Notepad word wrap bug

[Robert Hart]

I recently investigated and documented strange behaviors in Notepad that
have been bothering me for a while.

Basically, if word wrap is on, and you save a file, Notepad inserts CR CR LF
characters at the wrap points. (These characters are only in Notepad's
display window, the file is saved without extra characters at the wrap
points.) This can cause problems if you copy and and paste from Notepad into
other windows.

You can read more details here:

Notepad bug: Saving with word wrap on inserts CR CR LF characters
http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html


I tried searching online to see if anyone else had already documented this
problem. I found the threads below from this newsgroup discussing this
strange Notepad behavior, so I thought I'd share the results of my
investigation in case any one is interested, or if it comes up again.

Notepad bug makes it unusable
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...read/thread/febcff2875b1462c/5beb9dca58ce8b99

An observation re Notepad
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...hread/thread/70bc0add6983642/4df9c749d6c0c3b0


Robert

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I recently investigated and documented strange behaviors in Notepad that
have been bothering me for a while.

Basically, if word wrap is on, and you save a file, Notepad inserts CR CR
LF
characters at the wrap points. (These characters are only in Notepad's
display window, the file is saved without extra characters at the wrap
points.) This can cause problems if you copy and and paste from Notepad
into
other windows.

You can read more details here:

Notepad bug: Saving with word wrap on inserts CR CR LF characters
http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html


I tried searching online to see if anyone else had already documented this
problem. I found the threads below from this newsgroup discussing this
strange Notepad behavior, so I thought I'd share the results of my
investigation in case any one is interested, or if it comes up again.

Notepad bug makes it unusable
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...read/thread/febcff2875b1462c/5beb9dca58ce8b99

An observation re Notepad
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...hread/thread/70bc0add6983642/4df9c749d6c0c3b0


Robert

This old potato keeps coming up in newsgroups. It is basically the result
of superficial observation. A thorough investigation reveals this:
- CRLFs are inserted in notepad documents only when the user
presses the Enter key.
- Enabling word wrap will cause the lines on the screen to be broken
up so that they fit into the available screen width.
- Enabling word wrap, then saving the file, will NOT cause any
extra CRLFs to be inserted in the saved file. A comparison of
the saved files - one with word wrap, the other without - will
immediately confirm this.
- When you copy a word-wrapped text (e.g. with Ctrl+C) then
the text does not contain any extra CRLFs. The copied text from
a word-wrapped document is indistinguishable from the text of
a non-wrapped document.

Run this little experiment to confirm the last point:
1. Open notepad and type a few lines. Do not press Enter at any time.
2. Turn off Word Wrap.
3. Press Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C.
4. Launch MS Word.
5. Press Ctrl+V, then press Enter.
6. Go back to the Notepad.
7. Turn on Word Wrap.
8. Make sure that Notepad is "windowed" (i.e. not full screen), then
make it a fairly narrow frame. You will now have lots of short lines.
According to your theory, each should have a "hidden" CRLF at
the end.
9. Press Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C.
10. Go back to MS Word.
11. Press Ctrl+v.
Where are the extra CRLFs?

If you disagree then I invite you to propose a detailed step-by-step
procedure that demonstrates the presence of those hidden CRLFs.
Please do not rely on various threads on this subject - just because
someone published his pet theory on the net does not make it a fact.

 

[Robert Hart]

Where are the extra CRLFs?

If you disagree then I invite you to propose a detailed step-by-step
procedure that demonstrates the presence of those hidden CRLFs.
Please do not rely on various threads on this subject - just because
someone published his pet theory on the net does not make it a fact.

There is a detailed step-by-step example in my blog post:

http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html


The extra CR CR LF characters are only inserted into the Notepad display
window after you save a file when the word wrap option is turned on. There
are no extra characters in the saved file.

You can verify the extra CR CR LF characters are there by using a program
that examines the clipboard. At the bottom of my blog post, I've provided an
AutoHotkey script that examines the clipboard and decodes control
characters.

In your steps, the file is never saved (the window remains an Untitled
window), so Notepad had not yet inserted any extra characters.

Robert

 

[HeyBub]

There is a detailed step-by-step example in my blog post:

http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html


The extra CR CR LF characters are only inserted into the Notepad
display window after you save a file when the word wrap option is
turned on. There are no extra characters in the saved file.

