.
True, I do have to click the mouse to activate the search window, but as I generally need to click on the 'Find what', 'Directory, or 'Match case' fields, too, amongst others, it's easier than keying Ctrl-Shift-F, then mousing the options I need separately. I regularly use extended and regular expression modes and match case modes, changing between them often, so my mouse needs to be in the neighborhood as it is. Given the 3 or 4 clicks I'll be doing anyway, one more click hardly kills the flow.
Also - and this is huge - I can click one time to get either the 'Find', 'Replace', or 'Find in Files' window, depending upon what I need at the moment, without having to remember the distinct keyboard sequence for each one separately. The alternative might unfortunately be keying the one I remember, then adding the additional step of clicking on the window I actually wanted. Not cool. And I'm sure I'm not alone in not remembering every keyboard shortcut.
Bottom line, the additional keyboard step winds up making N++ much less speedy.
I realize it's just a convention I'm used to, and I'm sure it seems like a small thing, but heavy searching is integral to my workflow and one of the main reasons I use N++. So I'm not happy with the development ... which seems like a step backwards, to me. I think of N++ as more of a pro tool, not a newbie friendly, "I'll do the thinking for you" utility. I don't want N++ to start turning into a Dreamweaver, "doing the clicks for you", losing its focus as a professional programming tool, trying to be "friendly".
Just so you know - there's an easy way of selecting the extended and regular expression modes 'Find what', 'Directory, or 'Match case' fields, and so on, using the keyboard:
press the alt+<key> where key if the letter which is underlined in the dialog box.
also - "tab" moves between the different fields as well, space selects things etc.
In 5.2 I made sure that almost all fields (if not all of them - i can't remember) have this alt+<key> keyboard shortcut, so theoretically you can do anything using the keyboard (like in any professional tool).
And as for keyboard shortcuts (ctrl+f etc.) - everything is customizable by the user.
I don't really like using the mouse unless I have to but I completely agree that different users are used to different things and making everything optional is a good idea.
> I do NOT in any way like the fact that when a search is over that the search window now closes.
A hidden setting (manually set dlgAlwaysVisible as "yes" in config.xml) will be added in the next version to restore this behaviour. However, the default behaviour will be "hiding the dialog if any result found". As well, almost all settings of find/replace dialog will be remembered on the next session.
> The news section of the webpage (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) is pretty dated.
I do my best to keep it updated. I'm waiting for a new design of site to get it done well.
If anyone want to contribute about it, they are welcome.
Don
For anyone who searches for this topic and finds this thread, you can't actually change the 'dlgAlwaysVisible' value in config.xml from within Notepad++ itself. If you do, when you close NP++, NP++ will overwrite the value automatically back to "no". So in order to make this change stick, you have to change it in some other text editor (like original Notepad) *when NP++ is not open*. Then when you subsequently open NP++, it will remember and keep this value setting. FYI.
Thank you Don for putting this option in. Makes all the difference for me. Much appreciated.
Don HO, thank you very much for this. I really appreciate it.