Hi,
maybe I've gone blind... I installed the new Notepad++ update just now, and my LightExplorer plugin has disappeared and I can't get it back it seems! I have checked the plugin folder, there is the lightexplorer.dll all right. I even downloaded a newer version of this plugin and replaced the dll, restarted notepad, but no success. I also can't find any help in the help file. Where can I find this plugin or how do I invoke it?
tnx
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Last I checked, LightExplorer only works with the Ansi version of Notepad++. You need a Unicode version to work with Notepad++ Unicode which is now the default in Notepad++ Portable when used on Windows 2000 and later (as it should be). Your other option is to delete the files within the Notepad++Portable\App\Notepad++ folder which will cause it to use the Ansi version instead for now. You should bug the LightExplorer dev to create a Unicode version.
We'd been waiting on more plugins before switching to Unicode within Notepad++. The only holdout now is LightExplorer but we decided to switch anyway as normal users downloading Notepad++ locally are getting the Unicode version anyway (you get no choice in the installer). Notepad++ hasn't been particularly good about the transition from Ansi to Unicode.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'm afraid I'm very disappointed with this release. For one, my two main plugins (quicktext and function explorer) are gone, thanks to the 'upgrade' to Unicode. And even more annoyingly, it's already crashed on me about six times in the past 6 hours, seemingly at random times.
Once I'd just closed the one remaining open document (thus making it go to 'new 2') but I've done this plenty of times without a crash. Another was when I was typing 'if (' in a php doc and it crashed (I assume when trying to make the function hint come up).
Now I'm not saying the PortableApps porters are at fault, but obviously something is wrong. It's so bad that I made an account here just to say this.
Please release a revision where things work, I absolutely love NPP and PortableApps but will obviously have to do something if this continues.
I also wish a lot of the plugin developers would update for the Unicode version of NPP, but like you mentioned, the transition from ANSI to Unicode has not been good at all!
Notepad++ itself installs the Unicode version by default on all modern PCs (Windows 2000 and up). The Ansi version is only available to desktop users who download the ZIP file, specifically extract the Ansi version into Program Files and then manually create shortcuts to it. So, nearly everyone is now using the Unicode version.
As I said, we waited a couple point releases before switching. In the first Unicode release, even the spellchecking plugin hadn't been updated (WTF?). Once they'd updated everything except LightExplorer, we decided to switch over to keep in sync with desktop users.
I've been using the Unicode version locally since it became the default and haven't had any stability issues at all. It may help to reset your Notepad++ Portable installation (just delete it and reinstall) to ensure all is working as expected. For additional plugin updates, you'll need to file a bug with the Notepad++ project.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Yeah, I know about the Unicode/ANSI issues (for days when I forget to bring my USB stick into work I have the Unicode version installed, with no plugins that I use). I was actually very happy that the PortableApps version continued to be ANSI, even if it was officially unsupported or whatever.
You say everything except lightexplorer has been updated - do you know where I can get functionlist and quicktext? I looked on NPP's homepage -> download -> plugins and it's old. I even tried the sourceforge npp plugins project (that basically groups a few plugins together) in case any further dev had been done there but still no.
I'll try a complete reinstall as you suggest as this did once solve one of my problems (my guess is that the problem it solved was related to an old version of the settings file or similar with a new version of NPP) but I don't like to do this usually as I lose all my styles and config unless I back those files up and restore afterwards, and that negates most of the point in doing a reinstallation (see earlier)!
Sorry if I sound ungrateful, don't get me wrong - I'm very grateful people spare their time to maintain the PortableApps, it just gets me when an update breaks everything I've been used to for ages as I'm sure you can imagine.
I mean that all the bundled plugins had been updated except LightExplorer. Most of the manual install plugins have not been updated.
For issues on the transition, I suggest filing feature requests with Notepad++ as they have not been managing the transition very well.
You can continue using the Ansi version of Notepad++ Portable on all PCs by deleting the Notepad++Portable\App\Notepad++ directory. The launcher will then automatically use the Ansi version even on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7.
I'm not sure how long we will bundle the Ansi versions with N++P as we will be dropping Windows 9x support.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Where can I get the old version back? npp is great, but it was WAY more powerful for me with code snippets. Does anyone know how/where to roll back within the portable apps framework (or otherwise)?
thanks!
@developers: THANK YOU!!
Thanks very much for your help, I will file a request then and hope for an update of the LightExplorer in near future.
Available here
Cheers,
-Bertrand
For what it's worth, I have found a Unicode version of my two most used plugins for Notepad++.
For Explorer I went to the plugins section of the downloads page at the developers website. http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
For FunctionList I used a web search engine with keywords 'functionlist notepad++ unicode' and found a blog where someone posted a unicode version (Ruslan's blog: Function List for Notepad 5.x Unicode) is the search result.
{I didn't know if I could post the direct link thereto, so I've given you as much detail as is needed to locate it on your own. I hope this is ok and does not violate the posting guidelines...}
/s/ When life turns your dreams to dust, vacuum