You can verify the extra CR CR LF characters are there by using a
program that examines the clipboard. At the bottom of my blog post,
I've provided an AutoHotkey script that examines the clipboard and
decodes control characters.

In your steps, the file is never saved (the window remains an Untitled
window), so Notepad had not yet inserted any extra characters.

Saving a file created with word wrap on (and taking up several lines on the
screen) results in NO CR/LFs of any kind or in any quantity within the file
as confirmed by viewing the saved file with a hex editor.

 

[Robert Hart]

Saving a file created with word wrap on (and taking up several lines on
the screen) results in NO CR/LFs of any kind or in any quantity within the
file as confirmed by viewing the saved file with a hex editor.

Correct. Notepad only inserts extra CR CR LF characters at the wrap points
in the display window. The file is saved without the extra characters.

You can confirm what characters are in the display window by copying them to
the clipboard, then using a program that examines the clipboard.

Robert

 

[dadiOH]

Correct. Notepad only inserts extra CR CR LF characters at the wrap
points in the display window. The file is saved without the extra
characters.
You can confirm what characters are in the display window by copying
them to the clipboard, then using a program that examines the
clipboard.

I see what you mean. Probably. I didn't do all you did but my saved file
has spaces at the wrap points.



--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Robert Hart]

I didn't do all you did but my saved file has spaces at the wrap points.

Correct. There are no problems with the saved file, so it will contain only
spaces at the wrap points.

After saving a display window with wrapped lines, the extra CR CR LF
characters are only in Notepad's display window and not in the saved file.
Examining the saved file with a hex editor will show nothing unusual. But
copying the characters in the display window and examining the clipboard
will confirm there are extra CR CR LF characters at the wrap points.

Robert

 

[John John (MVP)]

Correct. There are no problems with the saved file, so it will contain only
spaces at the wrap points.

After saving a display window with wrapped lines, the extra CR CR LF
characters are only in Notepad's display window and not in the saved file.
Examining the saved file with a hex editor will show nothing unusual. But
copying the characters in the display window and examining the clipboard
will confirm there are extra CR CR LF characters at the wrap points.

And what happens if you refresh or rewrap the display window? If I
remember correctly it seems to me that this is nothing more than a
WYSIWYG thing, even after you paste the clipboard.

John

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

There is a detailed step-by-step example in my blog post:

http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html


The extra CR CR LF characters are only inserted into the Notepad display
window after you save a file when the word wrap option is turned on. There
are no extra characters in the saved file.

You can verify the extra CR CR LF characters are there by using a program
that examines the clipboard. At the bottom of my blog post, I've provided
an
AutoHotkey script that examines the clipboard and decodes control
characters.

In your steps, the file is never saved (the window remains an Untitled
window), so Notepad had not yet inserted any extra characters.

Robert

OK, you're right, I was able to duplicate your findings. They actually
become apparent very quickly by following this sequence:
1. Open notepad.exe.
2. Turn on Word Wrap.
3. Write some text that spans several lines. Do not press Enter at any time.
4. Save the file.
5. Increase the width of the notepad window. The line lengths should
change. They don't.
6. Reduce the width of the notepad window. Some lines will wrap at the wrong
places.

And the remedy? Use notepad2.exe
(http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html).
It does not appear to suffer from this problem and it includes line numbers
(which
I often sorely miss from notepad.exe).

 

[Robert Hart]

And what happens if you refresh or rewrap the display window? If I
remember correctly it seems to me that this is nothing more than a
WYSIWYG thing, even after you paste the clipboard.

My blog post is very detailed:
http://bavih.blogspot.com/2008/07/notepad-bug.html

To summarize:

When you save a file with word wrap on, CR CR LF characters are inserted at
the wrap points in the display window only.

The CR CR LF characters remain in the display window if you resize it,
minimize it, maximize it, switch to another window and switch back, etc. The
effect is especially noticeable if you started off with a narrow window and
resize the window wider. The CR CR LF characters prevent the long lines from
re-wrapping properly.

If you turn off word wrap, any CR CR LF characters in the display window are
removed. If you turn word wrap back on, the lines are re-wrapped without
inserting any CR CR LF characters.

If you save the file again and word wrap is still on, then Notepad removes
any CR CR LF characters in the display window, saves the file, then re-wraps
the long lines and inserts new CR CR LF characters at the wrap points.

Robert