$hWnd = WinGetHandle(“[CLASS:Notepad++]”)
If Not @error Then
If BitAND(WinGetState($hWnd), 16) Then WinActivate($hWnd)
_SendMessage($hWnd, $NPPM_MENUCOMMAND, 0, $IDM_SEARCH_REPLACE)
$hWnd = WinWait(“[CLASS:#32770]”, “Extended”, 2)
If $hWnd Then
ControlSetText($hWnd, “Extended”, “Edit1”, _GUICtrlRichEdit_GetText($hRichEdit_SPE))
ControlSetText($hWnd, “Extended”, “Edit2”, GUICtrlRead($PtnRep))
ControlCommand($hWnd, “Extended”, “Button18”, ‘Check’) ; 18 - regular expression (16 - normal)
EndIf
EndIf

on PureBasic code is the same for exe and dll. Search window “#32770” starts at the top, so it does not cause a problem. There are either no such windows or they are below.

Sorry, didn’t recognize the update.
Windows, sometimes, treats retrieving external and internal information differently.
Means, something you retrieved from an exe might differ from something
you want to retrieve within its own process.

In python, I would it do like this

import ctypes
user32 = ctypes.WinDLL('user32')
hwnd = user32.FindWindowExW(None, None, u'#32770', u'Replace')
hwndEdit_1 = user32.GetDlgItem(hwnd, 1601)
hwndEdit_2 = user32.GetDlgItem(hwnd, 1602)

This takes care that only the dialog with name Replace is found.

#32770

be careful about searching for the ordinal only, as every dialog uses it.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/winmsg/about-window-classes
Most plugins and internal npp windows are dialogs.

without seeing/understanding the actual code it is hard to say what might be the issue
but, personally, I would not recommend using EnumChildWindows when trying to find a
dialog control window handle, instead use GetDlgItem.

Thanks to @claudia-frank, this present topic and the discussions, below, about multi-lines search AND multi-lines Replacement :

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/13823/replace-function/1

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/13684/feature-request-textarea-search-replace/1

have, now, an ELEGANT solution, with her Python’s script, just above !

You just need to be able to do multiple selections ( Option Settings > Preferences… > Editing > Multi-Editing Settings > Enable CHECKED )

BTW, the upper limit of 2046 characters, in the Find what: box of the Find/Replace dialog, only, could be by-passed, easily :-). Indeed, just use the Regular expression search mode and use the generic regex (?s)Left-boundary.+?Right-boundary !

For instance, you can choose a particular character, which does not exist,yet, in your file(s) to be modified, and build the regex :

(?s)(#####\R).+?\1

This regex contains any non-null amount of characters between TWO same complete lines #####, with their line-breaks

So :

• Do a normal selection of this regex (?s)(#####\R).+?\1, using the mouse

• Then, with a Ctrl + Left Click action, simply, select your Replace block, multi-lines or not

• Run the Claudia’s script above

=> Immediately, the Find/Replace dialog pops-up and :

• The Find what: box is filled with the regex (?s)(#####\R).+?\1

• The Replace with: box is filled with the block of text, which must replace the searched text

Best Regards,

guy038

P.S. :

@claudia-frank, I understand your point of view. Your script is quite flexible :-D. For instance, I was able to :

• First, do a Ctrl + Clic selection of a multi-lines block of text

• Run your script => Find what: box empty and Replace with: box filled with that multi-lines block

• Select an second file, containing the text (?s)(#####\R).+?\1

• Do a normal selection of that regex

• Run again, your script => The find.Replace dialog, presently in the background, is, then, updated with this regex, filled in the Find what: box

• Select a third file, containing the ##### boundaries lines

• Perform the S/R on the contents of this third file

Et voilà !!

Many thanks, again, for this very, very, valuable script, indeed !!!

Hum… Already 3 h 25 !! I’d better go to bed : working tomorrow !

