NppExec in Notepad++ to "Run a Macro Multiple Times..."

Question

I use simple NPP_Exec commands in N++ which work fine for macros. Eg.:

NPP_MENUCOMMAND Macro/Action1
NPP_MENUCOMMAND Encoding/Convert to ANSI
NPP_SAVE

But how can I run a specific macro several times? I have tried NPP_MENUCOMMAND Macro/Run but then I still have to manually select the macro I need and set it to "Run until the end of line" in the pop-up window.

Lars Fischer · Answer 1 · 2016-06-18T19:54:54.943

You can use the NppExec plugin for simple loops like this:

:REPEAT
  SCI_SENDMSG SCI_GETCURRENTPOS
  set pos1 = $(MSG_RESULT) 

  // put your Macro invocation here instead of the linedown:
  SCI_SENDMSG SCI_LINEDOWN

  SCI_SENDMSG SCI_GETCURRENTPOS
  set pos2 = $(MSG_RESULT) 

  // if the linedown (or your macro) doesnot give another pos, we have reached the end
  if $(pos1) == $(pos2) goto END
  // else loop
  goto REPEAT

:END

it stores the current position
then it does something that advances the position (in this example a linedown, you would put your Macro invocation there, make sure it changes the cursor position)
then the position is compared with the stored position; we have reached the end, if the position has not changed;
in this case we leave the loop

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 15 '18 at 13:21

I just found a simple and easy solution for that. I did not use command lines but it might work as well:

Make sure the macro ends with a Ctrl-Tab key
From Settings -> Preferences -> MISC, disable the doc switcher.
Open all files to be edited.
Use the "Run macro multiple times" dialog, and enter the number of files you have just opened.
Execute
Save all

I did not create this, found it here:https://sourceforge.net/p/notepad-plus/discussion/331754/thread/469ffec9/ , but it worked like a charm for me. I could edit 400 documents in less than 2 min.

when i try this, the cursor keeps going back to the ctrl+Home position — Tiju John, Aug 16 '19 at 08:32

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 21 '22 at 10:43

I found another way to achieve this. Inspired by Wagner Fontes's answer, we can do the following:

Step 1: Record your Macro

Step 2 (Important): Before you finish the Macro, type the "Ctrl + Tab" as the last record in the Macro. This hotkey means moving to the next opening text file.

Step 3: Save the Marco.

Because of the Step 2, Notepad will move to the next text file after running the macro once. In this method, "Run a Macro Multiple Times" makes "Multiple Files".

NppExec in Notepad++ to "Run a Macro Multiple Times..."

3 Answers3