Notepad++ File Filters

Question

I was wondering if it was possible to list an exclusion within the file filters in the "find in files" functionality of Notepad++.

For example the following will replace Dog with Cat in all files.

Find what: Dog

Replace with: Cat

Filters: *.*

What I would like to do is replace Dog with Cat in all files except those in .sh files.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

I think something like a "negative selector" does not exist in Notepad++.

I took a quick look at the 5.6.6 source code and it seems like the file selection mechanism boils down to a function called getMatchedFilenames() which recursively runs through all the files below a certain directory, which in turn calls the following function to see whether the filename matches the pattern:

bool Notepad_plus::matchInList(const TCHAR *fileName, const vector<generic_string> & patterns)
{
    for (size_t i = 0 ; i < patterns.size() ; i++)
    {
        if (PathMatchSpec(fileName, patterns[i].c_str()))
            return true;
    }
    return false;
}

As far as I can determine, PathMatchSpec does not allow negative selectors.

It is however possible to enter a list of positive filters. If you could make that list long enough to include all the extensions in your directory except .sh, you're also there.

Good luck!