Notepad3: 1309-1326 RCs: Undiscussed Changes

[craigo-]

I've noticed a few changes to default settings make their way into the latest builds, but I cannot find any discussion around the changes. I accept that these are default settings only, and I fully have the ability to customise them how I see fit. Regardless, does anyone care to comment on why the changes were made?

(Tested version: Notepad3 (64-bit) RC v5.18.1023.1326, portable version, freshly unpacked.)

Things I've noticed (there may be others):

__Line Number: colour change [was red, now blue/green]__
I initially missed the red, but am now comfortable with the blue/green colour.

__Show Blanks [was Show Whitespace]__
I've always referred to it as whitespace...

__Show Wrap Symbols [was off, now on]__
While I do usually turn on the Show Whitespace Blanks settings (and am happy to do so, I understand that this is not a typical setting), I've never wanted/needed wrap symbols.

__Highlight Current Line [was off, now on]__
I never used it before, so was surprised to see it turned on by default. For now, I'm leaving it on, see if I get used to it.

__Selection Margin [was off, now on]__
Again, not one I ever thought to (or needed to) turn on. It's probably one I would leave off.

__Word Wrap Settings: Wrap indent by 2 characters [was: No wrap indent]__
I just found this one. I have to say I really don't like the new default.

__Word Wrap Settings: Show visual indicators before wrap (near borders) [was: No visual indicators before wrap]__
I just found this one. It looks like it is set to this as a result of the "Show Wrap Symbols" setting above.

__Word Wrap Settings: Show visual indicators after wrap (near borders) [was: No visual indicators after wrap]__
I just found this one. It looks like it is set to this as a result of the "Show Wrap Symbols" setting above.

[RaiKoHoff]

@craigo- : You are right, the discussion has been made internally between Derick (@rizonesoft) and some developer. We just missed to bring it to the public - but now, we can use this issue to discuss it, while we are in a pre-release phase - sorry for that.

The reason for changes was, to get a "nicer" first (initial) impression of Notepad3 on startup and first use for new users.

_My arguments for current initial settings_:

• Line-Number Color: I think it looks better now.
• Blanks vs. Whitespace: We want to follow the "standard" which says:
  [:blank:]
  Blank characters: space and tab.
  [:space:]
  Space characters: in the 'C' locale, this is tab, newline,
  vertical tab, form feed, carriage return, and space.
  But I am not sure, if we use it consistently throughout Notepad3 :thinking:
• Show Wrap Symbols:
  While the default for wrapping lines is OFF, I want to see wrapped lines immediately, if I turn it on.
• Highlight Current Line: I often switch view between Notepad3 and other programs, so I like to see directly where the current line is.
• Selection Margin: While book-marking some lines, I like to have a book-mark symbol at the margin instead of a highlighted line (this is related to "Highlight Current Line").
• Word Wrap Settings: Wrap indent: I have no preference here.

• Word Wrap Settings: Show visual indicators before wrap and
  Word Wrap Settings: Show visual indicators after wrap:
  same as above : I want to see wrapped lines immediately, if wrapping is turned on.

• Using the HighDPI Toolbar, if screen resolution is equal or above FullHD (1920x1080)
  (before it was only above FullHD): I am fine with it.

Ed.:

• Initial Font Size: 11pt (old: 10pt): Better experiences on FullHD and above.

Discussion is opened...

[hpwamr]

As far as I am concerned, this issue may be closed....

[RaiKoHoff]

There is a further change of the initial defaults, we didn't discuss: The switch to UTF-8 encoding "affinity".

• Default Encoding (new files): now UTF-8 instead of system's local ANSI code-Page (ANSI CP).
• Open 7-bit ASCII in UTF-8 mode.

To get back the old behavior, the user has to set (Default Encoding Dialog):

1. ANSI (CP-nnnn) (the top list entry)
2. Check ✓ Use as fallback on detection failure.
3. Un-Check [] Open 7-bit ASCII in UTF-8 mode