It's no secret that most often you have to work with text information on your computer. This is work with documents, and correspondence, and browsing the Internet. There are many different applications and online services for entering and editing texts, ranging from office programs to website management systems. Most of these software tools have evolved over the years and are now fairly complex systems for working with formatted text - i.e. text in different fonts, characters of different sizes, colors, positioning, etc. At the same time, sometimes there is a need to work with simple, unformatted text - i.e. with text, which is one continuous sequence of characters, which does not contain information about the appearance of letters. The standard Windows tool for working with such text is Notepad program... This program has a rather meager functionality that allows you to open a file in the standard Windows encoding, edit the text using the keyboard and clipboard, and then save the edited information as the same text file.
Since working even with unformatted text can be quite varied, many alternative programs have been created to replace the meager functionality of Windows Notepad. And one of the most popular among them is the Notepad ++ program. As the name implies, it is also called a notepad, but with the prefix "++", which implies advanced functionality and convenience. In this article we will tell you how to use these two programs and reveal the most important features of them.
Installing and running programs
Since Windows Notepad is a standard operating system program, you do not need to install it, but just run it through the menu item "Start / Programs / Accessories / Notepad". And to install the Notepad ++ program, you can use either the installer with the official website of the program, or install the portable version via. To do this, in the window for selecting programs for installation, select "Notepad ++" in the "Development" section.
After downloading and unpacking the program will be available in the portable programs menu.
Opening and saving files
Both programs have standard file management tools. For example, the Windows Notepad program has the usual "New", "Open", "Save" and "Save As" items in the "File" section of the menu. But even in this seemingly simple question, Notepad ++ has a number of significant advantages. Here are the most important ones.
In Notepad ++, you can open several files at once by switching between them through the tabs in the program window.
The File menu displays a list of previously opened files, which is extremely convenient if you have to frequently return to the same text. Moreover, Notepad ++ remembers the list of open files at the time of exiting the program and opens them all the next time you start it.
If the file encoding is non-standard for Windows, then in Notepad ++ you can set it for the current file. For example, when editing files for Internet pages, the encoding "UTF-8 without BOM" is often used. Accordingly, you can enable the operation mode in this or any other encoding through the menu item "Encodings".
If necessary, through the same menu section, you can convert the open file to another encoding - for example, to be able to work with it in Windows Notepad.
Using the clipboard and search functions
Working with the clipboard is an integral part of editing text data. Therefore, you can work with the buffer in both notebook programs. The same goes for text searches. In Windows standard notepad, these options are available through the "Edit" menu item.
Of course, Notepad ++ provides not only these features, but also a number of others that are not available in regular Notepad. For instance:
Copying and pasting vertical text blocks by selecting them with the mouse while holding down the Alt key.
Selection of multi-page text without forced scrolling during selection - through the menu item "Edit / Set selection"
Clipboard history panel.
Paste special formatted text from the clipboard when not only the display text is pasted, but also formatting characters such as HTML tags.
Search and replace in several files at once.
Highlighting all matching text fragments with a different color.
Search using special characters (line breaks, etc.), as well as using the so-called. regular expressions.
Customizing the display type
Since unformatted text is not tied to the size of the printed sheet, it can consist of lines of arbitrary length. And if the line does not fit into the current width of the window, then you can view it only by scrolling the horizontal scroll bar. To avoid such inconvenience in standard Notepad, you can enable line wrapping mode.
In addition to setting the font, there are no more possibilities for changing the type of text in this program. But Notepad ++ has a number of important functions in this regard:
Displaying special characters (tabs, line breaks, spaces, etc.).
Change the scale of the text with the mouse wheel or with the Ctrl + Num + and Ctrl + Num- key combinations.
Syntax highlighting for the selected programming language or markup.
Selective hiding of lines, as well as selective hiding of syntax blocks.
Optimization of work
Windows Notepad does not provide any special operations that speed up text editing. While in Notepad ++ there are a number of useful features that can significantly increase the speed of work. So, for example, you can convert the case of characters in one click for a selected fragment of text. To start such a transformation, you can use the "Edit / Transform Register" menu item or the corresponding hot keys.
