I just updated Compare to version 2.0 and the problem I was having seemed to magically disappear.

Let’s thank Pavel Nedev for performing this magic and many others. :)
https://github.com/pnedev/compare-plugin

The old Alt+D has been removed in order to avoid conflict with Windows convention of Alt+LETTER opening the menu.

As @Scott-Sumner has pointed out you can restore that combination.

@miaXcova , glad it’s working. Don’t bother with re-installing fresh; I just did the research and saw that Compare stopped being bundled as of 5.9.8.

Thanks for doing that homework for us. I’m glad it wasn’t something I did, and evidently just had an old installation. Hopefully this will help someone else with the same condition.

@Scott-Sumner said:

Settings (menu) -> Shortcut Mapper… -> Plugin commands (tab)

Thanks for that tip! Never even been to that screen.

not sure I like the new keyboard shortcuts

Change them then!
Settings (menu) -> Shortcut Mapper… -> Plugin commands (tab)

reinstall to see if it actually is bundled

Well, it’s not bundled NOW (and very-likely never was)…so you’d have to note the version you had and then reinstall that specific old version to confirm…but really, is it worth doing all that?

But as of 5.9.6.2, it was still on Compare v1.5.5, which is older than the Compare v1.5.6 that @miaXcova showed in the “about screen” screenshot, so either it was manually installed at some point, or … checking: nope, the release notes were wrong; the 5.9.6.2 bundle came with Compare v1.5.6.1. So apparently, if @miaXcova’s original installation came bundled with Compare, it came from that era. Not overly helpful, but I was too curious to leave it hanging.

@Scott-Sumner
You might be right about Compare not being bundled. If I really start to care enough, I will uninstall Notepad++ on my home computer and make sure the directory is deleted then reinstall to see if it actually is bundled.

I don’t think that Notepad++ ever shipped with the Compare plugin bundled, but it is possible either I don’t remember it or it was before 6.7.5 (which was the version I started with).

I really think you should bring things up-to-date and try it out again before pursuing your issue any further…

@miaXcova

It is really hard for Notepad++ (or plugins) to know what to reliably do for unsaved (“new X”) files–any reason you don’t actually save Perl files to disk with a .pl extension before doing what you are doing? You might have better luck that way. No real idea though as I don’t use the “Compare” plugin, which I’m guessing you are using because Notepad++ itself doesn’t have a “diff” capability.

It seems like people really want to push the capability of Notepad++ when it comes to “new X” files, which really only exist as a convenience in the brief life of a file before giving it a name, or as the rawest of all “scratchpad” areas.

I should have used more emphasis that this happens with any language and any file, regardless of new or saved.

Screenshot using two saved .pl files

Screenshot of my plugin manager

Screenshot of the compare about screen

I actually didn’t realize until now that the diff I have been using for years was actually a plugin. I assumed that since it came with the Notepad++ installation that it was part of that package. It also seems that the Compare plugin I have installed is very old and outdated (released 2011). I will try to update to a newer version of Compare. Thanks @PeterJones for pointing me in the right direction.

Being that my Compare version is so out of date, is it possible that I installed Compare externally at some point and simply do not remember, or is Notepad++ being packaged with an old version?

Recovery initiating
Notepad++ will attempt to save any unsaved data. However, dataloss is very likely.

Recovery success
Notepad++ was able to successfully recover some unsaved documents, or nothing to be saved could be found.
You can find the results at :
$STR_REPLACE$

Save failed
The file cannot be saved and it may be protected.
Do you want to launch Notepad++ in Administrator mode?

If i use F12 - Fullscereen mode i get hard freeze of NP++.

Well, Fullscreen mode is by default F11, and Post-It mode is F12, but both work fine for me under the same conditions. Well, almost the same, as I tried it only with the plugins that are shipped with Notepad++: DSpellCheck.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

Maybe try again with only those plugins?

Notepad++ v7.5.5 (32-bit)
Build time : Feb 27 2018 - 21:44:21
Path : C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
OS : Windows 7 (64-bit)
Plugins : ComparePlugin.dll CustomizeToolbar.dll DSpellCheck.dll Explorer.dll MenuIcons.dll PluginManager.dll

Pursuant to Scott’s post, what diff are you using? When I use the Compare Plugin v2.0.0, on two saved perl scripts,

it maintains syntax highlighting throughout the sequence. Not shown, but it also maintains it on two unsaved perl scripts where I’ve manually selected Language > Perl.

Thus, I am assuming you’re either using an out-of-date Compare Plugin, or your “diff” is using a different plugin.

On mine, Plugins > Compare > About... shows:

It is really hard for Notepad++ (or plugins) to know what to reliably do for unsaved (“new X”) files–any reason you don’t actually save Perl files to disk with a .pl extension before doing what you are doing? You might have better luck that way. No real idea though as I don’t use the “Compare” plugin, which I’m guessing you are using because Notepad++ itself doesn’t have a “diff” capability.

It seems like people really want to push the capability of Notepad++ when it comes to “new X” files, which really only exist as a convenience in the brief life of a file before giving it a name, or as the rawest of all “scratchpad” areas.

Here is how to reproduce:
Open two files that contain code that is syntax highlighted.
Screenshot

Press ALT-D
Screenshot

Now if you want to restore your syntax highlighting you will have to select any other language then select the language you prefer, or you can go to the top of the page and press the spacebar then CTRL-Z.

This has been an issue for quite some time for me. If this is not the correct place to post this bug, please direct me to where to post.

“Encoding” menu does not open when I press Alt+N, but it opens when I press Alt+Shift+N.

Note that both Alt+ and Alt+Shift+ work for other menus.

Regards,

Thanks!