Npp User Manual

User Manual:

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 22

 Introduction
 FileManagement
 SessionManagement
 Editing
 DocumentProperties
 Searching
 Display
 Macros
 Commands
 WindowsDialog
 GUIElements
 SwitchingbetweenDocuments
 Languages
 Settings
 Plugins
 CommandLine
 ControlFiles
 ShellExtension
 Upgrading
 FurtherHelp
TableofContents
npp-user-manual
2

Notepad++UserManualThisdocumentisdedicatedtothecountlesslosthoursofbothpeoplehavingtosearchforsimple

answers,andpeoplehavingtoanswerquestionsthatshouldn'thavetobeaskedinthefirstplace.Documentationisalways

hardtoget,gooddocumentationnearlyimpossible.

ThismarkupisbasedinthedefaultappearanceofMicrosoftWindows.Thiscanbedifferentonyourownsystem,butthe

names(text)shouldalwaysthesame.Thisisespeciallyimportantonthescreenshots.Theyareonlyforreference,your

appearanceofNotepad++canbequitedifferent.

Alltheimagesusedinthishelpfileassumethedefaultsettings.Ifyouchangeanyofthesesettings,you'llhavetolookfor

theotherimageinstead,thisismostnoticeablewiththetoolbar(thepositionofimageswillalwaysremainthesame).

Also,whentalkingabouttheleftandrightmousebuttons,thelogicalleftandrightismeant.Thesearethesameasthe

physicalleftandrightmousebuttonsinthecaseofaright-handedsetup.However,ifyouhavealeft-handedsetupyouwill

probablyhavethebuttonsswappedsoactaccordingly.Thismeansingeneralyoudowhatyounormallydoformost

actions,Notepad++mostlyfollowsthestandardWindowsapplicationbehavior.

Likewise,thelayoutisdiscussedasitisdisplayedinaleft-to-rightorder.Onright-to-leftsystems(suchasHebrew)

translatedversionsofNotepad++canhavethedisplayorderreversed,adjustaccordinglyaswell.

Notepad++UserManual

npp-user-manual

3Introduction

Seethesub-sectionstoseeothermethodstomanageyourfiles.

npp-user-manual

4FileManagement

SessionsareasetoffilesopenedinNotepad++.

Theystoretheopenfiles,theactivefile(andwhichview,seethesectionaboutMulti-View),thecurrentselectionand

positioninthefile,thecurrentbookmarks(seeBookmarks)andthecurrentlanguage(seethesectionaboutLanguages).

Usingsessions,youcanopenasetof(related)fileswithoneaction.

npp-user-manual

5SessionManagement

Primarilyeditingfilesisdonebysimplyusingthekeyboard(orthestandardInputMethodEditor(IME)foreasternasian

language)tochangethecontents,insertinganddeletingtextasneeded.

However,Notepad++hasmanytoolsandaidstoassistineditingfiles,mainlytoautomaterepetitivetasksorspeedup

development.

Notepad++isbasedontheScintillaeditcontrolandreliesonittoperformmanyeditingtasks,supplementingitifuseful.

npp-user-manual

6Editing

Adocumenthascertaincharacteristicsinthewayitsstoredonyourhard-disk.Thesefollowingsubjectscontrolsomeof

thoseaspects.

Note:boththedefaultNewlineformatandtheencodingofnewfilescanbeset,seeNewdocumentsettingsformore

details.

Thecurrentpropertiesofadocument,likeitscharactercount,selectionstatisticsandsuch,areavailablethroughtheView-

>Summary.

whichcontainsthefollowinginformation:

Fullyqualifiedactivedocumentpath

Creationdate

Lastmodificationdate

Bytesizeofdocument

Charactercountofthedocument,blanksexcluded

Charactercountofthedocument

Linecount

Sizeofselection(characters,bytesandranges)

NotethatthecharactercountandbytecountarenotafunctionofeachotherinUTF-8(seeEncoding).

npp-user-manual

7DocumentProperties

Therearemultiplemethodstosearch(andreplace)textinfiles.Youcanalsomarksearchresultswithbookmarks,or

highlightthem.

npp-user-manual

8Searching

Thesubjectsdescribedherecontroltheappearanceofthetextinthescreen.

npp-user-manual

9Display

Notepad++iscapableofrecordingsomeofyouractionsyouperformwhileeditingadocument,andreplayingthoselateron

toavoidhavingtorepeatthatsequenceofactions.Thisiscalledamacroandcansaveagreatdealoftime.Macro'scan

beplayedonce,ormultipletimes,evenaslongasisrequiredtorunthroughanentiredocument.Youcansavethemfor

lateruseandassignkeystrokestothemforfastaccess(SeeShortcutMapper).Macro'saresensitivetothecurrentposition

ofthecursorandwill(normallyspeaking)operaterelativeonit.