An even more commonly used Notepad ++ function is working with entire text strings. Indeed, for example, it is much more convenient to delete a line by pressing one key combination than to pre-select its beginning and end with the cursor and then press the Delete button. The same goes for deleting lines and moving them. When you work with texts on a regular basis, such small optimizations make your work easier. Moreover, the program has the ability to sort strings by different criteria. All these operations are available in the menu item "Edit / Operations with strings".
An equally useful feature is the automatic handling of spaces. Indeed, in the process of working with text, it is difficult to keep track of where extra whitespace characters are inserted by mistake. And therefore, operations to remove extra spaces can be very useful. These operations are available in the menu item "Edit / Operations with spaces".
For those who are engaged in the preparation of technical texts, editing HTML-code and programming, it will be extremely convenient to use the tools for commenting the code and auto-completion of input. In addition, all users can automate many routine actions by creating their own macros. This can be done through the "Macros" menu item.
In addition to all these advantages of the Notepad ++ program, it is worth mentioning the ability to install a variety of plugins, thanks to which you can further expand the program's functionality.
conclusions
Using the Windows Notepad program, you can solve basic tasks for editing simple text files. This is convenient because Windows Notepad is a standard program included in the operating system, and therefore is available on all computers running Windows. If you need to work more closely with unformatted text, then for this it is convenient to use the Notepad ++ program, which has a much larger set of functions, making the process of working with texts much easier and more convenient.
Text and HTML editor with many functions. It has a small size, works quickly, looks beautiful, all its numerous functions are conveniently sorted according to the menu, everything is customizable. An important feature - with the Alt button, it selects the text in an arbitrary block.
Tastes could not be discussed. So it is when choosing the software to use. There are universally recognized benchmark programs for doing this or that work, but at the same time, someone likes cumbersome professional solutions in which everything is included, while others prefer small utilities that help to cope with a specific task.
We already talked about the fact that Windows Notepad is very imperfect and considered an example of a replacement program for it. Today we will continue this topic and deal with a program that will appeal to all people who belong to the category of minimalists. Meet - TigerPad.
Although I clearly bent about minimalism here. All minimalism ends in program size only (weighs only about 500KB without add-ons). As for the rest, the program is a full-fledged text editor that supports non-compiled programming languages (HTML, XML, PHP ...).
TigerPad features
- automatically detect and change the text encoding;
- highlight syntax of 55 programming languages;
- optimize HTML code;
- add Java Scripts and DHTML examples to the body of HTML pages;
- translate numbers into any number system;
- format text;
- transliterate text.
To begin with, TigerPad does not require installation. You can download the archive, unpack it and use the program. If you want to replace TigerPad with the standard Notepad, then when unpacking, specify the address of the folder where it is installed (usually C: \ Windows), and agree to replace the Notepad.exe file.
Setting up TigerPad
At the first start you will be presented with "Information".
In essence, this is a greeting, but the next tab will contain several propositions. In particular, a proposal to configure the program before use, which we will now do.
So, go to the "Edit" menu and enable the "Options" item or press the corresponding key on the toolbar ().
In "Main" we enter our nickname and set the file autosave time (the mode helped out a lot when the lights were suddenly turned off :)). In the "Editor" tab, you can set the display of line numbers (decimal or hexadecimal system). In the "Interface" turn on everything (setting the mat - optional :)).
On the "Encoding" tab, set the checkboxes for the autodetection of the encodings we need (all is possible). Next, in the "Files" menu, check the boxes for the file extensions that you want to open in TigerPad. And, finally, in the "Automaton" tab you can create your own auto-completion and autocorrect templates. Click "Apply" and then "Ok" - the program is ready to work.
Interface and work with the program
The TigerPad interface is not burdened with unnecessary elements: only a menu bar, a small toolbar and a working area. The toolbar contains only standard buttons (New, Open, Save, Print, Cut, Copy and Paste).
But there are two more buttons: this is the "Options" button (which we already talked about) and the "Notebook". What is the last option for? So that you can save your notes in the "book" (for example, a script or a friend's phone number).
To do this, you just need to select the desired letter of the alphabet and write the necessary notes in the working field, or select the "Own" tab and create a new bookmark there.
Let's open an HTML document in TigerPad.
