bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?"

[st333v]

since updating to the latest version of n++ im getting this annoying dialog popping up {“file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?”

this used to only occur to me when i used n++ to edit text files on an ftp server, after editing the file, saving it, and uploaded it back to the ftp server, then closing the ftp client obviously that is useful in that situation, as i am finished with editing that file and dont need it any more, so i select not to keep it in the editor,

however, now i am getting this dialog popping up for normal files that i am editing in my windows filesystem, that actually are still there, they have not disappeared, its really weird and frustrating. what is going on?

[xomx]

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

since updating to the latest version of n++

Please append here your current N++ debug info (menu > ? > Debug Info…)

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

now i am getting this dialog popping up for normal files that i am editing in my windows filesystem,

Are you experiencing this with all your local files or only with some of them?
(I am trying to find some reason - e.g. files from one specific dir or with very long paths or from mapped GoogleDrive folder, etc…)

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

what is going on?

IDK your N++ version number but v8.7.1 solved N++ hanging due to suddenly disconnected network resources with opened files, by introducing file checking worker threads. To prevent the app-hanging, these IO threads have some predefined max-delay. So theoretically, the problematic behavior described above could occur if the response to a file-check from the Windows OS filesystem API took longer than a predefined period of time (currently in v8.7.5+ 3 secs).

You can try to set ON some specific N++ logging - create empty trigger file nppLogNetworkDriveIssue.xml either in your %APPDATA%\Notepad++\ folder (for installed N++) or in the same folder where the main executable notepad++.exe is (for portable version). Then reproduce the problem and collect the nppLogNetworkDriveIssue.log file from the same folder where your trigger file is.

[st333v]

its not occuring on all files. it just seems to be affecting the one main file im editing regularly. though after i closed that file, as i couldnt save it, the next file along in the tab list also caused the same dialog to popup. so it looks like if i kept closing all the files, it might go through them one by one with the same dialog … hmm… i would need to test that further. i have quite a few files open, about 25. alsoo my pc is quite old, and sometimes slows down a great deal. i guess that could trigger the issue you describe of the api call not responding in a certain amount of time…

after i click “yes” to keep the file in the editor the program seems to hang.
at least it does when i click the blue disk icon to save the file, to get rid of the red disk icon (which shows the file is unsaved)
then it hangs for a while, then the dialog comes back again. i should add, i hadn’t updated npp for quite a while, before updating to this version. dont remember what the previous version number i had was

as well as updating npp i recently installed the nppopenai plugin. dont know if that has anything to do with it. i have just uninstalled it, in the hope it will fix things.

heres the debug info, and i have created the log trigger file as you suggested. i will close the program down, and next time it occurs, i will paste the log here

Notepad++ v8.7.5 (32-bit)
Build time : Dec 21 2024 - 05:11:15
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
Periodic Backup : ON
Placeholders : OFF
DirectWrite : OFF
Multi-instance Mode : monoInst
File Status Auto-Detection : cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode : OFF
OS Name : Windows 10 Pro (32-bit)
OS Version : 22H2
OS Build : 19045.5487
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins :
DSpellCheck (1.5)
mimeTools (3.1)
NppConverter (4.6)
NppExport (0.4)
NppOpenAI (0.4.1)

[st333v]

its happened again, i killed the process as it had hung. re-opened it after a few minutes, then made some changes, saved the changes. then a bit later made another change and tried to save it, then it locked up, and shortly after it popped the dialog message up about “the file no longer exists, do you want to keep it in the editor”
it wouldnt let me save the file basically, and has locked up again, heres the contenbts of the log file you asked for

2025-03-07 16:53:04 C:\code\fbpurity\builds\gm\fbpurity.user.js in Buffer::updateTimeStamp(), getFileAttributesExWithTimeout returned FALSE, its worker thread had to be forcefully terminated due to timeout reached!
2025-03-07 16:53:14 C:\code\fbpurity\builds\gm\fbpurity.user.js in Buffer::checkFileState(), getFileAttributesExWithTimeout returned FALSE, its worker thread had to be forcefully terminated due to timeout reached!
2025-03-07 16:53:38 C:\code\fbpurity\builds\gm\fbpurity.user.js in Buffer::checkFileState(), getFileAttributesExWithTimeout returned FALSE, its worker thread had to be forcefully terminated due to timeout reached!
2025-03-07 16:53:44 C:\code\fbpurity\builds\gm\fbpurity.user.js in Buffer::checkFileState(), getFileAttributesExWithTimeout returned FALSE, its worker thread had to be forcefully terminated due to timeout reached!

[st333v]

@st333v i am regretting updating npp now. its definitely not the nppopenai plugin as im still getting the error. i knew there was a reason why i was holding off updating. i think ive had problems with updated versions of software before. maytbe i should downgrade to the previous version?

another datapoint. it seems to be going throught the “file does not exist, keep in editor” for each open file. its just going really slowly. after iclick “yes” on one dialog box, the system locks up for ages, then a few minutes later, the popup will show for the next open file, its going through them systematically… oh gosh, i think im going to need to either switch to a different editor or just downgrade to a previous version.

[xomx]

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

i should downgrade to the previous version?

You can, of course, whenever (if we do not solve your problem better, then use any version 8.7 or older ).

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

the log file you asked for

Thanks. This confirmed my suspicion - your PC cannot answer the GetFileAttributesEx WINAPI call within a time-period given! This is very odd for any local file, as that system call is computationally inexpensive & fast (it usually can take few milliseconds to complete) and your filesystem cannot answer in 3 secs! I’ve seen some users report this problem before, but it was always with network files when the network was really slow or had outages.

Could you please test the same with a fresh N++ portable version (to rule out the possibility of corrupted/misconfigured N++ settings)? Just download 32-bit version here and unzip to any writable folder and run there the notepad++.exe.

[st333v]

@xomx i installed the portable version 8.7.7 and not had any problems so far. with it. but only have one file open.

is there a config file i can copy over from the installed version that will make it open all the files that i had opened, to make it a like for like comparison?

[xomx]

@st333v

%APPDATA%\Notepad++\session.xml (copy it to the same dir where your portable notepad++.exe is).

[st333v]

@xomx thanks, i will try it

[st333v]

@xomx after working ok for a couple of days. im just now getting the same problem with the portable version. i double checked it was the portable version by examining the properties of the process in the windows task manager.

[st333v]

@st333v i was going to give up and try out vscode, but found they dont support 32bit anymore, so have gone back to NPP 8.7 as recommended

[xomx]

@st333v said in bug : "{file} doesnt exist any more. Keep file in editor?":

after working ok for a couple of days. im just now getting the same problem with the portable version

Hmm, IMO it looks like the problem is somewhere on your comp (and not in N++, otherwise it could not work for few days ok and then not…). I bet on some antivirus like SW or corporate spyware or similar.

[xomx]

I just remembered similar “file does not exist” issue in the N++ v8.7.1+ caused by an interfering SW (in that case by the corporate telemetry spyware Teramind, monitoring all the files opened by user):

https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/26462/file-does-not-exist