Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate

[donho]

Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:
http://download.notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/8.x/8.5.1.RC/
http://download.notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/8.x/8.5.1.RC2/ <- Fix the context menu of Windows 11 is not removed after uninstallation of Notepad++
http://download.notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/8.x/8.5.1.RC3/ <- Merge the old & new NppShell.dll for the both context menu of Windows 11 and other previous Windows (10, 8, 7)

Notepad++ v8.5.1 bug-fixes and new features:

1. Use new modern shell “Edit with Notepad++” of Windows 11 instead of hijacking “Pin to Quick access”.(Fix #13320 , implement #13330 )
2. Update scintilla to 5.3.4 and lexilla to 5.2.4. (Implement #13338 )
3. Add MS Transact-SQL support. (Fix #5940 , #7988 , #11718 , #12610 , #13160 )
4. Add GDScript language support with autocomplete & functionlist. (Fix #13329 )
5. Fix UDL empty button regression after changing localization. (Fix #13228 )
6. Add ability to copy “Find what” to “Replace with” and vice versa in Find Replace dialog. (Fix #12122 )
7. Fix DocSwitcher RTL problem, and use edit field instead of a small popup value dialog. (Fix #13244 , #13248 )
8. GUI visual enhancement: Fix whole dialog items blink when a item value changed. (Fix #13230 )
9. Make tray icon context menu translatable. (Fix #11628 )

Notepad++ v8.5 bug-fixes and new features:

1. Fix notepad replacement opening file name containing white space regression. (Fix #13032 )
2. Fix regression about visual glitch of Find in Files progress window & Document Switcher.(Fix #13185 , #13053 )
3. Update to Scintilla 5.3.3 and Lexilla 5.2.2. (Implement #13082 )
4. Add new explorer context menu entry “Edit with Notepad++” for WINDOWS 11. (Fix #10320 , #10565 , #4368 , #8786 , #10640 , #10856 , #10653 , #7747 , #6169 , #92 )
5. Add show non-printable characters command. (Fix #827 , #4731 , #8284 )
6. Apply tab colors to document list items, and add groups to document list. (Fix #12155 , #12689 , #13026 )
7. Add middle mouse click ability to close doc in Document List. (Fix #12949 )
8. Add Begin/End Select in Column Mode command. (Fix #12833 , #12832 )
9. Add option to make auto-completion list brief. (Fix #12783 )
10. Remove duplicate items in function/word list of Auto-completion. (Fix #13061 )
11. Fix missing items in word autocomplete. (Fix #13060 )
12. Fix autocomplete to sort case insensitive issue. (Fix #12495 )
13. Change behaviour: make Select and Find (Next/Previous) always in normal search mode. (Fix #3229 )
14. Change behaviour: make volatile Find uses least-strict option settings. (Fix #13145 )
15. Change behaviour: Don’t populate in Find what if a stream selection more than 1024 characters. (Fix #12603 )
16. Fix wrong value set in Preferences->Performance->“Define Large File Size”.(Fix #13280 )
17. Fix untitled document number jumping or repeated problem. (Fix #8677 , #11704 , #13194 )
18. Fix dock-able panels not restoring for mono instances when Notepad++ is in the tray. (Fix #9454 )
19. Fix panels not restored from systemtray with “Edit with Notepad++” in admin mode. (Fix #13041 )
20. Fix hit text in search results not being scrolled in the view issue. (Fix #13129 )
21. Add new notification NPPN_EXTERNALLEXERBUFFER for lexer plugin with buffer ID when a new lexer is applied to the buffer in question. (Fix #12351 )
22. Fix Synch H/V Scrolling commands not sync with 2 views. (Fix #5250 , #13071 )
23. Add several GUI enhancement. (Fix #11695 , #13176 , #13187 , #13162 )
24. Make several GUI items translatable. (Fix #13175 , #8020 , #8858 , #13088 , #8927 , #10876 , #9343 , #8004 )

For people who have ARM device, could you test
http://download.notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/8.x/8.5.1.RC/npp.8.5.1.Installer.arm64.exe
and confirm if the new added Explorer context menu entry (“Edit with Notepad++”) works fine with your Windows 11 ARM64.