Torecordamacro,selectMacro->StartRecordingorpressthebuttononthetoolbar.Notepad++willnowkeeptrackofthe

changesyoumakeonadocumentorcertainactionsyouperform.

Tostoprecording,selectMacro->StopRecordingorselectthebuttononthetoolbar.Asanexceptiontomostcommands,

youcantogglethisbehaviorwithaspecialshortcutcombinationthatisnotlistedinthemenubutsolelyintheShortcut

mapper(seeSettings,Shortcutmapper).Bydefault,thisisthecombinationCtrl-Shift-R.

Aftertherecordingisstopped,itwillbestoredinatemporarybuffer.Ifyouhaven'tperformedanyactions,thisbufferwillbe

cleared.Ifyoustartrecordinganothermacrowithoutsavingyourearlierwork,itwillbelost.

Toplaythemacrointhebuffer,selectMacro->Playbackorpressthebutton.Thiswillperformthemacroonceatthecurrent

position.

Tosavethemacrointhebuffer,selectMacro->Savecurrentrecordedmacroorpressthebutton.Adialogwillpopup

askingforanameofthemacroandthedefaultkeycombination.Thesecanlaterbechanged(anddeleted)usingthe

Shortcutmapper(seeShortcutMapper).Whensaved,themacrowillbeavailablefromtheMacromenuortheMacro

playlist.

Toplaythecurrentmacrointhebufferoranysavedmacroonceormultipletimes,selectMacro->Runamacromultiple

times...orpressthebutton.Adialogwillpopupallowingyoutoselectwhatmacrotoperform(buffermacrooranysaved

macro)andhowmanytimes.Youcanalsoopttoperformthemacrountilthecursorreachestheendofthecurrentfile

(startingfromitscurrentposition).Notethatifnomacro'sareavailable,thisdialogisinaccessible.

Toeditordeleteanexistingmacroshortcut,youcanusetheShortcutmapper,whichdisplaysallshortcutsofallkinds,and

allowschangingorremovingakeybinding.TheinterfaceisalsoavailablethroughtheMacro->Modifyshortcut/Delete

macroentryontheMacrosmenu.Notethatthecontentsofamacrodefinitioncanbeeditedonlyintheshortcuts.xmlfile.

npp-user-manual

10Macros

CommandsallowyoutoexecuteapplicationsfromNotepad++,forexampletoopenyourcurrentfileinabrowseror

compileitwithsomeexternalcompiler.Youcanpasstheprogramcommandlineparametersbasedonthecurrentstatusof

yourdocument.

Torunanewcommand:

SselectRun->Run....Adialogwillpopupaskingforthepathtotheprogramandpossibleanycommandlineparameters.

Youcanusethebrowsebuttontosearchforyourprogram.Thedropdownlistprovidesrecentlyrunprograms.The

commandlineargumentscanalsobebasedonthestatusofthecurrentdocument,andarealwaysenclosedin$(...),

where…canbe:

FULL_CURRENT_PATHthefullyqualifiedpathtothecurrentdocument.CURRENT_DIRECTORYThedirectorythe

currentdocumentresidesin.FILE_NAMEThefilenameofthedocument,withoutthedirectory.NAME_PARTThefilename

withouttheextension.EXT_PARTTheextensionofthecurrentdocument.NPP_DIRECTORYThedirectorythatcontains

thenotepad++.exeexecutablethatiscurrentlyrunning.

CURRENT_WORDThecurrentlyselectedtextinthedocument.CURRENT_LINEThecurrentlinenumberthatis

selectedinthedocument(0basedindex,thefirstlineis0).CURRENT_COLUMNThecurrentcolumnthecursor

residesin(0basedindex,thefirstpositiononthelineis0).Forexample,

"$(NPP_DIRECTORY)\notepad++.exe"-multiInst"$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)"wouldstartanewinstanceofNotepad++

openingthecurrentfile.Remembertoputquotesaroundpathsifitcancontainspaces.FortheNotepad++commandline

options,seeCommandLine.

