Plugins not installing

dinkumoil

I wrote a script to download a specific Notepad++ plugin.

The script displays a numbered list of all plugins available through the latest Notepad++ plugins list on GitHub. The user can select one of these plugins by entering its number to download and unpack the plugin to the hard disk.

It is possible to provide the architecture of Notepad++ and, if required, a proxy address as arguments. It is also possible to append the architecture of Notepad++ to the filename of the script, e.g. LoadNppPlugin_x86 for 32 bit Notepad++ and LoadNppPlugin_x64 for 64 bit Notepad++.

You can download a ZIP package with all required files from my >>> Script Collection Repository <<<. Also have a look at its description at the main page of the repo.

Keith Collyer

@pnedev OK, that helped, and I can now install plugins.

But it’s still not quite right. Instead of NP++ restarting, it opens the <Program FIles>/Notepad++ folder in Windows Explorer. When I manually start NP++, the selected plugins are there.

There are some I really miss, though, like TakeNotes

Meta Chuh

@Keith-Collyer

it opens the <Program FIles>/Notepad++ folder in Windows Explorer.

i’m still figuring out what could cause this.
usually updater\GUP.exe should be started at that point, but if it would be missing, the plugins admin menu gets disabled automatically, so it shouldn’t happen at all.

are you eventually using the old plugins manager, which is not compatible with newer versions, like 7.6.6, to install plugins ?

please test the following, to verify, if a clean notepad++ would restart after plugins admin installs, instead of opening explorer on your system.

download the notepad++ 7.6.6. portable version from >>> here <<<.
(the portable version does not require any installation and runs completely independent and isolated from your installed version. all custom settings, as well as any stuff you might want to try at the portable version, will not modify your installed version)
extract npp.7.6.6.bin.zip to e.g. your desktop.
important note: make sure to close all instances of notepad++ that might be running, before starting the portable version at the next step, to make sure you are using this portable version.
open the extracted npp.7.6.6.bin folder and start this portable version by double-clicking on notepad++.exe inside this folder.
(note: notepad++.exe will just be seen as notepad++, if you have enabled to hide all known file extensions at your explorer settings)
install any plugins at this portable version using plugins > plugins admin and tell us what you see.

many thanks and best regards.

Alan Kilborn

@guy038 :

Sadly I could not get your regex technique to work. Maybe I do something wrong?

I clicked @Meta-Chuh 's link for 32-bit json and my browser took me here:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notepad-plus-plus/nppPluginList/master/src/pl.x86.json

I pressed ctrl+a (in the brower) and all the text I was seeing was highlighted. I copied it and pasted into a fresh N++ editing tab. (I see tab characters!)

I tried the Find regex you presented, exactly, and even tried removing all the extra, thus I tried this too:

(?-is)^(\h*\{|\h*\},\h*\{|\})^\h*"npp-plugins".+\r\n^\h*(\},?|\])\r\n^\h+"(arch)(32|64)",$^\h+"(id)^\h+"(repository)^\h+"(.)(":[]")",?$

but alas I got no matches found. Maybe there is something wrong with my technique. I ask you instead of diving in myself because that is a fairly ambitious regex. :)

guy038

Hi, @alan-kilborn, and All,

Did you notice that I’ve updated my previous post ? Indeed, I realized that you cannot paste, directly, multi-lignes code, from black NodeBB areas, into the Find what : of the Find/Replace dialog :-((

Practically, you need to :

Firstly, paste that multi-lines selection on a N++ new tab
Secondly, re-select that selection
Thirdly, open the Find/Replace dialog !

=> The search regex should be , automatically, filled up in the Find what : zone ;-))

Alan, concerning your one-line regex, obtained from my multi-lines regex, you just forgot all the alternation symbols (| ) of the overall regex, which are located before the # character which begins comments :-))

So the one-line version of the two regex S/R, described in my previous post, are :

First regex S/R :
- SEARCH (?-is)^(\h*\{|\h*\},\h*\{|\})|^\h*"npp-plugins".+\R|^\h*(\},?|\])\R|^\h+"(arch)|(32|64)",$|^\h+"(id)|^\h+"(repository)|^\h+"(.)|(": ")|",?$
- REPLACE (?3Architecture)(?4\4\x20bits)(?5SHA-256)(?6Download)(?7\u\7)(?8\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\:\x20)((?1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------)
Second regex S/R :
- SEARCH (?-s)^.{13}\K\x20+
- REPLACE Leave EMPTY

