Add one character, file becomes unloadable

Gordon Todd

I have used npp for ages to edit source code from an old text-based language and there’s always been a problem opening certain files - n++ launches with a blank screen and displays no error messages. I’ve updated to the latest version etc. to no avail.

So, I’ve reduced it to the bare bones - two files containing only a single IBM line-drawing character (0xC4). File 1 is a 9-byte file with 9 consecutive instances of this character and opens fine, file 2 is a 10-byte file with 10 instances of the same character and won’t open.

Adding CRLF or EOF at the end makes no difference. Moreover, saving a file which has opened blank results in a zero-byte saved file.

I’ve countless other files which contain various line-drawing characters and some of them display properly, others as squares but they always save correctly, it’s just these few files that simply won’t open in npp (they open, but nothing is displayed).

Any thoughts??

Claudia Frank

Hello @Gordon-Todd,

I assume that autodetect character encoding is enabled.
I would give it a try to check it with disabled auto-detection

Settings->Preferences->Misc
uncheck autodetect character encoding

Cheers
Claudia

Gordon Todd

Thanks Claudia, that seems to have cured it :-)