Editing shortcuts.xml

James Burke

I’m trying to edit shortcuts.xml (NP++ 7.5.9 32-bit) in order to be able to run a selection of browsers to see how my code looks in different browsers. But my edits don’t affect how my NP++ runs. So I’m thinking there must be another “shortcuts.xml” and I’m editing the wring one. I’ve searched through everywhere and can’t find any other copies. If I’m editing the wrong shortuts.xml, how do I find the correct file?

Meta Chuh

welcome to the notepad++ community, @James-Burke

on a regular installed version of notepad++ 7.5.9 your shortcuts.xml should be in
%AppData%\Notepad++\.

if it is not, please provide us with your debug information, by going to the notepad++ menu ? > debug info... > copy debug info into clipboard, and pasting it here.

note:
if you are on windows 10 and you also want to add microsoft edge, here are the combined browser shortcut entries and the guide from @PeterJones:
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/17160/latest-version-browser-export/2

andrecool-68

@James-Burke said:

shortuts.xml

The correct file name will be shortcuts.xml

Alan Kilborn

@andrecool-68

2 out of 3 were right. :)

I think we got the point.

andrecool-68

@Alan-Kilborn

If a lot of copies of Notepad++ then you can anyone get lost if you do not use the correct file search)

Imgur

Alan Kilborn

@andrecool-68

That’s a lot of shortcuts.xml !

I think it is a matter of not knowing about the %APPDATA% copy of shortcuts.xml. People see shortcuts.xml in the same folder as notepad++.exe and they think automatically that that must be the one in use.

Also, people love installing software, even when that software offers a fully portable version (that makes what is where and what is being used soooo much clearer). Maybe it is the lure of the right-click file association that makes people love the installer so much (but as we’ve seen, even that causes issues in N++).

andrecool-68

@Alan-Kilborn said:

Magic right click)))

Alan Kilborn

@andrecool-68

Well I think that just confuses things for future noob readers. They’ll be looking for things that they aren’t going to find.

Alan Kilborn

@andrecool-68

Progress bar is top-notch though!

James Burke

Awesome advice here, but it goes by too fast and the menu selections are in Russian. I was afraid this would happen. My head is spinning!

James Burke

Meta Chuh,yes, the shortcuts.xml I’m looking at is in %AppData%\Notepad++, but it’s impervious to changes. I can edit it, but the changes don’t appear in NPP.

Meta Chuh

@James-Burke

Awesome advice here, but it goes by too fast and the menu selections are in Russian.

i’m sorry about that, @Alan-Kilborn has already tried to put a stop to this “over-posting” towards @andrecool-68.
please try to only focus on posts relevant to you and skip all others.

Meta Chuh,yes, the shortcuts.xml I’m looking at is in %AppData%\Notepad++, but it’s impervious to changes. I can edit it, but the changes don’t appear in NPP.

please provide us with your debug information, by going to the notepad++ menu ? > debug info… > copy debug info into clipboard, and pasting it here.

andrecool-68

@James-Burke said:

Awesome advice here, but it goes by too fast and the menu selections are in Russian. I was afraid this would happen. My head is spinning!

What don’t you understand in those videos?

andrecool-68

@Meta-Chuh said:

i’m sorry about that, @Alan-Kilborn has already tried to put a stop to this “over-posting” towards @andrecool-68.

Hi, everybody…I’m going to Antarctica.)))

Alan Kilborn

So the first video shows a user using a program called Everything , which isn’t part of Notepad++ and may not be something people have access to or want to use. Normally, showing other programs to make a point is OK, but there needs to be some explanation along with it. Also, they should be shown in English.

The second video (with more non-English) shows what appears to be the folder where Notepad++ lives, but with some extra VBS that the user is interacting with. Again, no explanation, so a reader is left thinking that they should find these VBS and run them!

Ach!

James Burke

@Meta-Chuh said:

@James-Burke
please provide us with your debug information, by going to the notepad++ menu ? > debug info… > copy debug info into clipboard, and pasting it here.

