ITExperience.NET

Although everyone should be using Notepad++, there’s always a chance you have to use Windows Notepad (at a customers place, for example).

Here are some Notepad tips and tricks to make your intimate moments with Notepad a lot easier:

• When editing a file, press the F5 key to insert the system date and time
• Change or add headers & footers by selecting file | page setup
• Press ctrl-G and enter a line number to go to (VERY useful when debugging VBScript errors)
• Select view | status bar to display the line/character number as you navigate the file (another beneficial debugging aid)

Another tip I found was the ability to maintain a log file with timestamps.

• open notepad
• set the first line to be (without the quotes and in uppercase) “.LOG”
• press enter and save/close the file
• every time you open the file, notepad will automatically insert the system date/time at the end of the file and add a new line where you can begin typing

With this feature, you could write your own diary in Notepad! I’m still looking for the key combination to refresh a document in Notepad. For example, when viewing a log file, I would like to have a keystroke which refreshes Notepad so I can view the most recent text. Anyone?