Crash triggered chronic padding around text editing widget

NP++User

While taking notes today during a WebEx call, Notepad++ crashed. Don’t know if it was related.
Upon restart, the UI showed large padding on all four sides of the text editing widget. Three of the four sides show a bar with an X, like a docked window might show. I can close two of them easily. I can drag the edges of the text editing widget around to make the third X visible and close it.

Restarting Notepad++ undoes all widget resizing and closure of the mystery “docked” windows
Renaming %APPDATA%\Notepad++ to reset app preferences does not affect the docked windows

I’ve never encountered this before, not sure how to correct. Does anyone have suggestions?

screenshot

Notepad++ v8.1.9.1 (64-bit)
Build time : Nov 13 2021 - 15:28:20
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version : 1909
OS Build : 18363.1916
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : DSpellCheck.dll JSMinNPP.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll XMLTools.dll

NP++User

Whelp… of course after I spend the 15 minutes fighting with the application and time to post my question, now it’s unexpectedly working as expected. The only different was I switched backed to the original %APPDATA%\Notepad++ directory.

Technically this question is now moot, but it would be nice if someone else in the community might know what was up.

Terry R

@np-user said in Crash triggered chronic padding around text editing widget:

Technically this question is now moot, but it would be nice if someone else in the community might know what was up.

This has been an outstanding issue for some months with several versions of Notepad++. To date it hasn’t been produced on demand, one thing that generally helps with a fix being produced. It is also a very rare occurrence, if we base it on users posts in this forum.

Users has restarted their PC’s, installed updated display drivers, all of which had had the desired effect albeit sometimes temporarily.

Terry

artie-finkelstein

@terry-r
I’m starting to sense a trend with the use of teleconferencing apps with screen sharing and Notepad++ getting screwed up. I have no insight on ‘detailed’ causes (or fixes), but given the multitude of the levels of abstraction in the Windows GUI, Microsoft’s stellar record of bug-free implementation of OS infrastructure APIs and the complexity of session sharing- I see it as quite possible that Notepad++ is being given incorrect data as to where it’s controls, etc, should be painted.

Replacing drivers and the required restarting as well as plain restarting will clean up the OS internals as long as the offending teleconferencing app is not reloaded as part of the startup sequence. But, where to go after that- I have no idea.

Terry R

@artie-finkelstein
I’d have to say that’s as good an answer as any yet. Possibly we ask next time it occurs what other apps like zoom are running just prior to the issue occurring.

The thing is, I suspect we are still very early in the diagnostic process. Until we get to the point of being able to point the finger, and being able to replicate on demand we never will get any progress.

And even when we do get that major revelation it will still be a long road ahead to figure out a solution, if one is even possible. Likely it will be interactions between multiple apps/services that weren’t quite perfect in their development.

Terry

PeterJones

@terry-r ,

I don’t know if you’ve been following any of the issues on github related to this, but Don has pretty strongly come to a conclusion that it’s Slack:
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/9717#issuecomment-972275335 => https://twitter.com/Notepad_plus/status/1461114260302573574

I personally think it’s Slack or other such conferencing software, because some of the earlier reports mentioned other brands of those types of apps, from what I remember… and the whole mess started in late March 2020, right when everyone in the US was starting to frequently use such software for an externally-caused change in working conditions.

Terry R

@PeterJones said in Crash triggered chronic padding around text editing widget:

I personally think it’s Slack or other such conferencing software, because some of the earlier reports mentioned other brands of those types of apps, from what I remember… and the whole mess started in late March 2020, right when everyone in the US was starting to frequently use such software for an externally-caused change in working conditions.

Thanks @PeterJones for that insight and the links. I’ve just had a good read of the github thread. Probably the longest I’ve ever spent on github, don’t have an account there and don’t intend to but have ventured over there on occasion for a bit of “light” reading.

But I take umbridge at the twitter link. I abhor those social media sites and feel that it is dragging Notepad++ down to even venture into that area, sort of cheapens it! I almost feel dirty having “touched” twitter to see what that link had to offer.

So for any future issues on the GUI (re)drawing of Notepad++ issue I’ll make sure to reference the github thread. Certainly looks like the diagnostics is a lot further ahead that I believed. That’s good, however it still remains to be seen how the solution will present itself. Given other (MS) apps have also been affected we can hardly expect Notepad++ developers to be made liable to produce a solution.

Terry