NP++ and hidden files
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In the first place: I thank the makers of Notepad++ ! I use NP++ it since many years in MS Windows. It is my favorite editor. Recently I installed NP++ in Unbuntu 20.04. Installed it with Snap. It takes a bit longer to come up on the desktop than the Windows version. Secondly: the font of the menus and main window are quite little (I am 74 (but kickin’)). The reason for my question is this: in Linux there are quite a bit of hidden files, to begin within the home folder of a user /home/<username>/, e.g.: the file .profile. This file and some other files that start with a . (dot) I need to edit once in a while. But NP++ does not show them. I installed the Explorer plugin. This plugin shows the hidden files.
In the explorer plugin window the hidden folders are colored with a light-blue color while the non-hidden folders have a dark-blue color. When I click on one of the non-hidden folders the Explorer plugin shows me the contents (list of files) of the selected folder. When I click on a hidden folder, contents of that folder is not shown. So I am not able to see, neither select to open a hidden file.
Is there a solution available ?
Thank you!
Paulus Schulinck (paulsk), Lisbon, Portugal. -
@ct7agr ,
There is no native port of Notepad++ to Linux. To run, it must be going through a translation layer like Wine, because Notepad++ is using win32 API calls, which Linux does not understand.
So when Notepad++ asks the win32 interface for the standard Windows file menu, that translation layer is handling the call, and that translation layer gets to decide what files to show to Notepad++. There is nothing you can do inside Notepad++ to change that behavior.
I presume the Explorer plugin is using standard c-style directory access routines rather than a win32 call, which is why it is showing hidden files. And no, Notepad++ is not going to switch to generating its own file open dialog using standard c-style calls, because Notepad++ is a win32 app, and will continue to make use of that API.
It may be possible to configure Wine or whatever translation layer you use to show hidden files, but I don’t know how. There is nothing to do inside Notepad++. Sorry.
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Treating dot files as hidden is only a convention for shells and some other applications. There is nothing “hidden” about them as far as Linux file system or wine care. When I worked with NPP over wine I opened many dot files and files in dot directories without a problem.
I wonder if it is a bug in the Explorer plugin where it treats dot files (and dot directories) as files with empty name and an extension which confuses it. This may explain the coloring issues. If you have a Windows system you can try creating a dot file there and check if it behaves differently than with wine.
I am quite sure that if you just try to open the files from the ‘Open’ dialog you would not have a problem.
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