Encoding not retained when moving a file to a new instance.

Compu chan · Jul 28, 2018, 5:16 AM

This is just a very minor inconvenience, but when I drag and drop a file i’m editing into it’s own window it reverts back to ANSI encoding.
I want it to remain OEM-US. I guess I need to change the default encoding.

I see an option, Settings>Preferences>New Document>Encoding, which i’ve already set to OEM-US.
I’ve also tried to edit and save the file with OEM-US encoding before moving it to a new instance.

Compu chan · Jul 28, 2018, 5:25 AM

This question pertains to Notepad++ v7.5.5 32-bit, running on Windows XP.

guy038 · Jul 28, 2018, 4:04 PM

Hello @compu-chan and All,

On my Win XP configuration, I did a test :

I downloaded the 7z archive of the last 7.5.8 version of Notepad++
I extracted all files in folder D:\Test
I started N++ and I customized in Settings > Preferences.. my usual settings and, particularly, the Backup > Remember current session for next launch option
As you, I set the default encoding to OEM-US encoding, in Setting > Preferences...> New document > Encoding
Then, I opened several files ( change.log, license.txt, readme.txt )

=> Of course, the default encoding used, for existing files is ANSI

So, I changed, for instance, the encoding of the readme.txt file to OEM-US

=> And, after closing and re-starting Notepad++, I do get the same OEM-US encoding for the readme.txt file !

Now, I opened a console DOS window and moved to the D:\test folder
With the command notepad++.exe -multiInst, I opened a new instance of N++

=> As expected, this 2nd instance contained all the files of the 1st instance ( current session ) and the encoding of readme.txt was, indeed, OEM-US

Then, I closed this second instance and re-opened it, without any session, with the DOS command notepad++ -nosession -multiInst

=> As expected, only a new 1 file was opened, with the customized encoding OEM-US

I opened the readme.txt file and, this time, as you saw, the encoding of readme.txt was ANSI !
Again, I closed this second instance and re-opened it, without any session, with the DOS command notepad++ -nosession -multiInst
Now, using the Ctrl + Drag and Drop, I copied the readme.txt tab of the 1st N++ instance to the 2nd N++ instance

=> Again, the default encoding of the readme.txt file was ANSI

Simply, note that this behaviour is identical, if no 2nd instance is involved in process ! Indeed :

Close any supplementary instance of N++
Now, close your 1st N++ instance

=> On re-starting N++, the readme.txt encoding is still OEM-US, according to information of the session.xml configuration file

Then close ( Ctrl + W ) the readme.txt tab and re-open it with the Restore Recent Closed File command ( Ctrl + Shift + T )

As during the tests, above, with a 2nd instance, the initial OEM-US encoding is lost and the default ANSI encoding is chosen for the readme.txt file !

Conclusion :

You must live with this small drawback :-((. And, to my mind, if you want to keep a chosen encoding, taken from Encoding > Character Sets, for a given file, from one session to another, closing and re-starting N++, the only way seems :

Get the option Remember current session for next launch ticked, in Preferences... > Backup
Do not close the given file’s tab, before exiting N++

Best regards,

guy038