> For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://nhanbe.id.vn/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://nhanbe.id.vn/llms-full.txt. # Notepad++ Core features in Notepad++ that are essential for handling AEM log files, XML configurations, and automation scripts. *** ## 1. Column Mode Selection Press `Alt+Shift+↑/↓/←/→` or hold `Alt` while dragging the mouse to select text rectangularly (Column Mode). **AEM Use Case:** Remove redundant log prefixes across multiple lines simultaneously, or extract specific data columns from log files. ```text [ERROR] 2024-01-15 10:00:01 com.mysite.core... [ERROR] 2024-01-15 10:00:02 com.mysite.core... [ERROR] 2024-01-15 10:00:03 com.mysite.core... ``` Select the prefix block `[ERROR] ` via `Alt+Drag` → Press Delete to strip prefixes in a single action. *** ## 2. Regular Expression Search & Replace Press `Ctrl+H` → Enable **Regular expression** mode. **AEM Use Case — Remove Blank Lines:** Find: ```regex ^\r?\n ``` Replace: _(Leave empty)_ **AEM Use Case — Update Java Package Names in XML:** Find: ```regex com\.oldsite\.core ``` Replace: ```text com.newsite.core ``` **AEM Use Case — Extract Class Names from Stack Traces:** Find: ```regex \tat ([\w\.]+)\(.*\) ``` Replace: ```text $1 ``` *** ## 3. Mark and Highlight Text Press `Ctrl+M` → Highlight selected text with custom colors. Up to **5 distinct style colors** can be applied concurrently. Navigate to **Search → Mark All** → Enter keyword → Highlight all instances across document. **AEM Use Case:** Color-code different log levels and keywords while analyzing `error.log`: - Style 1: `ERROR` - Style 2: `WARN` - Style 3: `NullPointerException` - Style 4: Target component name under active investigation *** ## 4. Line Bookmarks | Shortcut | Description | | --------------- | ------------------------------- | | `Ctrl+F2` | Toggle bookmark on current line | | `F2` | Jump to next bookmark | | `Shift+F2` | Jump to previous bookmark | | `Ctrl+Shift+F2` | Clear all bookmarks | **AEM Use Case:** Bookmark key log entries within multi-thousand-line `error.log` files to navigate quickly between relevant trace points. *** ## 5. Folding and Unfolding Code Blocks | Shortcut | Description | | ------------- | ---------------------------------- | | `Alt+0` | Fold all levels | | `Alt+Shift+0` | Unfold all levels | | `Alt+1..8` | Fold to specific indentation level | | `Ctrl+Alt+F` | Fold current block | **AEM Use Case:** Collapse individual `` blocks in large `.content.xml` files to inspect overall node hierarchy cleanly. *** ## 6. Compare Plugin Install via **Plugins → Plugins Admin → Compare**. Navigate to **Plugins → Compare → Compare** to inspect two open files side-by-side with highlighted differences. **AEM Use Case:** - Compare `dispatcher.any` configurations between production and staging environments. - Diff `_rep_policy.xml` ACL definitions before and after editing. - Compare package manifest versions (`.content.xml`) prior to package deployment. *** ## 7. XML Tools Plugin Install via **Plugins Admin → XML Tools**. | Action | Shortcut | | ---------------- | ------------------ | | Pretty Print XML | `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+B` | | Check XML Syntax | `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S` | | Evaluate XPath | `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X` | **AEM Use Case:** Copy raw XML from CRXDE → Paste into Notepad++ → Execute `Pretty Print` to format node structure. *** ## 8. Macro Recording and Execution 1. Navigate to `Macro → Start Recording`. 2. Perform repetitive text transformation steps. 3. Select `Macro → Stop Recording`. 