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Old June 22nd 18, 06:44 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Mayayana
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Posts: 6,438
Default Reading an .ini file with Notepad using Windows 10

"Chris" wrote

| I don't think most people make such a sharp distinction.
| And Notepad++ includes a number of extra functions that
| are "word processor functions", such as auto-indenting
| and color syntax highlighting. Those are also not typical
| text editor functions.
|
| Disagree. Those two functions are crucial features for writing code, which
| is a major function of text editors.
|

We seem to be getting into a lot of confusing
threads lately. In Win7 there's a big discussion about
the definition of "disk image". Here we're all disagreeing
about what an "edtor" is.

| I struggle to understand what you'd use syntax highlighting for in a word
| processor?
|

As I said in the part you snipped, I think of a
code editor as a 3rd thing. But they overlap. You're
defining it in terms of your own usage. If you paste
a logo and print it, it's a word processor. Anything
else is a text editor. If it offers different font colors
but you can't paste your logo, then you call it a
code editor.

Behind the scenes it's not that well defined. As I
was detailing earlier, in Windows the choice for
software is between a plain text window and a
RichEdit window. RichEdit is a word processor
component. A plain text window really only handles
bytes representing characters.

Notepad++ wraps a RichEdit clone. Most code editors
will use a RichEdit window or something similar. They're
functionally word processors in that they can offer
pasting of images, large bold headings, etc. But that
functionality is usually not translated through to the
UI because it's not relevant in a code editor.

Colored text is formatting, not plain text. Wordpad
is an example of formatting using a RichEdit window.
It allows for different fonts, bold, etc. in the same file.
That's word processing.

What makes a code editor unique is that it only
uses the formatting in the GUI. It's a word processor
that works with only plain text but uses word processor
functionality like color syntax highlighting as aids in
working with the text.

Notepad++ can save a ridiculous number of file types,
but actually they're all plain text. By that I mean that
once the file is saved it may be ANSI text or it may
be unicode text, but there's no data in the file other
than character codes that will be interpreted as letters
in some alphabet.

Conversely, a word processor will somehow save
formatting information in the file. An RTF file or a
DOC file contain the text plus images, font property
markers, etc.

Whether an editor can do something like
reformat to specific line lengths is a text function,
not a word processor function. The reason for that
is because the line endings are part of plain text
character encoding. They're still there when you
save it out as a plain text file.

What if you create a letterhead with a logo and
several fonts? That's a word processor function, right?
What if you then save that out as plain text? Was
it still written in a word processor or in a text editor?
Would that make MS Word a text editor? (Most of
my friends seem to think it's an email client.


| Printing. Word processors are designed for printing. You *can* print from
a
| text editor, but you have to know how many columns will fit on the page.
| That number is printer and page size/orientation specific.
|
So what? You're saying that a program that prints
badly is a text editor and one that prints well is a
word processor? Your definitions don't really mean
anything. They're all just your own personal distinctions.

Any editor using a RichEdit window can print well.
It can call EM_FORMATRANGE to calculate how much
text fits on a page. Notepad++ can probably do that,
since it's built around a RichEdit clone. A plain text
editor -- truly plain text -- won't have that capacity.
But printing is a whole other topic. There's access to
the printer programmatically in Windows. Things like
margins can be set directly. The main difference
between programs is going to be in terms of what
the author thought was necessary functionality.
There's nothing preventing a plain text editor from
printing beautifully.

| There are also converters to aid printing from ASCII text files and they
| ignore any formatting you may have enforced on the text.
|

?? I didn't understand that statement.


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