Notepad++ 7.6.1

dinkumoil · Dec 13, 2018, 9:47 AM

There is a known bug in the unzipping code for plugin ZIP packages. If a plugin comes with companion files, plugin installer GUP.exe may produce 0-byte files when unzipping them. Affected plugins may fail to work.

See here , here and here .

donho · Dec 13, 2018, 10:02 AM

@pnedev said:

After install the plugins sub-folder is still created in Notepad++ install folder. This is not needed anymore.

Which one? Could you provide me the path please?

As far as I remember, you mentioned adding SHA computing functionality next to the MD5 in the Tools sub-menu (now that the Plugin Admin validates the plugins by SHA). Am I mistaken?

Yes indeed. I’m implement it. It’ll be in the next version.

donho · Dec 13, 2018, 10:03 AM

@dinkumoil said:

There is a known bug in the unzipping code for plugin ZIP packages. If a plugin comes with companion files, plugin installer GUP.exe may produce 0-byte files when unzipping them. Affected plugins may fail to work.

See here , here and here .

It’ll be fixed in the next release. Thank you for the heads up.

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 10:49 AM

@donho said:

Which one? Could you provide me the path please?

Yes, %ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins is the path. It contains only the disabled sub-folder.
This was the plugins location in versions prior 7.6.

Meta Chuh · Dec 13, 2018, 11:02 AM

@pnedev
in my case C:\Applications\Notepad++\plugins
(default install but custom location)
also contains the APIs folder containing c.xml and all others.
where is your APIs folder located ?

Meta Chuh · Dec 13, 2018, 12:04 PM

i’ve just tested a fresh install and all looks normal to me:

autoCompletion.nsh puts APIs into “$INSTDIR\plugins\APIs” (if autocomplete is not deselected when installing notepad++)

and AutoCompletion.cpp expects APIs there.

i personally don’t mind at all that the base folder for APIs is called plugins like it is now.

i would leave this as it is unless anyone really wants to clean up a lot more than just using a different folder name for $INSTDIR\plugins\APIs, except if everyone is willing to do a fresh install and to do a manual migration of their custom APIs if they have some.

dinkumoil · Dec 13, 2018, 12:42 PM

@donho

I have tested an update installation from v7.5.9 (32 bit) to v7.6.1 (32 bit) (local installation in directory %ProgramFiles(x86)%).

The installer of Notepad++ seems to have a hard-coded list of plugins which are considered to be unstable. One plugin on this list is the HEX-Editor plugin. The installer of v7.6.1 still moves it to <Notepad++-installation-folder>\plugins\disabled. This should be changed to the location where plugins are actually stored, particularly because the directory <Notepad++-installation-folder>\plugins will be removed in the future.

In general it’s the question if this hard coded plugin list is useful. I use the HEX-Editor plugin with my productive v7.5.6 installation and I’m not facing any problems.

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 12:53 PM

@donho , @Meta-Chuh ,

I understand now, thanks to @Meta-Chuh ’ s post.

During install I disable Autocompletion in the installer so the APIs are not installed.
I didn’t know those were put in plugins sub-folder as well. Now it makes sense why the plugins sub-folder is still in Notepad++ install folder.
I would prefer though to have
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\APIs
instead of
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\plugins\APIs
and remove
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\plugins altogether.
This helps avoid confusion in the future as plugins are not going to live anymore in Notepad++'s install folder (excluding here the portable variant).

dinkumoil · Dec 13, 2018, 1:04 PM

@donho @Meta-Chuh @pnedev

Regarding APIs directory: As far as I know there are plugins wich are indeed lexers for a certain language. I actually found the WLangLexer which is part of the plugin list of old Plugin Manager. This plugin requests during its installation to copy an XML file to plugins\APIs.

I don’t use lexer plugins, thus I don’t know anything about them. But I think further investigations have to be done before making a decision regarding plugins and plugins\APIs directories.

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 1:12 PM

Good point @dinkumoil ,
I don’t use additional lexers and missed that subtlety totally.

@donho ,

I just tried installing SessionManager plugin through 7.6.1 Plugin Admin - Notepad++ restarted but the plugin did not install. There wasn’t any notification about that failure. I believe we need to have some kind of status on plugin’s install - success, fail, progress…

Do you guys experience the same or it is again due to me using Wine?