As you can see, the program immediately determined the type of text and highlighted the markup tags accordingly.
What can we do with an HTML document? It is natural to customize its display, optimize the code and, if desired, add any effects. All this will easily suit us with the TigerPad. I advise you to pay attention to two menus: "Text" and "HTML".
The "Text" menu provides us with tools for working with text.
The most important, perhaps, the advantage of this menu item is the "Format Text" option.
Here we can quickly divide the text into paragraphs, define the separation parameters and even prepare the text for creating an HTML page from it. To do the latter, it is enough to indicate the parameters of the paragraph in a special field.
There are also a few other tools in the Text menu to look out for. These are "Number in words", "HTML to TXT" and "Statistics". The latter tool is very convenient to use if you are a freelancer and you are paid according to the number of characters printed.
The HTML menu also provides several unique tools.
First of all, let's take a look at the Java Script menu and DHTML examples.
TigerPad has a whole collection of ready-made scripts and effects that you can use in your HTML pages. Some of them have instructions in Russian, while others may be without them, but this will only be another reason for the experiment :).
The optimizer in TigerPad is certainly not very good. All it can do is remove some not very important tags in the body of the page.
Conveniently implemented the ability to insert HTML tags. The Tags menu lists the most commonly used tags and a keyboard shortcut for entering them quickly.
An interesting function is "Number translation".
Here you can translate any number in any number system (it is very convenient to convert from decimal to binary when programming).
conclusions
TigerPad can be recommended to anyone who wants to expand the capabilities of their Notepad, as well as get a good programming tool. Its simple and at the same time sophisticated interface will not leave you indifferent to this utility, and a set of unique features makes it very useful. Download and use it for health :).
P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and cite this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
Since childhood, all of us are accustomed to using notebooks, and with the advent of the computer, electronic notebooks come to our aid. They come with the operating system, but there are situations when it becomes necessary to download a notebook for free. Notebooks are quite popular among computer users and are distributed free of charge. Most often, the standard notebook format is ".TXT" - a text file. However, this fact does not mean at all that the notepad program is just a text editor. The user decides to download the notebook for one reason or another, but everyone, without exception, wants to download the most functional notebook for free
Notebooks from different developers and manufacturers may well differ functionally from each other, although almost all of them can be downloaded for free either from our website or from the developer's website. For example, if you put other similar applications from other manufacturers in comparison with the usual Notepad, which is one of the main elements of the Windows operating system, then it will become obvious to everyone that it is in last place in terms of capabilities. This fact does not in any way characterize Microsoft. It just calls into question the purpose of creating and distributing this notebook. Therefore, if you use a notebook, but you are sorely lacking its capabilities, try to download the notebook for free to your computer from our website.
In terms of their capabilities, interface and set of functions, notebooks can vary quite a lot, depending on what kind of software you decide to download from us for free. If we are talking about notebooks for personal notes and notes, then here you can notice a great similarity with organizers, but the possibilities of such notebooks are much less. Roughly speaking, such a notebook is a simple "electronic" sheet of paper where you can make any notes or reminders. Some of these notebooks are "AkelPad" and "Notepad2", which you can download for free directly from this site.
A completely different matter is professional utilities, which have quite significant functionality. At first glance, you might not notice the difference, but there are notebooks that use their own methods of highlighting, formatting, searching and correcting spelling in the text, etc. However, the most important and significant advantage of professional notebooks, which you can download on our website for free, is the ability to work with a large number of programming languages, without using a specific processing environment. Also, if you decide to download a professional notebook for free, you will have the opportunity to work with non-compiled languages, for example, HTML, XML, PHP and others. Moreover, a professional text notebook, which can be downloaded for free without registration, is able to immediately identify a particular programming language.
Among all the non-standard functions of such applications, which you can download for free, it is worth noting that some of them even have notebooks in which you can enter and store personal data or necessary scripts. Also, they differ from each other in many different settings and operations performed. Absolutely all notebooks can perform the simplest operations, such as cutting, copying and pasting text, but some developers are not limited to this. For example, "TigerPad" - a notebook, which you can download for free on this page, has quite interesting and unusual options, such as the ability to insert funny expressions, etc.