Torunanexistingcommand:

SelectitfromtheRunmenubelowtheRun...option.Ifnocommandsaresaved,thelistwillbeempty.

Tosavethecommand:

SselectRun->Run...,enterthecommandandpressSave....Adialogwillpopupaskingforanameofthecommandandthe

defaultkeycombination.Oncesaved,thecommandwillbeavailablefromtheRunmenu.

Toeditordeleteanexistingcommand:

TheShortcutMapper(seeShortcutMapper)displaysallavailablecommandsinauniformway,soyoucanmodifyordelete

anyshortcutyoudefined,includingRuncommands.ThisprocedureisalsoavailablefromRun->Modifyshortcut/Delete

command.Asthenamesuggests,thisdoesnotextendtoeditingthecommandtextproper-youneedtoeditshortcuts.xml

todothat.

npp-user-manual

11Commands

TheWindowmenuallowsyoutoselectafilefromthelistofthefirst10opendocumentsintheactiveview(seealsoMulti

View).Selectingadocumentfromthelistwillactivateit.

YoucanopentheWindowsdialogbyselectingWindow->Windows....TheWindowsdialogallowsyoutomanageallthe

currentlyopendocumentsoftheactivateview.

TheWindowsdialogshowsalistofalltheopendocumentsintheactiveview.Youcanselectoneormoredocumentsfrom

thelist.LikeanyWindowslistcontrol,selectmultiplebydraggingduringclickingwithyourmouse,orbypressingCtrlor

Shiftwhenselectingbyclicking.OrusethearrowkeysonyourkeyboardoptionallywiththeCtrlorShiftkeydepressed(if

youdoso,usethespacebarkeytoselect).

SelectingoneallowsyoutoactivateitbyclickingontheActivatebutton.Thiswillclosethedialog.

SelectingoneormoreallowsyoutoclickontheSavebutton,thiswillperformtheSaveoperationifpossibleonallselected

documents(ifaSaveAs..operationisneeded,nothingwillhappen(seeFileManagement,OpeningandSaving)).

SelectingoneormorealsoallowsyoutoclosethosedocumentsbyclickingonCloseWindow(s).Ifadocumentcontains

anychanges,youwillbeaskedifyouwanttosavethem.

Tosortthedocumentsusingthedialog,firstsortthelistbyselectingoneofthecolumntitlesinthetop(selectingtwice

invertsthesortorder).Afterdoingso,selectSortTabstosortthem,thedocumentswillberearrangedintheview.

ClickOKtoclosethedialog.

npp-user-manual

12WindowsDialog

ThemainNotepad++viewconsistsofafewGUIelements.Thesesectionselaborateabitonthem.Theirnameswill

displayasatooltipasthemousehoversoverthecorrespondingclickableareasonthebigpicture:

npp-user-manual

13GUIElements

Forswitchingbetweendocumentstheforemostmethodisbyusingthetabbar.However,youcanalsousethekeyboardor

mousetodoso.Bydefault,youcanswitchtothenextdocumentbydepressingtheCtrlkeyandthenpressingTaboncefor

eachnextdocument.Pressingshiftaswellwillselectthepreviousdocument.Tousethemouse,depresstherightmouse

buttonandusethescrollwheel.Scrollingupwillselectthepreviousdocument,scrollingdownthenext.Theorderofthe

documentsisderivedfromthetabbar.SeeTabBarorWindowsDialogforinformationonhowtochangeit.

Documentswillbydefaultbecyclicallyselected,meaningthatifyouselectthedocumentpastthelastone,thefirstwillbe

selected.Iftwoviewsarevisible,thefirstdocumentoftheotherviewwillbeselected.

Selectingthedocumentprevioustothefirstdocumentwillselectthelastdocument(iftwoviewsarevisiblethatwillbethe

lastdocumentoftheotherview).

npp-user-manual

14SwitchingbetweenDocuments

Notepad++candistinguishbetweendifferentlanguagessourcecodecanbewrittenin.Thisisusefultoallowcertain

modificationsandvisualaidstobeappliedspecificallydesignedforthatlanguage.Forexample,alanguagecould

distinguishcertainkeywordsthathavetobedifferentlyinterpreted,andassuchitcanbeusefultodistinguishthese

keywordsusinganothercolororfont.Thelanguagealsodeterminesthefoldingbehavior(seeFolding)andhowtohandle

comments(seeCommenting).

