Why do updates reset some settings?

deleelee

Hi there, why is it that every time I update Npp some settings are reset and I have to keep changing them back to my preference?

Custom shortcuts are overwritten to the defaults.
Enable scrolling beyond last line is reset to disabled.
Panels that were on the left are reset to the right.
Npp opening maximised is reset to normal.
Recent files are cleared.
The number of recent files to display is reset to 10.

There may be others, of course, but these are the ones that affect my setup.

Terry R

@deleelee said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

Hi there, why is it that every time I update Npp some settings are reset and I have to keep changing them back to my preference?

It may well depend on how you are updating your NPP installation. See some posts:
8.3.1 RC topic
8.3 release topic

And from one of those, the reference to how the installer does NOT replace settings with defaults, here.

Let us know how you are updating, installer, or manual download and unzip/install?

Terry

deleelee

@terry-r said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

@deleelee said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

Hi there, why is it that every time I update Npp some settings are reset and I have to keep changing them back to my preference?

It may well depend on how you are updating your NPP installation. See some posts:
8.3.1 RC topic
8.3 release topic

And from one of those, the reference to how the installer does NOT replace settings with defaults, here.

Let us know how you are updating, installer, or manual download and unzip/install?

Terry

Thanks Terry, sorry I should have included that info in my post. I update manually using the portable zip package which is probably why some settings are getting overwritten. So, I guess I’ll just have to stick to making the changes manually at each update. I know I can backup the shortcuts.xml containing my custom shortcuts and replace it after updating but I don’t know about the rest.

Terry R

@deleelee said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

I know I can backup the shortcuts.xml containing my custom shortcuts and replace it after updating but I don’t know about the rest.

Yes, so you have the reason why the updating process overwrites, it is by design with the portable version. The configuration files could be backed up prior to installation and then you would need to check them against the latest version. Using the File Compare plugin may help and I think that was referred to in one of the posts.

Other than a manual compare, there isn’t a “click this button” to restore old config files with any updated configuration settings from the latest version.

Terry

Alan Kilborn

@deleelee said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

I know I can backup the shortcuts.xml containing my custom shortcuts and replace it after updating but I don’t know about the rest.

If I am moving from version X to version Y I do a compare of virgin X files to virgin Y files and then I hand-merge any differences into version Z (Z being my custom-configured Notepad++). This way any custom settings are retained, and new settings get added in.

The bottom line is it can be a little bit of time expended doing this sort of upgrade. Worth it in my opinon.

A simpler method is to just pull version Y’s executable file into version Z, but just blindly doing that makes me nervous.

deleelee

@Alan-Kilborn said in Why do updates reset some settings?:

A simpler method is to just pull version Y’s executable file into version Z, but just blindly doing that makes me nervous.

Yes, blindly doing the file replace makes me nervous too and it’s not really an option I’d go for. I’ve found the entries in config.xml all but one of the things I posted about so I can always create a script to change those back to my preferred options after updating. However, I don’t know what to look for in that file (or even if there’s an entry for it) for number 3 - Panels that were on the left are reset to the right. Are you able to help me with that?