Here is a reminder of the characteristics of “Free-spacing” mode (?x) :

In this mode :

All inserted space characters are NOT considered. So, when a regex must search for an effective space character, 3 solutions are possible :
- Escape each space character by the exhaust character \
- Replace each space character with the syntax [ ]
- Replace each space character with the syntax \x20
All characters placed after a 1st character #, are NOT considered. So, when a regex must search for an effective # character, 3 solutions are possible :
- Escape each # character by the exhaust character \
- Replace each # character with the syntax [#]
- Replace each # character with the syntax \x23
Finally, due to a bug in the regex BOOST version 1.5.5 library, currently used in Notepad++, each syntax \R MUST be replaced by the equivalent syntax \r\n ( or \n if you are processing Unix files )

This mode allows you to build a complex regular expression in several lines, with comments. A simple example :

(?x)    #  "Free-spacing" mode
(?-s)   #  The DOT représents a SINGLE STANDARD character, ONLY
[ ]*    #  An area, even NULL, of SPACE character(s)
\#      #  A SINGLE # character
.*      #  An area, even NULL, of STANDARD character(s)
\r\n    #  The TWO Windows EOL characters

If you select all this block to copy it into the search area leaving the replacement area empty, this regex deletes all the commented parts of a Python script !

Best Regards,

guy038

Meta Chuh

@guy038

i was able to use your first, unedited regex, but i also fail to find any matches with your edited version.

SEARCH (?-is)^(\h*\{|\h*\},\h*\{|\})|^\h*"npp-plugins".+\R|^\h*(\},?|\])\R|^\h+"(arch)|(32|64)",$|^\h+"(id)|^\h+"(repository)|^\h+"(.)|(": ")|",?$
does not find any matches on https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notepad-plus-plus/nppPluginList/master/src/pl.x86.json
(version 1.0.9)

guy038

Hi, @meta-chuh, @alan-kilborn and All,

As, seemingly, there are, at least, two links from where we can download the pl.x86.json and pl.x64.json

https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/nppPluginList/raw/master/src/pl.x86.json

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notepad-plus-plus/nppPluginList/master/src/pl.x86.json

I compared the two files and … they are quite identical !

Secondly, I selected and pasted your regex and compared with my FIRST search regex, using the Find dialog, with the Normal mode, and the Match case option ticked

And, again, the two regexes were identical !

So,… I really don’t understand why, you and Alan, cannot get it to match ???

For instance, after running the FISRT regex S/R :

SEARCH (?-is)^(\h*\{|\h*\},\h*\{|\})|^\h*"npp-plugins".+\R|^\h*(\},?|\])\R|^\h+"(arch)|(32|64)",$|^\h+"(id)|^\h+"(repository)|^\h+"(.)|(": ")|",?$
REPLACE (?3Architecture)(?4\4\x20bits)(?5SHA-256)(?6Download)(?7\u\7)(?8\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\:\x20)((?1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------)