In general, all these applications are created for the same purposes, however, each of them is good in its own way. Therefore, you should definitely choose one, the most suitable notebook, download it for free, and enjoy its possibilities.
On our site you can download a notebook for Windows free of charge, which will replace a similar basic application for you, which will greatly facilitate your work, due to its multifunctionality and the convenience of an intuitive interface. Each program stored on our website has a detailed description, thanks to which it will be easier for you to make the right choice and download the most suitable application for you for free. Any file that you decide to download from us for free is thoroughly checked for viruses, so having decided to download something from us, you can be sure about the safety of your computer.
One of the advantages of the Windows operating system is that it provides its users with many useful and quality programs that are installed by default. For example, if you need to perform basic editing of text files, then two programs will come to the rescue at once - these are WordPad and Notepad. Both applications belong to the category of free basic editors, those who like working with more powerful programs will have to download other utilities.
But if you need software for working with text, then turn your attention to Notepad - this is a fast and convenient utility that allows you to process a document in the shortest possible time. It should be noted right away that if you download the software, you can open documents only in TXT format, the application does not work with other extensions.
Through the free editor, users will be able to process and open small files, for example, notes, stories, messages. If desired, you can change the encoding if the text editor is not able to reproduce the text in the correct form. To start the application, you need to go to Start - Accessories - Notepad. In addition, there are several more ways. For example, if you install a utility, you can invoke it using the command line, where you should enter the notepad command. The free editor opens in another way - calling the software from the submenu of standard applications. In general, if you need to download, then even beginners will not have problems with this.
How can users please?
If you throw off the software, then the main window will appear in front of users, where you can enter text. The toolbar is represented by various tabs, each of which performs specific functions. If you go to the File settings, you can save, open a ready-made document, and also decide on the file printing settings. Here the software sets the page parameters.
To open commands for editing documents, just visit the Edit tab. To change the font, its style or size, the user needs to go to the Format settings. A very important function that it can is word wrap. By installing the application and selecting this option, then users will be spared from long paragraphs, to read which it is necessary to scroll the horizontal scroll bar to the limit.
In general, the software is deservedly included in the standard set of the Windows operating system. This is a handy free utility that, in fact, you don't even need to download. Discreet, convenient, simple - Notepad will come in handy in case of simple editing of documents.
The excellent Windows operating system has provided everything for the user's work. It has everything you need. Let's take a closer look at one of the built-in programs, with an insignificant, but very interesting and useful, called "Text Notepad". It would seem, why such a seemingly useless program? A "text notebook" on a computer is just what you need to write down your thoughts or small theses and stories, and a notebook can also be used to copy links or change the code of various programs. It is simply irreplaceable to write down, for example, a phone number or a note, especially when there is no pen or paper at hand, and the matter is urgent.
Definition
What is Text Notepad? "Notepad" or "Notepad" (its official name) is the most common text editor that is included in the package of Windows operating systems (from the very first Windows 1.0 and NT to Windows 8). In earlier operating systems, it was possible to write (work) in this program only up to 64 kilobytes, and therefore more advanced programs were constantly developed, whose capabilities were less limited. Now these restrictions have been removed, and this editor has become more convenient and practical to use. Also in this program you can comprehend the HTML code, which allows you to create sites for the Internet and much more.
Functional
What does the program consist of? What can she do? The menu bar includes five main items: "File", "Edit", "Format", "View", "Help". Each item fulfills its function.
1. The item "File" includes several subsections:
- "New" (CTRL + N) - this function opens a completely new empty file. This function is very important, especially if the previous file is damaged or you want to start working in the editor again.
- "Open" (CTRL + O) is the most natural way to open the desired file on your computer. By clicking on this sub-item, select the location of the file and click "Open".
- "Save" (CTRL + S) - everything is clear here. When pressed, the button will save the work result in a text editor.
- "Save as" - here you can select the name of the file, the path for saving by selecting the folder and clicking the "Save" item. You can also change the file encoding to ANSI and Unicode when saving.
- "Page settings" - this sub-item contains settings for printing - paper sizes, margins, and so on.
