Find in Files filter length limit

[ianfailing]

Description of the Issue

The "Filters" of the "Find in Files" seems to have an arbitrary, soft, hidden maximum length of 512 characters. When that length is exceeded and a search is conducted, NP++ freezes momentarily, silently fails to search, and alters the input value of the Filter string.

Steps to Reproduce the Issue

Fresh install of v8.6.4 64-bit.
Perform a Find in Files search with the below parameters. This fails after five seconds, after searching 0 files, replacing the "Filters:" string with its left 512 bytes (which is unlikely to itself be a valid "Filters:" string).

Find what: a
Directory: c:\
Filters (user-input):
* !*.00 !*.1 !*.264 !*.aab !*.akm !*.aks !*.ami !*.aot !*.appx !*.asar !*.assets !*.bak !*.baml !*.bdf !*.bgf !*.bif !*.bik_atlas !*.bim !*.bin !*.blend !*.blg !*.bny !*.boo !*.bpl !*.bqf !*.bqy !*.bsave !*.bufr !*.bundle !*.bws !*.bxy !*.bz2 !*.cache !*.chm !*.ctx !*.cubin !*.cur !*.dat !*.db !*.dcp !*.dcu !*.dde !*.dlf !*.dll !*.dm !*.dmg !*.dmp !*.dmt !*.dpl !*.dsm !*.dylib !*.ems !*.ess !*.exe !*.exp !*.exr !*.fb1 !*.fb2 !*.fcm !*.flx !*.gbf !*.gif !*.gpl !*.grib !*.hdr !*.icns !*.ico !*.ilk !*.ipch !*.jar !*.jmod !*.jpg !*.lib !*.lsb !*.lw !*.mag !*.manifest !*.mb !*.mdf !*.mf4 !*.mo !*.mov !*.mp4 !*.neta !*.nupkg !*.obj !*.oca !*.oct !*.odb !*.p !*.pak !*.pbi !*.pbo !*.pbt !*.pch !*.pdb !*.pdf !*.pem !*.pfb !*.pib !*.pld !*.png !*.po !*.ppo !*.pxd !*.pyc !*.pyd !*.qq !*.rbf !*.res !*.resource !*.ress !*.rqf !*.sbn !*.sea !*.shk !*.so !*.sqlite !*.srpm !*.sse !*.suo !*.svg !*.tif !*.tpa !*.tpb !*.uhs !*.vdb !*.vpk !*.vsidx !*.vtz !*.whl !*.woff2 !*.wps !*.wsuo !*.x3db !*.xcf !*.xls !*.xlsx !*.zbf !*.zip

Filters field (after one search attempt):
* !*.00 !*.1 !*.264 !*.aab !*.akm !*.aks !*.ami !*.aot !*.appx !*.asar !*.assets !*.bak !*.baml !*.bdf !*.bgf !*.bif !*.bik_atlas !*.bim !*.bin !*.blend !*.blg !*.bny !*.boo !*.bpl !*.bqf !*.bqy !*.bsave !*.bufr !*.bundle !*.bws !*.bxy !*.bz2 !*.cache !*.chm !*.ctx !*.cubin !*.cur !*.dat !*.db !*.dcp !*.dcu !*.dde !*.dlf !*.dll !*.dm !*.dmg !*.dmp !*.dmt !*.dpl !*.dsm !*.dylib !*.ems !*.ess !*.exe !*.exp !*.exr !*.fb1 !*.fb2 !*.fcm !*.flx !*.gbf !*.gif !*.gpl !*.grib !*.hdr !*.icns !*.ico !*.ilk !*.ipch !*

Expected Behavior

Whole-drive full-text search excluding many binary file types.

Actual Behavior

NP++ freezes for five seconds, then displays Search Results: Search "a" (0 hits in 0 files of 0 searched) [Normal]

Debug Information

Notepad++ v8.6.4 (64-bit)
Build time : Feb 20 2024 - 00:12:59
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line : "C:\Program Files\Notepad++\change.log"
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 11 Home (64-bit)
OS Version : 24H2
OS Build : 26080.1400
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins :
mimeTools (3.1)
NppConverter (4.6)
NppExport (0.4)

[klaus101]

That would bring me back to an older proposal about “exclude binaries from search” (as long as there is no reliable builtin mechanism to detect):

• to introduce a dedicated negative list “extensions to ignore”
• with a simplified syntax:

File exensions to ignore:
exe,dll,dcu,zip,rar,ttf,chm,pdf,xls,png,ico,jpg,gif,bmp,svg,tga   // and so on

See #12342.

OkOkOk, of course same max-length would apply, if any.
But that area could be used more efficiently.