Notepad++offersalotoflanguagesthatcanbeselected,andhasafewmethodstoaddyourownaswillbediscussed.By

defaultNotepad++willtrytoguessthelanguageofadocumentbytheextensionofthefilename(ifitisafile)orthedefault

settingifitisanewdocument(seePreferences).Toselectanotherlanguage,simplyselectitfromtheLanguagemenu.

Thelanguageofthecurrentlyactivedocumentisvisibleinthestatusbarinthefirstsection(seeStatusBar).Bydefaulta

languagecanhavemultiplekeywords,dividedincertaincategories.Italsodeterminesthesymbolsusedforcommentsand

whatextensionsareassociatedwithitbydefault.Youcansupplementthekeywordsandthelistofextensionsusingthe

StylerConfigurator,italsoallowsyoutochangethecolorsusedtoprintthetext.

Ifyouliketodefineyourownlanguage,youcandosobytwomeans.Themostsimpleandstraightforwardmethodisto

makeuserofaUserDefinedLanguage(seeUserDefinedLanguages),butyoucanalsocreateyourownexternallexer

(seeExternalLexers).Thisismoreflexiblebutalsoalotmoredifficulttomake.

npp-user-manual

15Languages

ControlmanytheaspectsofNotepad++.Theyaredividedinthreemaingroups:Preferences,StylerConfiguratorand

ShortcutMapper.

TheShortcutMapperisalistofkeyboardshortcutstoeverythingthatcanhaveoneinNotepad++.StylerConfigurator

allowschangingthevisualappearanceofanythingthathasacolourorafont.ThePreferencesdialogmanageseverything

else.WhiletherearevariousaspectsinNotepad++thatarenotconfigurable,youmaynotevennoticethem.

npp-user-manual

16Settings

Notepad++isveryextensibleusingsocalledplugins.PluginsaresmallorbigadditionstoNotepad++toenhanceits

functionality.Notepad++comesbundledwithafewplugins(whenusingtheinstaller,youcanchoosewhichonestoadd),

butyoucanalwaysaddyourownorremovesome.ThepluginsarelocatedinthePluginsdirectoryinthemainNotepad++

installationdirectory.TheyareDLLfilesandsimplyremovingoraddingthemisenough.

WhenNotepad++starts,itlooksintoitsPluginsconfigurationfolderandloadswhateverdllitfinds.Later,youcanadd

pluginsusingtheSettings->Import->Importpluginsmenu.BecarefultomakesureyourversionofNotepad++isup-to-

dateenoughfornewpluginsandthatthepluginiscompatiblewithNotepad++(someveryoldpluginswillnotworkwith

newerversionsofNotepad++,itisuptothedeveloperoftheplugintoaddsupportornot).

Currently,Notepad++canbefoundinan(older)ANSIversionandthenewerUnicodeversion.Thepluginhastomatchthis

version,otherwiseitwillnotwork(Notepad++willwarnyouaboutthis).Pluginscanbefoundanywhereontheinternet,but

alargecanbefoundintheNotepad++PluginsprojectonSourceForge.net:http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/.

Thereisevenaplugin,calledPluginManager,whichworksouttheinstallationdetailsandversionmanagementforyou.

Ifapluginmisbehaves,Notepad++willgooutofitswaytopreventthefailurefrompropagatingsoastoavoidanylossof

data.Insuchacase,youwillbepresentedwithinformationaboutthepluginreportingaproblem.Makingthisinformation

availableonthePluginDevelopmentforumwillhelpremovingthecauseoftheproblemassoonaspossible.

npp-user-manual

17Plugins

Notepad++.exe[-multiInst][-noPlugin][-ro][-nosession][-notabbar][-n##][-l$$$][FILES]Notepad++supportsafew

commandlineparameterstocontrolitsstartup.Thefollowingoptionsaresupported(theyarecasesensitive):

-nlinenumberLinenumbertogotoforeachfileopened.-cStarteditinginColumnmode.--helpDisplaysthislist,i.e.allthe

commandlineswitches-loadingTimeDisplaystheloadingtimeofallfilesNotepad++isstartedwith.Theresultisdisplayed

inamessagebox,witha0.01secondresolution.-multiInstallowNotepad++tostartmorethanoneinstance.Bydefault,if