- "Print" (CTRL + P) - when this button is pressed, a window will open in which various options will be indicated - the number of copies, the range of pages. After clicking "Print" the document will be printed on the printer.
- "Exit" - closing the program. It is also carried out using a cross in the upper right corner. Do not worry about accidentally pressing the "Exit" button, after writing a huge amount of information, the program will automatically ask whether to save this file, if it has not been done before.
2. "Edit" contains the following:
- "Undo" (CTRL + Z) - this function undoes the last action and returns the document to the state before this action was taken.
- "Cut" (CTRL + X) - the item cuts a piece of text, placing it in
- "Copy" (CTRL + C) - and this item copies the selected part of the text, which is also placed on the clipboard.
- "Paste" (CTRL + V) - the function is designed to place a fragment of text from the clipboard to the part where the cursor is.
- "Delete" (Del) - deletes the selected part of the text. If you want to return a fragment, just click "Undo", provided that no other actions have been taken in the editor besides deleting the text.
- "Find" (CTRL + F) - using this function, you can find the required place in the text by a phrase or word, and also select the direction of the search (from the cursor to the top or bottom of the text). The search text will be highlighted by pressing the "Find" button.
- "Replace" (CTRL + H) - This function replaces the words you are looking for in the text. When clicked, a window opens. Having entered the desired word in the "What:" item, in the "What:" item we write which word to replace. If the word is constantly repeated in the text, just click the "Replace All" button.
- "Go" (CTRL + G) - this subsection moves the cursor to the required line of the document.
- "Select All" (CTRL + A) - this combination makes it possible to select text in the entire document.
- "Time and date" (F5) - inserting the date of the present time at the location of the cursor.
3. "Format" includes only two functions:
- "Wrap by words" - this operation allows you to wrap words from lines automatically, the length of the line becomes limited to the visible part of the screen. This function is made for convenience - now you do not need to constantly scroll the worksheet horizontally, trying to read the text.
- "Font" - by selecting this sub-item, you can set its style and appearance. If you are not satisfied with the offered fonts, then you can select the "Show additional fonts" section and find a new, more interesting and attractive one. By pressing the "Ok" button, the font will be changed to the one that you have chosen.
4. "View" includes only one function - "Status bar".
5. The Help menu will show you the version of the editor and also answer frequently asked questions.
Where to find and how to open
How do I open Text Notepad? In fact, there is nothing difficult about this, but there are two options. Which is easier - decide for yourself, the taste and color, as they say, the markers are different. This task is not difficult, and even those who are just starting to get acquainted with the computer and have not yet grasped all the basics in this matter can cope with it.
Option 1
For the first option, you need to know where the "Text Notepad" is. Click the "Start" button, which is located in the lower left corner, then select the "All Programs" item, after which a list of different folders and frequently used computer programs will unfold. In this list, you need to find the "Standard" folder. It is in it that "Notepad" is located - a text editor.
Option 2
There is an even simpler method that is completely different from the first one. To begin with, right-click on an empty space on the desktop, after which a small menu will open, select the "Create" item from the list, and another small list will open, select the "Text Document" line in it and set a name for the new document. Everything, you can work in a notebook. Now you are probably asking: "How can I open this file through a text notepad?" It’s as easy as shelling pears! Just right-click on it and find the line "Open with Notepad (or notepad)" in the list that appears.
Note
The main difference between the first option and the second is that in the first case, we first write down all the necessary information, and then we create a file and save it there, and in the second case, on the contrary, an empty document is created first, which is then replenished with our records.
Analogs
Notepad ++ is a very interesting program, but its real purpose is to work with HTML code. Unlike the classic Windows editor, Notepad ++ can deal with several files at once, and at the same time. It has no conflict with the file encoding, and in case of any error, it highlights it in red.
NFOPad
NFOPad is another great program. It independently determines Internet links and e-mail addresses, which the standard "Text Notepad" built into the operating system cannot do. Also this program supports NFO format.
AkelPad
At first glance, this editor is no different from the standard one, but it is not, it has the function of previewing the file being opened. And the most important advantage of this program is that in the absence of the desired function, you can simply write it yourself and insert it into the editor, which the usual "Text Notepad", of course, cannot do. This function is very useful for those who are familiar with the basics of programming.