Guy, here the updated one.
A “one-selection” action results in opening the standard replace dialog behavior.
A “two-selections” action, even with an empty one, results in modifying the fields.
I see it as a benefit that you are able to decide that only one of the fields should be filled
and the other should be empty in any case.

import ctypes
from ctypes.wintypes import BOOL, HWND, LPARAM

WNDENUMPROC = ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE(BOOL, HWND, LPARAM)

FindWindow = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowW
FindWindowEx = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowExW
SendMessage = ctypes.windll.user32.SendMessageW
EnumChildWindows = ctypes.windll.user32.EnumChildWindows
GetClassName = ctypes.windll.user32.GetClassNameW
GetWindowText = ctypes.windll.user32.GetWindowTextW
GetWindowTextLength = ctypes.windll.user32.GetWindowTextLengthW
SetWindowText = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowTextW
GetACP = ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetACP
create_unicode_buffer = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer

replace_tab_caption  = u'Replace'
replacewith_caption = u'Rep&lace with :'
replacewith_is_next_ctrl = False
replacewith_handle = None
replacewith_text = None
findwhat_caption = u'&Find what :'
findwhat_is_next_ctrl = False
findwhat_handle = None
findwhat_text = None


def EnumCallback(hwnd, lparam):
    global replacewith_is_next_ctrl
    global findwhat_is_next_ctrl
    global replacewith_handle
    global findwhat_handle
    curr_class = create_unicode_buffer(256)
    GetClassName(hwnd, curr_class, 256)
    length = GetWindowTextLength(hwnd)
    buff = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(length + 1)
    GetWindowText(hwnd, buff, length + 1)
    if curr_class.value.lower() == 'static':
        if buff.value == replacewith_caption:
            replacewith_is_next_ctrl = True
        elif buff.value == findwhat_caption:
            findwhat_is_next_ctrl = True
    elif curr_class.value.lower() == 'edit':
        if findwhat_is_next_ctrl:
            findwhat_handle = hwnd
            findwhat_is_next_ctrl = False
        elif replacewith_is_next_ctrl:
            replacewith_handle = hwnd
            replacewith_is_next_ctrl = False
            return False  # stop enumeration
    return True  # let enumeration continue

def return_proper_string(selected_text):
    if notepad.getEncoding() == BUFFERENCODING.ENC8BIT:
        _selected_text = unicode(selected_text, '{}'.format(GetACP()))
    else:
        _selected_text = unicode(selected_text, 'utf-8')
    return _selected_text

def main():
    msg = ''
    if editor.getSelections() == 1:
        notepad.menuCommand(MENUCOMMAND.SEARCH_REPLACE)
    elif editor.getSelections() == 2:
        if editor.getSelectionMode() == 0 and not editor.getSelectionEmpty():
            _find_what = editor.getTextRange(editor.getSelectionNStart(0), editor.getSelectionNEnd(0))
            _replace_with = editor.getTextRange(editor.getSelectionNStart(1), editor.getSelectionNEnd(1))

            if len(_find_what) > 2046:
                _find_what = _find_what[:2046]
                msg += 'Warning:  Selected text too long for find-what box; truncating to 2046 characters.  '
                    
            if len(_replace_with) > 2046:
                _replace_with = _replace_with[:2046]
                msg += 'Warning:  Selected text too long for replace-with box; truncating to 2046 characters.  '
                                        
            notepad.menuCommand(MENUCOMMAND.SEARCH_REPLACE)
            find_dialog_hwnd = FindWindow(None, replace_tab_caption)
            
            if find_dialog_hwnd:
                EnumChildWindows(find_dialog_hwnd, WNDENUMPROC(EnumCallback), 0)
                if findwhat_handle and replacewith_handle:
                    if SetWindowText(findwhat_handle, return_proper_string(_find_what)) == 0:
                        msg += 'Error:  Problem setting find-what text'
                    if SetWindowText(replacewith_handle, return_proper_string(_replace_with)) == 0:
                        msg += 'Error:  Problem setting replace-with text'
                else:
                    msg += 'Error:  Bad value for replacewith_handle'
            else:
                msg += 'Error:  Bad value for find_dialog_hwnd'
        else:
            msg += 'Error:  Either empty selection or unsupported selection mode detected'
    else:
        msg += 'Warning:  Only one or two selections are possible. Received:{}'.format(editor.getSelections())
    if len(msg) > 0: notepad.messageBox(msg)

main()

Cheers
Claudia

What to say else ? Just wonderful and awesome, indeed !!!

I already tested the case of rectangular selection(s) and the upper limit of 2046 characters => No problem, it acts as expected :-)

Now, as always, when building a program, there’s a small bug with the lower limit of 0 character !

I, successively, tried to make an empty search selection, then an empty replace selection and, finally, both search and replace selections empty.

