Can't save file with name of already opened file

Radim Tat

some times before (1 week ago) it wasn’t problem, after saving with that way notepad++ just requested to update already opened file with new version.
And now i have typical ERROR “The file is already opened in the Notepad++”,
Administrator mod doesn’t helped.

PeterJones

Let me see if I understand the situation:

You have a file, let’s call it original.txt, open in Notepad++
You use File > New to create a new tab in Notepad++, and then edit that new tab.
You choose File > Save (or File > Save As…), and select the same path and name as original.txt
Notepad++ asks you if you want to replace it, and you say Yes
Notepad++ informs you with an ERROR dialog that “The file is already opened in the Notepad++”

I concur, that is the current behavior (v7.5.8 32-bit).

To me, that seems a reasonable behavior. If you really want the contents of your new tab (labeled as new # for some numeric value of #) to be saved as a file you already have open, there are two easy options: 1) close the original tab, then do the Save/Save As… from the new # tab; or 2) copy the contents from the new # tab to the original.txt tab, and do the Save from the existing original.txt tab.

Okay, I just tried a couple of my older portable/standalone versions: at least as far back as v7.5.0, it’s been under the current behavior, so it’s not a recent change. Ah, there, v7.4.2 32-bit (from Jun 2017) shows the behavior you seem to want: When I say Yes on step #4, it does save… now I have two tabs in the same editor that claim to be the same file with the same name, and both claim to be saved, but one has the “original text that I typed”, and the other has the “new text that I saved overtop”, so there is introduced confusion over which is most recent. If you wait long enough, Notepad++ may recognize that the two are out of date, and update the old instance to the new instance.

Personally, I would find that situation (two copies of the same file that at times get out of date with each other) more confusing than the current situation.

But if the current behavior really bothers you, I would recommend you follow the instructions in this FAQ for submitting bug or feature requests, and say something like “back in v7.4.2, I could have original.txt open, and create a new file, then use Save As to save the new file overtop of original.txt, but from v7.5 thru the current v7.5.8, it tells me ERROR “The file is already opened in the Notepad++””, and ask if the development team can put the behavior back to the v7.4.2 behavior. It won’t guarantee that your request will be implemented, but it will put the request in the appropriate spot so it can be properly tracked.

Radim Tat

yes, you are correctly understood my situation
to me that way of using 2 or more versions of one file is more comfortly(faster) for my work
Thank you for info about v7.4.2

Scott Sumner

I see no sanity in a feature request that would bring back the 7.4.2 behavior. It seems like this behavior is just “asking for trouble”.