Manage code snippets in Notepad++

Question

Is there any way to manage code snippets with backup for the database and code highlighting in Notepad++?

Answer 1

This answer is not specifically about how to manage np++ code snippets, but this might be a good alternative since it looks like that plug-in doesn't work very well. I've found a very flexible system wide solution is to use AHK. You can then get snippet like functionality, plus a lot more, by customizing hotkeys and text expansion.

For instance, a one liner AHK script like this :*:123::123456789 will automatically expand typing "123" to "123456789", regardless of your current editor (np++ or VS, whatever). To limit this to specific applications, just add another line like this #IfWinActive, ahk_exe devenv.exe (Full example here).

More on AHK for plaintext

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Simple AHK Script to Manage Code Snippets

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I just whipped up a simple solution to manage a CodeSnippet database. A little more work and this could be a lot slicker.

What it does

Provides a code snippet list shown by hitting Ctrl+Alt+S. Double click a snippet and it will paste in your application. Snippets are simply a list of files and the contents of the file provide the code to the snippet.

How to setup it up

1.) Requires a folder named "CodeSnippets" under your MyDocuments directory. Create your code snippet files in this folder.

2.) Use AHK to run the following script. To "set and forget", have the script run on Windows startup. From any application in Windows, hit Ctrl+Alt+S to select a snippet.

#NoEnv

HotKey, ^!s, ShowList
return

ShowList:
Gui, Add, ListView, r20 w300 gMyListView, Name
Loop, %A_MyDocuments%\CodeSnippets\*.*
    LV_Add("", A_LoopFileName)

Gui, Show
return

MyListView:
if A_GuiEvent = DoubleClick
{
    LV_GetText(RowText, A_EventInfo)
    FileRead, Snippet, %A_MyDocuments%\CodeSnippets\%RowText%
    Clipboard := Snippet
    Gui, Destroy
    Send ^v
}
return

GuiClose:
Gui, Destroy
return