The beginning and end of the pl.x86.json file is changed as below :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name           : npp-pluginList
Version           : 1.0.9
Architecture           : 32 bits
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : 3P
Display-name           : 3P - Progress Programmers Pal
Version           : 1.8.4
SHA-256           : c26d0cbde59688501f683e2ac4a8b5a2d5327b13e14f0be1e6cf6abb9059f401
Download           : https://github.com/jcaillon/3P/releases/download/v1.8.4/3P.zip
Description           : [Requires .net framework 4.6.1]\r\n3P is a notepad++ plug-in designed to help writing OpenEdge ABL (formerly known as Progress 4GL) code. It provides :\r\n- a powerful auto-completion\r\n- tool-tips on every words\r\n- a code explorer to quickly navigate through your code\r\n- a file explorer to easily access all your sources\r\n- the ability to run/compile and even PROLINT your source file with an in-line visualization of errors\r\n- more than 50 options to better suit your needs\r\n- and so much more!\r\nVisit http://jcaillon.github.io/3P/ for more details on the plugin
Author           : Julien Caillon
Homepage           : https://jcaillon.github.io/3P/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : ActiveX
Display-name           : ActiveX Plugin
Version           : 1.1.7.3
SHA-256           : c89214e3bcf05abb6b81626e766b009027202eee14cd88dcd3ed0843adfe40e7
Download           : https://sourceforge.net/projects/nppactivexplugin/files/bin/ActiveX_Unicode_1_1_7_3.zip
Description           : This plugin allows you to control Notepad++ via ActiveX.\r\nYou can use ActiveX with many scripting languages (VBScript, JScript, PHP, ...) and other languages (C++, C+, VB.NET, Delphi, ...).\r\nSo you are not bound to a single language.
Author           : Bananen-Joe
Homepage           : https://sourceforge.net/projects/nppactivexplugin/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : AnalysePlugin
Display-name           : AnalysePlugin
Version           : 1.11.37.0
SHA-256           : 6ca78ed2ae93f594cc0f057deb31d4b4b6f932b6e2368347e0cd91730e2a1e39
Download           : https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/analyseplugin/binaries/v01.11-R37-x86.zip
Description           : AnalysePlugin will help you to search for more than one search pattern at a time. Great for analysing log files..\r\nLast changes and How to use you will find in Help... in Plugins Menu.
Author           : Mattes H.
Homepage           : https://sourceforge.net/projects/analyseplugin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : XPatherizerNPP
Display-name           : XPatherizerNPP
Version           : 2.10
SHA-256           : 92e8393a2bf94b27a8084d8d84734616a56ea51f877bf5cc62b6d494642e76b5
Download           : https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/xpatherizernpp/XPatherizerNPP-2.10.zip
Description           : Analyze multiple XPath queries with reverse lookup\nFeatures:\nAnalyze multiple XPath queries with one keypress.\nAbility to only search on selected text.\nAbility to Auto Search as you type your xPath queries. \nReverse lookup from results.\nBeautify XML documents.\nSaved queries for files left open in NPP.\nCan save and load XML files with XPath queries into a single file.\nSelect multiple results nodes for exporting.\nExport results to new XML file.\nRemove results from the XML document. \nCan display information about Attributes on the Parent node results.
Author           : bguenthner
Homepage           : https://code.google.com/p/xpatherizernpp/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : ZenCoding-Python
Display-name           : Zen Coding - Python
Version           : 0.7.0.1
SHA-256           : a781ee5c76ebc543b412a41e024c2d96f9a6edcae591f27868e190a48bc7bba6
Download           : https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/npppythonscript/ZenCoding-Python/ZenCoding-Python-0.7.0.1a.zip
Description           : An implementation of the Zen Coding method by Sergey Chikuyonok. Expand HTML, CSS, XML, XSLT and XSD from abbreviations\ntr#head1.header&gt;td*2 becomes &lt;tr id=\"head1\" class=\"header\"&gt;\n  &lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n  &lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n&lt;/tr&gt;\nUses the Python Script plugin.
Author           : Dave Brotherstone
Homepage           : https://github.com/bruderstein/ZenCoding-Python
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name           : zoomdisabler
Display-name           : Zoom Disabler
Version           : 1.2.0
SHA-256           : eb49c4fce581fa63b024a3a0454ccc49d082b9524c0cc9a0d5c25544e264da55
Download           : https://github.com/StanDog/npp-zoomdisabler/raw/master/RELEASES/zoomdisabler_1.2.0.zip
Description           : Worried about zooming your document everytime you just want to scroll but accidentally still holding the [Ctrl] key? Then this plugin is what you want! It disables mouse zoom or keyboard zoom or both.
Author           : Stanislav Eckert
Homepage           : https://github.com/StanDog/npp-zoomdisabler
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, after running the SECOND regex S/R :