Note : To obtain, physically, a zero-length selection, I just select one character with the mouse, then move back the mouse, with a possible hit on the CTRL key, to only get the caret

Results :

• If both selections are empty, the message Error: Either empty selection or unsupported selection mode detected occurs, as expected. Nice !

• If, ONLY, the search selection is empty, the Find/Replace opens normally. May be, in that case, Claudia, a message would be better !

• If, ONLY, the replace selection is empty, the Find/Replace opens normally, with the Find what: box filled and the Replace with: empty. That the expected behaviour, in order to delete all the search blocks of text found

I also noticed that if I Ctrl + click and select some text, ONLY, it is, logically, inserted in the Replace with box, leaving the Find what: box empty :-D

But, if I, simply, click, without the Ctrl key, and select some text, the message Warning: Only two selections are possible. Received:1 occurs. However, Claudia, I think it’s a valid case.

So, in the case of a normal selection 0, only, the Find/Replace dialog should pop up and contain :

• A Find what: box, filled with the selection contents

• A Replace with: box, wiped out of any [previous] character

Best Regards,

guy038

P.S. :

I found out something weird, but logic : If I build a one-line rectangular selection, this selection is correctly written in the Find what: box !!

import ctypes
from ctypes.wintypes import BOOL, HWND, LPARAM

WNDENUMPROC = ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE(BOOL, HWND, LPARAM)

FindWindow = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowW
FindWindowEx = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowExW
SendMessage = ctypes.windll.user32.SendMessageW
EnumChildWindows = ctypes.windll.user32.EnumChildWindows
GetClassName = ctypes.windll.user32.GetClassNameW
GetWindowText = ctypes.windll.user32.GetWindowTextW
GetWindowTextLength = ctypes.windll.user32.GetWindowTextLengthW
SetWindowText = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowTextW
GetACP = ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetACP
create_unicode_buffer = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer

replace_tab_caption  = u'Replace'
replacewith_caption = u'Rep&lace with :'
replacewith_is_next_ctrl = False
replacewith_handle = None
replacewith_text = None
findwhat_caption = u'&Find what :'
findwhat_is_next_ctrl = False
findwhat_handle = None
findwhat_text = None


def EnumCallback(hwnd, lparam):
    global replacewith_is_next_ctrl
    global findwhat_is_next_ctrl
    global replacewith_handle
    global findwhat_handle
    curr_class = create_unicode_buffer(256)
    GetClassName(hwnd, curr_class, 256)
    length = GetWindowTextLength(hwnd)
    buff = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(length + 1)
    GetWindowText(hwnd, buff, length + 1)
    if curr_class.value.lower() == 'static':
        if buff.value == replacewith_caption:
            replacewith_is_next_ctrl = True
        elif buff.value == findwhat_caption:
            findwhat_is_next_ctrl = True
    elif curr_class.value.lower() == 'edit':
        if findwhat_is_next_ctrl:
            findwhat_handle = hwnd
            findwhat_is_next_ctrl = False
        elif replacewith_is_next_ctrl:
            replacewith_handle = hwnd
            replacewith_is_next_ctrl = False
            return False  # stop enumeration
    return True  # let enumeration continue

def return_proper_string(selected_text):
    if notepad.getEncoding() == BUFFERENCODING.ENC8BIT:
        _selected_text = unicode(selected_text, '{}'.format(GetACP()))
    else:
        _selected_text = unicode(selected_text, 'utf-8')
    return _selected_text

def main():
    msg = ''
    if editor.getSelections() == 2:
        if editor.getSelectionMode() == 0 and not editor.getSelectionEmpty():
            _find_what = editor.getTextRange(editor.getSelectionNStart(0), editor.getSelectionNEnd(0))
            _replace_with = editor.getTextRange(editor.getSelectionNStart(1), editor.getSelectionNEnd(1))

            if len(_find_what) > 2046:
                _find_what = _find_what[:2046]
                msg += 'Warning:  Selected text too long for find-what box; truncating to 2046 characters.  '
                    
            if len(_replace_with) > 2046:
                _replace_with = _replace_with[:2046]
                msg += 'Warning:  Selected text too long for replace-with box; truncating to 2046 characters.  '
                                        
            notepad.menuCommand(MENUCOMMAND.SEARCH_REPLACE)
            find_dialog_hwnd = FindWindow(None, replace_tab_caption)
            
