JSON viewer

Michael Simpson

What has happened with JSON Viewer plugin? Before the latest update to Notepad++ at work I had installed JSON Viewer and everything was hunky-dory.
Before the update, I was on version 7.9.1 of Notepad. Then I updated to 7.9.5 (I think it was. I say think because I just logged on to my work PC and it seems as if standard practice there is to reinstall s/w based on some “standard” installation).
What DID happen was that I had to reinstall the JSON Viewer (it seemed to have disappeared with the update), and that’s when my problems started.
Suddenly, reinstalling JSON Viewer seemed to install something named Npp??? (I can see it now as NppExport).

Has anyone seen the same thing? Upgrade to 7.9.5 and JSON viewer disappears from the installed plugins and reinstalling it again installs something called Npp???

PeterJones

@Michael-Simpson ,

FYI: NppExport is a plugin that has shipped with Notepad++ for as long as I remember. It’s not something new or unexpected. And I don’t know of any plugin that shows up in either the Plugins Admin or the list of submenus in the Plugins menu as just “Npp” or as “Npp???”.

Regarding JSON Viewer:

I just tried a fresh portable Notepad++ v7.9.5 - 32bit unzip, ran Plugins Admin, and installed JSON Viewer, and it installed just fine:
Similarly, I tried a fresh unzip of portable Notepad++ v7.9.5 - 64bit, ran Plugins Admin, and installed JSON Viewer, and it installed just fine:

(and yes, the JSON Viewer worked fine when I gave it some example JSON)

The only reason a “reinstall” would mess up a plugin is either if you deleted the old installation first, or if you “reinstalled” the 32bit overtop an old 64bit (or vice versa). Or if there was something else incompatible between the plugin and the new version of Notepad++ (but the newest JSON Viewer 1.40 works with Notepad++ v7.9.5 just fine).

So at this point, the best I can tell you is “it works for me”.

Michael Simpson

I’m wondering whether it has something to do with the fact that I’m trying to upgrade/install at work.
I get a window about downloading the JSONViewer and the download % is at zero, then … nothing. Notepad++ restarts, but the viewer isn’t there, neither is it in the
list of installed plugins.
Is there some way to download the actual plugin and install it manually ?

Michael Simpson

Here is my debug info

Notepad++ v7.9.5 (64-bit)
Build time : Mar 21 2021 - 02:13:17
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
OS Name : Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version : 2009
OS Build : 19042.867
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

PeterJones

@Michael-Simpson said in JSON viewer:

I’m wondering whether it has something to do with the fact that I’m trying to upgrade/install at work.

That very well could be. For some installations, especially in controlled environments, you would have to be running as administrator to be able to install a plugin (because your plugin installation path is c:\program files\notepad++\plugins, and the program files hierarchy is often protected by IT departments)

If you can, you might be able to right click on notepad++.exe and one time Run As Adminstrator; use that run to try to install the plugin, then exit.

Or if you can, in Windows Explorer, right click on the c:\program files\notepad++\plugins folder, and try to set the permissions so that your normal account has write permission to the plugins folder, not just admin.

I get a window about downloading the JSONViewer and the download % is at zero, then … nothing. Notepad++ restarts, but the viewer isn’t there, neither is it in the
list of installed plugins.

That does sound like it’s not able to write the file properly.

Is there some way to download the actual plugin and install it manually ?

Yes. If you go to https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/nppPluginList/tree/master/src, and look in the pl.x64.json (for 64-bit Notepad++) or pl.x86.json (for 32-bit Notepad++), you can see the download URLs that Plugins Admin uses for any given plugin – or the homepage field gives the homepage URL for that plugin. Manually download and unzip the file it links to. If the zipfile just has a single DLL, then copy it to c:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\_____\____.dll, where the two ____ are the same as the DLL filename. for example, JSON Viewer names its DLL NPPJSONViewer.dll, so you would create the folder c:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\NPPJSONViewer and the DLL would be c:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\NPPJSONViewer\NPPJSONViewer.dll
But again, you need write permission to the plugins subfolder to be able to do that.

(Using the portable version, which doesn’t go in the program files hierarchy, might avoid UAC/permissions issue; but it might bring down the wrath of corporate IT, so check your work’s policies.)