SEARCH (?-s)^.{13}\K\x20+
REPLACE Leave EMPTY

The beginning and end of the pl.x86.json file is nicely changed as below :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name         : npp-pluginList
Version      : 1.0.9
Architecture : 32 bits
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : 3P
Display-name : 3P - Progress Programmers Pal
Version      : 1.8.4
SHA-256      : c26d0cbde59688501f683e2ac4a8b5a2d5327b13e14f0be1e6cf6abb9059f401
Download     : https://github.com/jcaillon/3P/releases/download/v1.8.4/3P.zip
Description  : [Requires .net framework 4.6.1]\r\n3P is a notepad++ plug-in designed to help writing OpenEdge ABL (formerly known as Progress 4GL) code. It provides :\r\n- a powerful auto-completion\r\n- tool-tips on every words\r\n- a code explorer to quickly navigate through your code\r\n- a file explorer to easily access all your sources\r\n- the ability to run/compile and even PROLINT your source file with an in-line visualization of errors\r\n- more than 50 options to better suit your needs\r\n- and so much more!\r\nVisit http://jcaillon.github.io/3P/ for more details on the plugin
Author       : Julien Caillon
Homepage     : https://jcaillon.github.io/3P/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : ActiveX
Display-name : ActiveX Plugin
Version      : 1.1.7.3
SHA-256      : c89214e3bcf05abb6b81626e766b009027202eee14cd88dcd3ed0843adfe40e7
Download     : https://sourceforge.net/projects/nppactivexplugin/files/bin/ActiveX_Unicode_1_1_7_3.zip
Description  : This plugin allows you to control Notepad++ via ActiveX.\r\nYou can use ActiveX with many scripting languages (VBScript, JScript, PHP, ...) and other languages (C++, C+, VB.NET, Delphi, ...).\r\nSo you are not bound to a single language.
Author       : Bananen-Joe
Homepage     : https://sourceforge.net/projects/nppactivexplugin/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : AnalysePlugin
Display-name : AnalysePlugin
Version      : 1.11.37.0
SHA-256      : 6ca78ed2ae93f594cc0f057deb31d4b4b6f932b6e2368347e0cd91730e2a1e39
Download     : https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/analyseplugin/binaries/v01.11-R37-x86.zip
Description  : AnalysePlugin will help you to search for more than one search pattern at a time. Great for analysing log files..\r\nLast changes and How to use you will find in Help... in Plugins Menu.
Author       : Mattes H.
Homepage     : https://sourceforge.net/projects/analyseplugin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : XPatherizerNPP
Display-name : XPatherizerNPP
Version      : 2.10
SHA-256      : 92e8393a2bf94b27a8084d8d84734616a56ea51f877bf5cc62b6d494642e76b5
Download     : https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/xpatherizernpp/XPatherizerNPP-2.10.zip
Description  : Analyze multiple XPath queries with reverse lookup\nFeatures:\nAnalyze multiple XPath queries with one keypress.\nAbility to only search on selected text.\nAbility to Auto Search as you type your xPath queries. \nReverse lookup from results.\nBeautify XML documents.\nSaved queries for files left open in NPP.\nCan save and load XML files with XPath queries into a single file.\nSelect multiple results nodes for exporting.\nExport results to new XML file.\nRemove results from the XML document. \nCan display information about Attributes on the Parent node results.
Author       : bguenthner
Homepage     : https://code.google.com/p/xpatherizernpp/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : ZenCoding-Python
Display-name : Zen Coding - Python
Version      : 0.7.0.1
SHA-256      : a781ee5c76ebc543b412a41e024c2d96f9a6edcae591f27868e190a48bc7bba6
Download     : https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/npppythonscript/ZenCoding-Python/ZenCoding-Python-0.7.0.1a.zip
Description  : An implementation of the Zen Coding method by Sergey Chikuyonok. Expand HTML, CSS, XML, XSLT and XSD from abbreviations\ntr#head1.header&gt;td*2 becomes &lt;tr id=\"head1\" class=\"header\"&gt;\n  &lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n  &lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n&lt;/tr&gt;\nUses the Python Script plugin.
Author       : Dave Brotherstone
Homepage     : https://github.com/bruderstein/ZenCoding-Python
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-name  : zoomdisabler
Display-name : Zoom Disabler
Version      : 1.2.0
SHA-256      : eb49c4fce581fa63b024a3a0454ccc49d082b9524c0cc9a0d5c25544e264da55
Download     : https://github.com/StanDog/npp-zoomdisabler/raw/master/RELEASES/zoomdisabler_1.2.0.zip
Description  : Worried about zooming your document everytime you just want to scroll but accidentally still holding the [Ctrl] key? Then this plugin is what you want! It disables mouse zoom or keyboard zoom or both.
Author       : Stanislav Eckert
Homepage     : https://github.com/StanDog/npp-zoomdisabler
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To end, Meta, you said :

i was able to use your first, unedited regex, but i also fail to find any matches with your edited version.

