Notepad++ for Peoplecode and SQR
(10 votes)There are a few people who mention different tools for Application Development in PeopleSoft. Over the past years I have tried many of the IDEs like TextPad, UltraEdit. For the past 6 months I have started extensively using Notepad++ and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately App Designer does not include a good syntax highlighting, Intellisense and other features that have been long implemented in other IDEs like Visual Studio, JBuilder, Eclipse. It seems that so far Notpad++ developers did a great job with developing enough options that the tool could be easily configured to support multiple languages, specifically SQR and PeopleCode. I have started by downloading initial syntax color scheme files from http://www.greyheller.com/ (they are always on the forefront of PeopleSoft development). Then, I have played with options a little and voila – I finally have an IDE that makes it all easier – syntax highlighting, IntelliSense (I wish it could access AppDesigner API too). Below I would like to provide a 5 minute guide to configuring NOTEPAD++ for use:
- Download Notepad++ from http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/
- After install go to Settings and remove all languages that you are not using:
3. Download PeopleCode and SQR syntax and Intellisense files below
a) Paste Intellisense File below
into C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\APIs\
and %appdata%\Notepad++\plugins
Download Files –
b) Paste PeopleCode and SQR Syntax files attached below into %appdata%\Notepad++\
Download File – PeopleCode SQR Syntax Filesc) Close and restart Notepad++
4. Configure Notpad++ to recognize sqr and peoplecode by following the instructions below:
Choose the desired language e.g. Peoplecode or SQR and change the color scheme to the way you like it. For PeopleCode I suggest specifying rem and remark in the comments & Number section. For the slash comments to work properly / / – we need to specify them in the Operators section (screenshot), because for some reason PeopleCode has more that 2 types of comments :
/+ your comment +/
/* your comment */
rem your comment
remark your comment
In order to enable Autocompletion (IntelliSense) you need to go to Settings → Backup\Auto-Complete tab
Enable → “Enable auto-completion on each input”
Select → “Word Completion”
Enable → “Function parameters hint on input”
Please Note for Notepad 6.8+ (These intrusions were kindly contributed by Ganesh P.):
For Notepad++ 6.8.* please use the following instructions for install installing the syntax files.
1. Go to Language > User Defined Language > Click on Import Button > Import the Peoplecode and SQR downloaded files from the links given by Yury.
2. Go to Language > User Defined Language > Check if the import is successful by clicking User Language drop box. If it is successful you can see your language in the drop-down box.
3. Again go back to Language > and below you can see newly imported languages.
4. Select the language and it is done.
No need to restart the Notepad++ you can see the changes immediately
Enjoy ! In my next post I will explain how Notepad++ can be effectively used for looking at PeopleCode Trace files.
About Author
Yury, thanks for the quick reply! The langugages do show up at the bottom; just to be clear; code completion in the form of memorizing variable names that were typed earlier in the code (when I have the ‘word completion’ option checked), however the kind of code completion I’d like is Visual Studio type intellisense, so if I’m working with say a rowset object it will automatically tell me what functions I can run on that kind of object….is that what notepad++ provides or am I being too ambitious? 🙂
Dave – this is a “fake” intellisense, I do not think we will be getting that, unless it will be implemented in App Designer. They are keep investing in the tools to the extent, but still. With general direction of the Fusion platform being based on Java. At some point you be using Oracle JDeveloper that has all of the above
Thanks.. it worked .!!
Glad to hear – enjoy!
Thanks. This is great
Thank you – I will be doing some more updates soon . Feedback is always appreciated.
Hi –
Thank you. Nice Post however the “PeopleCode IntelliSense 2” link is giving me error.
Khris,
Thank you – did you try to right click and do save as? Let me know if this works
Thanks, this is very useful.
I hope so
thanks you. this is great
Youri, I did follow all the steps you mentioned here. however cannot get it to recognize sqr syntax.
Pallavi,
I have created GitHub repository for this . Please go ahead and get the files from there and let me know if you still have a problem.
Thanks
1. I have Windows 7 Pro / Notepad++ v6.8.6.
2. I downloaded PeopleCode.api / PeopleCode.xml / PeopleCode_SQR_Syntax_Autocomplete.htm / userDefineLang.xml into:
a. C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\APIs\
b. C:\Users\my id\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\plugins
3. I stopped and restarted Notepadd ++ (many times).
4. I went to Settings > Preferences > Auto-Completion
a. Checked “Enable auto-completion on each input”
b. Selected “Word Completion”
c. Checked “Function parameters hint on input”
Problems:
1. I went to Language > User-Defined (because there is no View > User-Defined Dialog in this version) but nothing occurs.
