Thomas

I would recommend the plugin NppExec for such a procedure, as it’s essentially a “batch scripting” language for Notepad++, with a Console for showing the results inside the Notepad++ window.

For example, for building c code using the gcc compiler, I have saved a script in NppExec that runs:

NPP_SAVE
cd "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)"
gcc -o "$(NAME_PART)" "$(FILE_NAME)"
$(NAME_PART)

This saves the active file, changes into that file’s directory, runs the gcc compiler on the file, and then runs the executable that’s generated.

So you would just run your inform6.exe instead of gcc and then explore.z5 instead of $(NAME_PART)

You can have NppExec add your favorite scripts into either the Macros menu, or the Plugins > NppExec menu (using Plugins > NppExec > Advanced Options and then restarting Notepad++). And then you can use Settings > Shortcut Mapper > Plugin Commands and filter for NppExec, so that you can then use Modify to add a keyboard shortcut to easily run that NppExec script.

You can see some other options in our FAQ: Automating Noteapd++, but based on your description, I think this most-closely matches your description.