Notepad++isalreadystartedfileswillbeopenedinthatinstance,butthisoptionwillstartanewone.-noPluginDonotload

anyplugins.Ifyoususpectadefunctpluginoryoujustdonotwishtoloadthem,addthisoption.-roAnyfilenowopened

willbeopenedinReadonlymode.-nosessionDonotloadtheprevioussessionifNotepad++isstarted.Donotsavethe

sessiononexiteither.-notabbarHidetheTabBar,evenifthesettingssayotherwise.-systemtrayStartNotepad++

minimisedinthesystemtray,akanotificationarea-xlinenumberSpecifythehorizontalposition(inpixels)atwhich

Notepad++mainwindowistoopen.-ylinenumberSpecifytheverticalposition(inpixels)atwhichNotepad++mainwindow

istoopen.-llanguageshortnameLanguagetosetforeachfileopened.$$$isashortidentifierstring,ofwhichthe

followingareallowed:

normal,php,c,cpp,cs,objc,d,java,rc,html,xml,makefile,pascal,batch,ini,nfo,asp,sql,vb,javascript,css,perl,python,

lua,tex,cobol,fortran,bash,actionscript,nsis,tcl,lisp,scheme,asm,diff,props,postscript,ruby,smalltalk,vhdl,kix,autoit,

Gui4Cli,powershell,caml,ada,verilog,matlab,haskell,inno,cmake,yaml,r,jspFilesAnythingelsewillbeinterpretedasa

filename.Alwaysquoteyourfilenametoallowthepathtocontainspaces,otherwiseNotepad++willsplitthesinglepath

intomultiplepathsateachspace.

Theorderoftheoptionsisnotimportant.

Forcompatibility,Notepad++willfirsttrytoidentifytheentirecommandlineasafilename,evenifitisunquoted.Itis

howevernotrecommendedtodothis,alwaysquotethefilename.

npp-user-manual

18CommandLine

ThestartupbehaviorofNotepad++canbeadjustedwithafew(0sized)controlfiles.Theirabsenceorpresencewillcontrol

howNotepad++acts:

doLocalConf.xmlIfpresent,Notepad++willusetheinstallationdirectoryforallconfigurations.Ifabsent,%APPDATA%is

usedinstead.asNotepad.xmlIfpresent,Notepad++willactasWindowsNotepad,meaningitwilllaunchinmultiple

instances,hidesthetabbarandwillnotloadtheprevioussession.

npp-user-manual

19ControlFiles

BydefaulttheNotepad++installercomeswithaShellextension.ThisisnotreallypartoftheNotepad++programbutvery

useful.Ifyouchoosetoinstallit,thenanyfileyourightclickonwillshowanentrynamed“EditwithNotepad++”withthe

Notepad++icon.

Pleasenotethattoinstallorremovetheextension,itsometimesisrequiredtorestarttheExplorerprocess.Forthisyou

canreboot,logoutandlogbackinorusethetaskmanagertokillexplorer(WindowsNTandup)andrestartitagain.You

candothisbyhittingCtrl+Alt+Shift+Del.

IftheShellextensionisalreadyinstalled,theNotepad++installercannotupdateoroverwriteit,youfirsthavetouninstallit

andrestartExplorer.

Ifyouissuetheinstallcommandforthedll,whichisregsvr32/iNppShell_01.dll,adialogboxwillpopupfromwhichvarious

detailsofthebehaviouroftheextensioncanbetweaked.Thetrailingnumberwillincreaseasversionsgo.

npp-user-manual

20ShellExtension

Notepad++isanactivelymaintainedpieceofsoftware,andnewversionscomefast.Therearebasicallythreewaystokeep

abreastofchanges:

EnablingtheAutoUpdatefeature.Whenanewversionisreleased,andaftersomedelay-15days,youwillbenotifiedthat

anewversionisavailable,andpresentedwiththeoptionofinstallingthatnewerversion.Usingthe?->UpdateNotepad++

command.Thiswillcheckwhetherthereisanewversionandwhetherthesafetydelayisover.Ifso,youarepresentedwith

theopportunitytodownloadandinstallthenewerversion.Goingtothemainwebsiteanddownloadingthelatestinstalleror

zippedarchive.Thesafetydelayisprovidedsothat,incaseacriticalbugisspottedonanewrelease,acorrectiverelease

isdonequicklyenough,preventingbadbugstobecomewidespread.

npp-user-manual

21Upgrading

IfyouwantmoreinformationorhelpforNotepad++,orwanttosubmitsomefeedback,thesearesomepossibilities.

npp-user-manual

22FurtherHelp

Npp User Manual

Navigation menu

Versions of this User Manual:

Views

Navigation