2. If I go to find the Languages in Languages menu, I cannot find either PeopleCode or SQR (or Intellisense, either…whatever that is).
Can you help?
Steven, let me check my current setup and I will update the instructions.
I am also tried the same steps which Steven S. has mentioned and facing the same issue. Pls let me know what is missing in the steps?
Hi Again,
Pls find below steps to use syntax files in the new version of Notepad++.
1. Go to Language > User Defined Language > Click on Import Button > Import the Peoplecode and SQR downloaded files from the links given by Yury.
2. Go to Language > User Defined Language > Check if the import is successful by clicking User Language drop box. If it is successful you can see your language in the drop-down box.
3. Again go back to Language > And below you can see newly imported languages, Select the language and it is done. No need to restart the Notepad++ you can see the changes immediately
Thanks Yury for your syntax files efforts.
Regards,
Ganesh P
Thanks a lot Ganesh! I will update the post with information you provided 🙂
Hey.. I have tried this multiple times as described by stevens but no luck. The import of the xml fails. Please help here.
Deep,
Do you still have the issue or you were able to resolve it ?
I am also not able to import in Version 6.9.2 . but i downloaded just the sqr syntax from the Notepad++ site and imported it.
Thank you for feedback. Let me try this again
Lawrance,
When you install Notepad++ can you please check the boxes that say Use %APPDATA% data directory to load plugins
Deep,
What version of Notepad++ are you using ? Also see my comments above to check %APPDATA% options during install
The instructions on how to install this on Notepad++ 6.8+ does not seem to work for me (6.9.2). It keeps giving me the ‘Failed to import’ error.
What files need to be placed where?
Susank,
When you install Notepad++ can you please check the boxes that say Use %APPDATA% data directory to load plugins. Then make sure that the files reside in the %APPDATA% directory. Let me know if you still have issues
Hi Louri – I finally managed to get it to work but only after using the file from github repository. The IntelliSense files here don’t seem to work for me on Notepad++ 6.9.2.
Susan,
Thanks for letting me know
I downloaded functionlist.xml and userDefinelang.xml from Github Site (SQR). I tried to import the file using Notepad++ v8.9.2 but it says Fail to Import. Can someone help me? thanks
I couldn’t get the import of these to work either. However, if you’d like to edit SQRs and other languages in Edit++ go here and use these user defined XMLs: http://docs.notepad-plus-plus.org/index.php/User_Defined_Language_Files
Here is the link to specific the SQR file:
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/commun/userDefinedLang/userDefineLang_SQR.xml
Simply do an Import as shown above. I renamed mine to SQR.xml
Hope this helps,
Larry
Larry,
When you install Notepad++ can you please check the boxes that say Use %APPDATA% data directory to load plugins. Then make sure that the files reside in the %APPDATA% directory. Let me know if you still have issues
Also some people have problems with files from my site so try Github repository where I uploaded the latest files
Edward
When you install Notepad++ can you please check the boxes that say Use %APPDATA% data directory to load plugins. Then make sure that the files reside in the %APPDATA% directory. Let me know if you still have issues
Also please use Github to get the files and see if that works better
Thanks yury for the contribution.
The peoplecode import file fails, also tried placing the placing the files in mentioned directory. its not working. could you please help.
Notepadd++ v.7.3.2
Hello Yury,
this is a nice information. I am awaiting for your post on the viewing the trace files //Enjoy ! In my next post I will explain how Notepad++ can be effectively used for looking at PeopleCode Trace files.// Post. I couldnt find the same in your posts. sorry If I missed it.
Thanks
Gangaram.
Hello Yury,
I have installed NPP v7.5.4, and tried using your instructions and files to set up the PeopleCode user defined language. For quite some time, no joy. I tried installing it both with and without the %appdata” directory flag checked. I also downloaded the file ‘userDefineLang.xml’ from GitHub and tried that. No luck.
Finally, I moved the file to my local hard disk. I had been downloading it to a network mapped drive per our normal procedures in my department. Importing the local file worked–and it worked in an installation without the %appdata% flag checked during the installation.
I just thought I’d post this in case it resolves anyone else’s issues.
Thank you for creating these files and sharing them.
MK