Geany vs Notepad++
Notepad++ is Windows-only. For cross-platform development, Geany is an attractive alternative. This article lists a number of useful actions and settings for everyday use.
Daily procedures compared
| Action | Geany | Notepad++ |
|---|---|---|
| Selecting: Parts including opening and closing parenthesis | Select word, Ctrl-Shift-M or use plugin Extra Selection, Create key binding like: Ctrl-Alt-B | put cursor before or after "(" or ")" and Ctrl-Alt-B |
| Selecting: Parts between parenthesis: | Same as above, depending on cursor position. | Ctrl+DLMB |
| Selecting: A complete line, carriage return etc. included | TLMB | TLMB |
| Indent: | Select block and Tab or Shift-Tab. | Select block and Tab or Shift-Tab. |
| Find, replace (regex) like: ^FindMe or ^.SecondCharacter or Me$: | Ctrl-F or Ctrl-H | Ctrl-F or Ctrl-H |
| Find, replace (extended) like: Replace \r\n with space character: | Ctrl-F or Ctrl-H | Ctrl-F or Ctrl-H |
| Remove empty lines: | PlugIn Line Operations, then “Tools” > “Line operations” > … | “Edit” > “Line operations” > … |
| Duplicate line: | Ctrl-D | Ctrl-D |
| Mark instances | Yes, PlugIn Auto-mark | Yes |
| Delete lines (and add to clipboard): | TLMB Ctrl-X or Ctrl+Shift-X (or Ctrl-K without clipboard). | Ctrl-l |
| Toggle comment lines: | Ctrl-E | Ctrl-Q |
| Bookmark line: | LMB in front. | LMB in front. |
| Bookmark navigation: | Ctrl+. or Ctrl-, | F2 or Shift-F2 |
| For DLMB selection of words, seperators... | Edit filetypes.common, search for whitespace and remove - and * for example. (1) | Add characters in Prefs. |
Mouse buttons: Left, Middle, Right: <L|M|R>MB, like LMB. D is Double, T is Triple.
(1): If that doesn't work, copy the file from %programfiles%\geany\data to %appdata\geany.
If permission problems arise , Notepad++ can restart elevated automatically while keeping the open files in memory. This is very polished. Geany should be started elevated before permission problems arise. So editing a file by RMB and select Geany from Explorer is not an option in that case. For me that is a big disadvantage because I often edit files in environment %ProgramFiles%.
A tip for starting Geany elevated from the start menu, beside RMB > "as admin": ctrl-shift-LMB on icon. A more consistent approach is to change properties at the cost of safety: start menu > RMB Geany > Properties > Tab Compatibility > Run this as administrator. Then in Explorer RMB a file > open with > Geany > Always.
CAD-Lisp
Syntax highlighting definitions are available for both Notepad++ and Geany:
- https://vanderworp.org/notes/notepad-syntax-highlighting-for-cad-lisp/
- https://vanderworp.org/notes/cad-lisp-support-for-geany/
Both are based on the same CAD-Lisp keyword list and can be extended with project-specific functions and libraries.
Conclusion
Geany has become matured, all functions you look for are probably on board. Some plugins are extremely valuable. As an alternative for Notepad++ it is really good. When you work with multiple OS's, then Geany is a logical choice for a consistent way of working on all platforms.