It not clear for me ! What do you mean by unedited and edited versions ?

Cheers,

guy038

Meta Chuh

@guy038

oooops, i was on 7.7 debug without boost while i was testing what alan said, that’s why it didn’t work for me.

works as expected in 7.6.6, just like the first time i’ve tested it.

my sincere apologies 🙏

(i will start using different coloured themes for different versions while testing, to avoid this in the future)

Alan Kilborn

@guy038 :

I as well got it working now, both with the free-spacing regex and the non. Not sure what the problems were earlier, EXCEPT I do realize now that I didn’t keep the | characters for some oddball reason.

BTW, I dislike vertical alignment of anything but comment-to-eol. A personal preference.

Thx, @guy038, this will come in handy for us that do manual plugin installs.

guy038

Hello @alan-kilborn and All,

May be, this tested version of my previous free-spacing regex is more meaningful to you ;-))

(?x-is)                               #  FREE-SPACING mode, search SENSITIVE to case, DOT = a SINGLE STANDARD char, ONLY
                                      #  SEARCH for :
^(  \h*  \{  |  \h*\},\h*\{  |  \}  ) #  [ BLANK chars ] + ( '{' or '},  {' ) or LAST '}' changed into 121 DASHES
|                                     #  or
^\h*  "npp-plugins"  .+  \r\n         #  Line  containing "npp-plugins" DELETED
|                                     #  or
^\h*  (  \},?  |  \]  )  \r\n         #  Lines containing '},' or '}' or ']', at END of line, DELETED
|                                     #  or
^\h+"  ( arch )                       #  BLANK chars + string '"arch'             changed into 'Architecture'
|                                     #  or
(32|64)",$                            #  Strings '32",' / '64",' at END of line,  changed into '32 bits' / '64 bits'
|                                     #  or
^\h+"  ( id )                         #  BLANK chars + string '"id'               changed into 'SHA-256'
|                                     #  or
^\h+"  ( repository )                 #  BLANK chars + string '"repository'       changed into 'Download'
|                                     #  or
^\h+"  (.)                            #  FIRST LOWER-case letter, after leading BLANK chars in UPPER-case
|                                     #  or
(":[ ]")                              #  String '": "' changed into 11 SPACE characters + ':' + 1 SPACE character
|                                     #  or
",?$                                  #  DOUBLE quote or string '",' , at END of line , DELETED

Cheers,

guy038

Keith Collyer

@Meta-Chuh Finally got round to this. Sorry it took so long. I followed the instructions you gave and it had the same effect as before, that is:

I started notepad++.exe from inside the extracted folder,
used plugins > plugins admin to install Customize Toolbar,
clicked yes on the “Restart?” prompt,
and the folder opened in Explorer
I restarted NP++ and Customize Toolbar is installed.

I don’t hide file extensions. I did this simply on the extracted folder (under my Downloads directory), no other versions of NP++ running, no plugins installed other than the default set of three (MIMEtools, Converter, NppExport).
One thought, though, I wonder if notepad++ is being passed to the shell (rather than notepad++.exe), and that is causing the Explorer window to open the folder rather than the executable file?
Also I am running QTTabBar to give me a tabbed Explorer, not sure if that would have some effect.

Keith Collyer

@Meta-Chuh
Uninstalled QTTabBar and tried again with the portable version of NP++ and just native Windows File Explorer and this time it worked.
I noticed that QTTabBar was a couple of minor versions out of date, so I reinstalled and updated it. Tried again with the Portable version of NP++ and this time it worked. Hmm. Tried with the installed version of NP++ and this worked as well.
So, looks like whatever was causing the problem got fixed when I updated QTTabBar. I don’t know if it was the older version of QTTabBar itself that was causing the problem, or if the uninstall, reinstall, update process incidentally sorted something.

Meta Chuh

@Keith-Collyer

thank you for reporting back, and glad to hear that plugin installation is working now, without opening an explorer window.

your report can help others, who might have a similar constellation and experience the same, if an older version of qttabbar was the cause.

many thanks and best regards.