NPP_tools

Several tools for testing Notepad ++. Due to better portability (e.g. relative to Python portable, especially for Windows 7) I wrote all in NodeJS. Currently available:

• plug_crash

plug_crash

Tool for downloading and testing all plugins for Notepad++ against crash. Everything works locally after following the steps below.

Attention!

Testing all plugins may cause the following problems:

• Files are not analyzed by any antivirus service (so they can be potentially dangerous). If you have a real-time antivirus installed, they will be probably checked automatically. You can also download all .zip files first, check them manually by your antivirus, and after that run the test again.
• Some plugins may change system settings, like NotepadStarterPlugin. They probably have some .bat files to uninstall, but I haven't checked all of them.

For the above reasons, it's best to use this tool in a virtual machine. I'm not responsible for any damage done due to testing. If you don't know what you are doing, it's best not to use this tool at all.

How to use it

1. Download some portable version of Notepad++ from the official page (.zip or .7z package). You can also try some newer versions (details).
2. Extract the above package to some folder (for example NPP).
3. Download the _test folder from this repo and put it to above NPP folder.
4. Inside _test folder put pl.x86.json or pl.x64.json file depending on which version you downloaded in step 1. You can download the content of this file from the official nppPluginList repo or create your own plugin list (according to the syntax of the original plugin list). Check the latest version of pl.x86.json or pl.x64.json file.
5. Start tool with run_crash.bat file (or run_crash_win7.bat for Windows 7).

You can test different versions of NPP and different versions of the plugin list, to locate the plugins that break the NPP version you are testing.

Configuration

At the beginning of the _test\plug_crash.js file we have some configuration (you can change them and run the test again):

// CONFIGURATION START

var nppSync = false; // true - run Notepad++ in sync mode (need manually close all popup), false - run Notepad++ in async mode (all popup will be close automatically)
var closePopupTime = 2500; // in async mode wait the given number of milliseconds before closing any popup automatically
var closeNppTime = 10000; //  in async mode wait the given number of milliseconds before closing Notepad++ main window automatically regardless of other factors

var plugListFile_x86 = "pl.x86.json"; // 32-bit plugin list file
var plugListFile_x64 = "pl.x64.json"; // 64-bit plugin list file

var onlyDownload = true; // true - only downloads .zip archives without test it under Notepad++, false - downloads .zip archives and test it under Notepad++
var retryDownload = 3; // 0 - try download .zip archive only once, values > 0 will try the specified number of times

var fixedSteps = -1; // values > 0 specifies the number of processed plugins from plugin list file, values <= 0 means all plugins from plugin list file are processed

var ignorePlugins = [ // put to this table the "folder-name" of any plugin to ignore it, like ["Plugin1", "Plugin2", "Plugin3"])

];

// CONFIGURATION END

Additional tips

• If you already have NodeJS installed on your system, you can delete the _test\node.exe file.
• You can use this tool only for downloading all .zip packages, without actually testing them.
• The downloaded .zip packages are saved in the _test\_cache folder. If you are running the test again and want them to be downloaded again every time, then clean this folder before you run test again.
• Plugins save their settings in a NPP\plugins\Configfolder. If you are running the test again and want it to be not use again, then clean this folder before you run test again.
• You can copy the entire _test folder (with or without _cache folder) to another version of NPP and test it with the same or a different plugin list.
• After downloading all .zip packages, you can copy the entire contents of _cache folder to another place to have access to this files in the future.
• You can list a small number of plugins in the plugin list file to test this tool with a smaller amount of data. This way you can, for example, test only plugins that you trust.
• You can manually generate a crash by copying to the NPP\plugins folder some known plugin version that causes problem (or put information about it to plugin list file).

Dependencies

• NodeJS (included 15.14.0) and some packages inside _test\node_modules:
  • adm-zip 0.5.4
  • filendir 2.0.0
  • follow-redirects 1.13.3
• NirCMD v2.86 (64-bit) inside _test\_winsoft\NirCmd64

TODO

• Check hash after downloading the .zip file. Done.
• Find an easier way to close NPP when the popup appears (without using any additional programs).
• Add configuration also through CLI arguments.
• After finished return some code.