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 1:18 PM

BTW, SessionMgr-1.4.2-plugin.zip stays as zero-bytes file in my user’s Temp folder after the installation fail. We should remove the plugin’s zip after the fail as well @donho .

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 1:23 PM

@donho , @dinkumoil , @Meta-Chuh ,

Perhaps the APIs sub-folder needs to be located also in %PROGRAMDATA% :
%PROGRAMDATA%\Notepad++\APIs
instead of
%PROGRAMFILES%\Notepad++\plugins\APIs
because of what @dinkumoil just pointed above - some lexer plugins might want to add some files to APIs as well.

dinkumoil · Dec 13, 2018, 1:31 PM

@pnedev

I miss installation progress too and when a plugin installation/update failed I was facing error messages that stated the wrong reason for that.

I already requested user feedback some weeks ago (see here ). And @SinghRajenM has put some effort in writing code that extends GUP.exe to do so (see here and here ). But for what ever reasons these PRs have been closed.

dinkumoil · Dec 13, 2018, 1:35 PM

@pnedev

We should remove the plugin’s zip after the fail as well @donho .

No! Gup.exe should be fixed. The plugin is the victim and not the cause of this error.

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 2:11 PM

@dinkumoil said:

… I was facing error messages that stated the wrong reason for that.

I assume Wine is the reason why I don’t get the error notifications then, thanks.

No! Gup.exe should be fixed. …

OK, it is perhaps this post of yours.

Meta Chuh · Dec 13, 2018, 3:18 PM

@pnedev

I would prefer though to have
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\APIs
instead of
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\plugins\APIs

it would be a cleaner, more logical structure, but at the moment there are many scenarios where it can break a functionality if you update an older installation, if they are not considered prior to coding the path changes, and i guess this means a lot of coding work for a cleanup which few people will ever notice or appreciate.

BTW, SessionMgr-1.4.2-plugin.zip stays as zero-bytes file in my user’s Temp folder after the installation fail.

it installs fine for me, but it is missing the menu title on both windows and osx.

@donho
thanks again for the wine path and installer mods, all works like a charm so far. 👍

pnedev · Dec 13, 2018, 3:42 PM

@Meta-Chuh said:

it installs fine for me, but it is missing the menu title on both windows and osx.

It is Session Manager’s known issue that is fixed but not officially merged.

graphixillusion · Dec 13, 2018, 4:41 PM

I’m trying the new version, the portable one, but i can’t see the plugin manager anywhere. Any clue?

Ketrel · Dec 13, 2018, 4:51 PM

I cannot install any plugins in 7.6.1.
I load plugin admin, select the plugin I want, and choose install.

It tells me the program will need to be restarted.
I select ok, and then it closes, and launches a UAP prompt.
I approve that, and then the updater tells me there’s an updated version of Notepad++

If I say yes, it tries to install 7.5.9.
If I say no, it closes and does nothing further.

Upon manually reopening, the plugin I selected is NOT installed.

SinghRajenM · Dec 13, 2018, 5:25 PM

@dinkumoil said:

@pnedev

I miss installation progress too and when a plugin installation/update failed I was facing error messages that stated the wrong reason for that.

I already requested user feedback some weeks ago (see here ). And @SinghRajenM has put some effort in writing code that extends GUP.exe to do so (see here and here ). But for what ever reasons these PRs have been closed.

Not only this, but are other flaws too -

npp instance should not closed till operation is successful.
plugin admin can have one more column in it which will guide about current state of action of a plugin (e.g. downloading plugin or restart npp to take effect so on).
As all demanded, plugin admin can have progress bar which should interact with gup.exe using IPC to get the current downloaded size. Or something similar mechanism to accomplish it.

Cases:

Add: If a plugin is being downloaded first time, there is not point to close npp instance. download the plugin, then extract it to plugin install directory. Later ask user to restart to take immediate effect. However, on next restart the plugin will be activated by default.
Remove: simply move (using move api) the plugin dll from the install dir to %temp% and once done, ask user to restart. If user does not restart to take immediate effect, otherwise on next restart it will be effected anyway.
Update: First follow “remove” case strategy and then follow “add” case. Once both the cases done, ask user to restart npp or anyway it will take effect on next restart.

Of-cource failures should be handled for all the cases. And all the cases, extra column can content current progress.