Notepad++ v7.5.9 (32-bit)
Build time : Oct 14 2018 - 15:02:52
Path : C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
OS : Windows 7 (64-bit)
Plugins : mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll ComparePlugin.dll NppFTP.dll PluginManager.dll
NppFTP.dll PluginManager.dll

Terry R

@James-Burke said:

I’m trying to edit shortcuts.xml

Two thoughts:

Make sure that if you are editing this file with Notepad++ (NPP), it is the ONLY step you do in a NPP session. That is because upon closing, NPP can update the file itself if anything during the current session dictates updating information within that, or other configuration files.
A method of determining which of the shortcuts.xml files is being used is to create a small macro. I suggest using the one @guy038 produced, read:
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/17355/select-word/4
Close NPP immediately after saving that macro, then use Windows Explorer to find (advanced search) ALL files on your PC with a modified date being the day you do this. It will take time, but that’s a sure method of finding the file used by your NPP installation.

Terry

Meta Chuh

@James-Burke

according to your debug info, your shortcuts.xml should be located at %AppData%\Notepad++\shortcuts.xml.

if you say “it’s impervious to changes”, do you mean, that once you close notepad++ and reopen it again, your changes disappear from your shortcuts.xml ?

if yes, please close notepad++ and edit %AppData%\Notepad++\shortcuts.xml using another editor, e.g. the windows internal notepad.exe editor, then save it, and reopen notepad++.

note: there might be something else strange about your installation, because the plugins NppFTP.dll and PluginManager.dll are listed twice in your debug info, which should never happen.
if this is the case, and it did not just happen while pasting it here, i can not exclude that we will have to make a clean, new notepad++ install in order to get it running as expected.
we will give you a detailed step by step guide for that, as soon as we run out of options, and you decide, that a fresh, guided install would be your preferred choice.

James Burke

@Terry-R said:

@James-Burke said:

I’m trying to edit shortcuts.xml

Two thoughts:

Make sure that if you are editing this file with Notepad++ (NPP), it is the ONLY step you do in a NPP session. That is because upon closing, NPP can update the file itself if anything during the current session dictates updating information within that, or other configuration files.
Terry

Yes, your hints, plus Meta Chuh’s, did the trick. I could never have figured it out on my own. I could find all the bits & pieces, but it never would have occurred to me to edit the shortcuts file as you described. This is how my shortcuts.xml file looks now:
<NotepadPlus>
<InternalCommands />
<Macros>
<Macro name=“Trim Trailing and save” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“83”>
<Action type=“2” message=“0” wParam=“42024” lParam=“0” sParam=“” />
<Action type=“2” message=“0” wParam=“41006” lParam=“0” sParam=“” />
</Macro>
</Macros>
<UserDefinedCommands>
<Command name=“Launch in Firefox” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“88”>firefox “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
<Command name=“Launch in IE” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“73”>iexplore “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
<Command name=“Launch in Chrome” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“67”>chrome “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
<Command name=“Launch in Safari” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“98”>safari “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
<Command name=“Launch in Yandex” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“98”>yandex “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
<Command name=“Get php help” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“no” Key=“112”>http://www.php.net/ $(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
<Command name=“Google Search” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“no” Key=“113”>http://www.google.com/search?q=$(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
<Command name=“Wikipedia Search” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“no” Key=“114”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=$(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
<Command name=“Open file” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“no” Key=“116”>$(NPP_DIRECTORY)\notepad++.exe $(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
<Command name=“Open in another instance” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“yes” Shift=“no” Key=“117”>$(NPP_DIRECTORY)\notepad++.exe $(CURRENT_WORD) -nosession -multiInst</Command>
<Command name=“Open containing folder” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“no” Shift=“no” Key=“0”>explorer $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)</Command>
<Command name=“Open current dir cmd” Ctrl=“no” Alt=“no” Shift=“no” Key=“0”>cmd /K cd $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)</Command>
<Command name=“Send via Outlook” Ctrl=“yes” Alt=“yes” Shift=“yes” Key=“79”>outlook /a “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”</Command>
</UserDefinedCommands>
<PluginCommands />
<ScintillaKeys />
</NotepadPlus>

This is a most useful setup for website editing since I can quickly see how my html looks in different browsers. The new way (without the “Run” choice inside NPP) is much too slow and clunky. Thanks to both of you for your help.

Meta Chuh

thank you for sharing your shortcuts.xml @James-Burke
i’m glad you got it working, and my apologies that it consumed more of your time than it should.