Thank you for testing!

Edit: it seems RC3 is not ready. The new release will be based on RC2

[Snabel42]

@donho this RC caused these plugins to have issues:

JSON Tools - Popup when starting NP++ saying “failed to load” and “not compatible with current version”
Elastic Tabstops - Popup when closing NP++ saying “Warning Closing file wasn’t registed”

[Mark Olson]

@Snabel42
Fix to JsonTools crash bug is here .

If that doesn’t solve it, please let me know.

If it works, I’ll submit a PR to nppPluginList with 4.11.1 as the latest version.

A reasonable compromise would be for me to stop inflicting my bleeding-edge releases on people and strike a more balanced policy of waiting until it’s been determined to be stable first.

[Michael Vincent]

@Mark-Olson said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

Fix to JsonTools crash bug is here.

Can confirm - this release fixes the issue for me.

Cheers.

[conky77]

the following
“Add ability to copy “Find what” to “Replace with” and vice versa in Find Replace dialog. (Fix #12122)”

means that you have to know that by clicking with the right button something happens.
If I understood well, it would look more like an Easter Egg than a feature.
It would be better to add an arrow to the button to show that there are more choices.

I would also like better whether, in the localization files, there would be only visible characters. The non-visible characters could be moved to the source code (I don’t know if the online GitHub editor manages them well).

However, It is something that can be improved in the next version without stopping this one.

[Snabel42]

@Michael-Vincent said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

@Mark-Olson said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

Fix to JsonTools crash bug is here.

Can confirm - this release fixes the issue for me.

Cheers.

Agreed the updated 4.11.1 appears to work

[Snabel42]

@conky77 said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

“Add ability to copy “Find what” to “Replace with” and vice versa in Find Replace dialog. (Fix #12122)”
…
means that you have to know that by clicking with the right button something happens.
If I understood well, it would look more like an Easter Egg than a feature.
…
It would be better to add an arrow to the button to show that there are more choices.

However, It is something that can be improved in the next version without stopping this one.

I would never in my life have found this feature without following the development or reading the release notes.

It’s a great feature. It would perhaps be nice if it could be made more “discoverable” in a later release.

[rdipardo]

@Snabel42 said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

Elastic Tabstops - Popup when closing NP++ saying “Warning Closing file wasn’t registed”

Known issue , not N++'s fault, and no risk of data loss.

[PeterJones]

@Snabel42,

I would never in my life have found this feature without following the development or reading the release notes

Release notes is how developers expect people to learn about new features.
And this is a release candidate – if you are installing a release candidate, which requires manual installation, and which is downloadable from this announcement thread which begins with release notes, you are doubly expected to read the release notes.

It would perhaps be nice if it could be made more “discoverable” in a later release.

It will be in the next version of the online user manual. But I usually don’t start working on the manual updates until the Release Candidate is released – which was only a few hours ago.

@conky77 ,

It would be better to add an arrow to the button to show that there are more choices.

How do you add an arrow to something whose symbol is already literally an arrow character? And how would you suggest that the arrow be indicated so people know it has to be ctrl+click to get it. IMO, hover text would do a much better job of communicating that behavior than another arrow (and would probably help the user experience)

I would also like better whether, in the localization files, there would be only visible characters

That’s 100% a function of your font choice. Courier New shows all three as boxes. Deja Vu Sans Mono shows ⇅ okay, but not ⤵ or ⤴

and Segoe UI shows all three, but is not monospace:

Given that they are less-supported characters, it probably would make sense to use &#x-entities rather than characters

-----------------

@donho, since these aren’t regressions per se, would you like @conky77 and/or @Snabel42 to make official issues regarding the hover text for the button, and changing the localization files to use entities?