            if find_dialog_hwnd:
                EnumChildWindows(find_dialog_hwnd, WNDENUMPROC(EnumCallback), 0)
                if findwhat_handle and replacewith_handle:
                    if SetWindowText(findwhat_handle, return_proper_string(_find_what)) == 0:
                        msg += 'Error:  Problem setting find-what text'
                    if SetWindowText(replacewith_handle, return_proper_string(_replace_with)) == 0:
                        msg += 'Error:  Problem setting replace-with text'
                else:
                    msg += 'Error:  Bad value for replacewith_handle'
            else:
                msg += 'Error:  Bad value for find_dialog_hwnd'
        else:
            msg += 'Error:  Either empty selection or unsupported selection mode detected'
    else:
        msg += 'Warning:  Only two selections are possible. Received:{}'.format(editor.getSelections())
    if len(msg) > 0: notepad.messageBox(msg)

main()

Cheers
Claudia

Don’t worry, Claudia and just enjoy these family’s moments ! Luckily, we, all, own more valuable things than Notepad++ and some Python scripts :-D

…I’m just thinking about actualities and the death’s celebration of Helmut Kohl. Thanks to him and some important European women and men, we all enjoy, in Europe, a peace period, of near 75 years ! and THIS, it’s a basic point !!

Best Regards,

guy038

Hi Guy,

sorry, family celebration was a bit longer than expected.
Just did the script and some basic tests and discovered that encoding
is an issue like Scott already mentioned.
Will try to find a way to make it work regardless which encoding is used.

Cheers
Claudia

Many thanks, in advance, for this future script ! This short post give me the opportunity to express, once again, all my gratitude towards you, Claudia and Scott, for your numerous scripts, on various topics, which helped us, significantly, so many times :-D

Cheers,

guy038

This topic makes me think about an other possibility

I like your idea and it should be easy, but I will defer to Claudia as I am extremely busy at the moment. :-D

copies the current normal and unique selection, BOTH, in the Find what : and in the Replace with: boxes

Hmmm. Yes, that is what it does but that was actually UNINTENTIONAL! I guess I didn’t notice because for years I have had an AutoIt script which does just that behavior. A lot of the time when doing replacements, I’m just doing a minor adjustment to the text I am finding, so it saves time to have both the Find-what and Replace-with fields initally set to the same data. I just make my minor tweak to the replace-with part and I am off to the races.

In this thread’s script (ReplaceWithBoxFromSelection.py), however, I believe this happens due to the normal invocation of the Replace command (with notepad.menuCommand(MENUCOMMAND.SEARCH_REPLACE))–when a selection is active, Notepad++ on its own puts the selected text in the Find-what box. Perhaps that is less than desirable here in this script. :(

Scott, I discovered something similar but thought it was related to using npp with wine.
If I open the find dialog and then switch from english to english_customizable and back
to english I loose the >> from “find next” button and the underscores (ampersands in text)
for the “count” and “find all in all opened documents” buttons.
I don’t see it as an issue as you normally set this once and done, but I see why it bothered you. ;-)
I have a shortcut to “Run Previous Script” which I use quite often.
What happens from time to time is that I execute another script while editing
the “current” script and then when I use the shortcut I assume that the current script
should be executed, which isn’t the case as another script was executed in between.
First thought I have in such a case is always, damn - what did I miss why isn’t it working anymore? What did I broke?
Checking the source again and again just to find out that haven’t executed the script. :-)
You see - seems to be “normal” programmer behavior ;-)

Guy, haven’t check it yet but I guess it should be easy to implement, yes.
If Scott, or anyone else hasn’t proposed a solution, I will give it a try in 10-12 hours.
Need to leave now.

Cheers
Claudia

Claudia, your automatic counting of any normal selection, multi-lines or not, works fine !

Scott, your ReplaceWithBoxFromSelection.py script is working nice, too !. I’ve just noticed that your script, automatically, copies the current normal and unique selection, BOTH, in the Find what : and in the Replace with: boxes. Is it the normal behaviour or am I wrong about it ?

This topic makes me think about an other possibility ! Let’s suppose that the option Settings > Preferences…> Editing > Multi-Editing Settings is enabled

Now, the goal would be :

• To define TWO selected blocks of text, which could, independently, include multiple lines

• To Write a Python script which :

  • Opens the Find/Replace dialog

  • Writes the first user selection, in the Find what: box

  • Writes the second user selection, in the Replace with: box

Scott and Claudia, what is your feeling about it ?

Best Regards,

guy038