4. Press `Ctrl+Shift+P` to replay once, or select `Macro → Run a Macro Multiple Times`. **AEM Use Case:** Format raw stack traces line-by-line and execute the macro repeatedly to process large log files. *** ## 9. Column Editor Press `Alt+C` while in column selection mode to launch the Column Editor. Insert sequential numbers or static text into the active column across selected lines. **AEM Use Case:** Prepend ` -` to multiple lines to convert plain lists into formatted YAML/Markdown syntax. *** ## 10. Converting Line Endings Navigate to `Edit → EOL Conversion`: - **Windows (CRLF)**: `\r\n` - **Unix (LF)**: `\n` - **Macintosh (CR)**: `\r` **AEM Use Case:** Bash scripts or Dispatcher configuration files created on Windows failing on Linux due to `\r` carriage returns → Convert to Unix (LF) before uploading. *** ## 11. Character Encoding Conversion Navigate to `Encoding` menu to switch between UTF-8, UTF-8-BOM, ANSI, and UTF-16. **AEM Use Case:** Ensure i18n `.properties` files use standard UTF-8 (avoid UTF-8-BOM as AEM property readers fail to parse BOM markers properly). *** ## 12. Workspace Sessions Navigate to `File → Save Session` to save currently open files as a `.nps` session file. Select `File → Load Session` to restore the designated group of files. **AEM Task Session Examples:** - `debug-dispatcher.nps`: `dispatcher.any`, `httpd.conf`, `access_log`. - `aem-logs.nps`: `error.log`, `request.log`, `stdout.log`. - `package-review.nps`: Active `.content.xml` vault files under review. *** ## 13. Function List Panel Navigate to `View → Function List` to display a sidebar listing functions, methods, and definitions. **AEM Use Case:** Navigate complex deployment shell scripts or Python automation scripts easily. *** ## 14. Document Map Navigate to `View → Document Map` to view a high-level mini-map of the file on the right margin. **AEM Use Case:** Navigate large log files spanning multiple megabytes quickly without manual scrolling. *** ## 15. Find in Files Press `Ctrl+Shift+F` to search across directories. Configuration parameters: - **Find what**: Search term or regex. - **Filters**: `*.log`, `*.xml`, `*.any`, `*.conf`. - **Directory**: Target root directory. **AEM Use Case:** - Search log directories for `OutOfMemoryError` occurrences. - Search XML files across vault packages for specific `sling:resourceType` definitions. - Locate `Include` directives across Dispatcher configuration files. *** ## 16. User Defined Language (UDL) Navigate to `Language → User Defined Language → Define your language` to construct custom syntax highlighting rules. **AEM Use Case:** Import custom UDL rules for Sling log formats (highlight timestamps, log levels, and class names in distinct colors). *** ## 17. Smart Highlighting Double-click any word to highlight all matching occurrences throughout the document. **AEM Use Case:** Double-click a class name within a stack trace to highlight every reference to that class in the active log. *** ## 18. Auto-Completion Navigate to `Settings → Preferences → Auto-Completion`: - Enable word completion per document. - Enable parameter hints. **AEM Use Case:** Autocomplete JCR property names in `.content.xml` files based on existing document contents. *** ## 19. Word Wrap Press `Alt+H` (or navigate to `View → Word Wrap`) to toggle line wrapping. **AEM Use Case:** Long stack trace lines in log files wrap cleanly without horizontal scrolling. *** ## 20. Executing External Commands Press `F5` (`Run → Run...`) to execute external CLI tools using variables: | Variable | Resolves To | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | `$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)` | Absolute file path of active document | | `$(CURRENT_WORD)` | Currently highlighted word | | `$(CURRENT_LINE)` | Active line number | | `$(NPP_DIRECTORY)` | Notepad++ installation directory | **AEM Use Case:** Create a shortcut to deploy the active XML file directly to CRXDE via `curl`: ```bash cmd /c curl -u admin:admin -X POST "http://localhost:4502/crx/de/index.jsp" -F "file=@$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)" ``` *** ## 21. Tail Monitoring Mode Navigate to `View → Monitoring (tail -f)` to auto-refresh the file as new data is written to disk. **AEM Use Case:** Monitor `crx-quickstart/logs/error.log` in real time within Notepad++ without installing third-party tail utilities on Windows. *** ## 22. Multi-View Split Editor Navigate to `View → Move/Clone Current Document → Move to Other View` to split the editor into dual panes. **AEM Use Case:** Display `error.log` on the left pane and `.content.xml` on the right pane during debugging.