[Snabel42]

@PeterJones said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

@Snabel42,

I would never in my life have found this feature without following the development or reading the release notes

Release notes is how developers expect people to learn about new features.
And this is a release candidate – if you are installing a release candidate, which requires manual installation, and which is downloadable from this announcement thread which begins with release notes, you are doubly expected to read the release notes.

I’m not sure release notes have to be mutually exclusive to having more or less discoverability in the UI. At least I don’t see why one has to rule out the other.

@donho, since these aren’t regressions per se, would you like @conky77 and/or @Snabel42 to make official issues regarding the hover text for the button, and changing the localization files to use entities?

Not intended to be an issue from my sides at least, much less a blocker (thus the “perhaps a future release comment”).

But fair point that perhaps the intention of these RC thread is not to provide general thoughts or feedback but more strictly ro report hard errors with the RC changes/additions

[donho]

@PeterJones said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

Given that they are less-supported characters, it probably would make sense to use &#x-entities rather than characters

It makes sense.
Please do a PR (for the next release v8.5.2) if you want to. But please test the PR to make sure it works.

@donho, since these aren’t regressions per se, would you like @conky77 and/or @Snabel42 to make official issues regarding the hover text for the button, and changing the localization files to use entities?

Sure, I will see what I can do about it in the next release.

[Coises]

@PeterJones said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

How do you add an arrow to something whose symbol is already literally an arrow character? And how would you suggest that the arrow be indicated so people know it has to be ctrl+click to get it. IMO, hover text would do a much better job of communicating that behavior than another arrow (and would probably help the user experience)

It’s a bit ugly, but it’s just a quick sketch. I think the idea is clear enough? (Click in the top third to copy replace to find, bottom third to copy find to replace, middle to exchange?)

[Stefan Pendl]

@donho
How about adding a drop-down to the find dialog to display the exchange options.
Like it is done by WinMerge, see image below.

[conky77]

@donho, since these aren’t regressions per se, would you like @conky77 and/or @Snabel42 to make official issues regarding the hover text for the button, and changing the localization files to use entities?

Sure, I will see what I can do about it in the next release.

Issue 13368

[guy038]

Hello, @coises, @don-ho, @peterjones and All,

I, personally, very much like the solution proposed by @coises which seems quite intuitive !

But, these specific arrows should not be very easy to display ?!

Best Regards,

guy038

Of course :

• The Copy Find to Replace option needs a non-empty Find field

• The Exchange option needs non-empty Find and Replace fields

• The Copy Replace to Find option needs a non-empty Replace field

Ah… I think that these actions should be possible in the Normal search mode only !

[R D]

@donho
There is one bug I posted about:
The word call up function of WordWeb Pro (v10.1) Ctrl & right mouse button works in every app except notepad++.
https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/24258/wordweb-pro-10-1-not-working-in-notepad-8-5?_=1679157389718

[Alan Kilborn]

@R-D said in Notepad++ v8.5.1 Release Candidate:

There is one bug I posted about:
The word call up function of WordWeb Pro (v10.1) Ctrl & right mouse button works in every app except notepad++.

This is not specific to 8.5.1, so leave that discussion out of this thread, as it doesn’t belong here.

[donho]

FYI:
v8.5.1 RC 2 which fixes the Windows 11 Explorer context menu entry “Edit with Notepad++” not removed after uninstallation of Notepad++ issue is available here:
http://download.notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/8.x/8.5.1.RC2/

[donho]

FYI: RC3 is available.

The difference between RC2 and RC3 is:
RC2 use old NppShell.dll for the creation of “Edit with Notepad++” entry for old windows (10, 8 & 7), and it use new NppModernShell.dll for Windows 11.

In RC3, only one NppShell.dll is used for the creation of “Edit with Notepad++” entry for all supported Windows.

For people who have Windows 7 (I have no Windows 7), please test installer and let me know if it works as usual.

Thank you!

[Artur Harison]

@donho

Notepad++ v8.5.1   (64-bit) 
OS Name : Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version : 22H2
OS Build : 19045.2728
Current ANSI codepage : 1251

RC3
Open in Notepad++ disappeared from context menu of Windows.