Backward-direction checkbox enabled with Reg Exp search mode (at N++ startup)

[sasumner]

Description of the Issue

In Notepad++ 7.5, with the introduction of the "Backward direction" checkbox in the Find dialog, the checkbox is sometimes enabled when the search mode is Regular Expression. It should never be enabled when the search mode is Reg Exp.

Steps to Reproduce the Issue

1. Start Notepad++ 7.5 (32-bit) from a fresh unzip of the portable install.
2. Execute any Find operation with Regular Expression as the search mode (note that when the search mode is changed to Reg Exp the "backward direction" checkbox becomes disabled--correct behavior).
3. Quit and restart Notepad++ 7.5.
4. Invoke the Find dialog. Note that the search mode is Reg Exp but the "backward direction" checkbox is now incorrectly enabled.

Expected Behavior

Any time the search mode is set to Reg Exp (including if this is the case when Notepad++ starts up), the "backward direction" checkbox needs to be disabled.

Actual Behavior

See point 4 above.

Debug Information

Notepad++ v7.5 (32-bit)
Build time : Aug 15 2017 - 23:02:57
Path : ...\npp.7.5.bin_UNCHANGED\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : ON
OS : Windows 7 (64-bit)
Plugins : mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

[dinkumoil]

Related to #3533.

[sasumner]

Not related to #3533; see my comment there. This current issue has to do with a deviation from consistent behavior since version 6.3.

[sasumner]

Added "at N++ startup" to issue title to hopefully clarify. This is only a problem at startup when Reg Exp search mode was the last search mode used in the prior N++ run of the program. [The search mode gets saved into the find-history, and is restored in the next N++ run. However, the disabled state of the backward-direction checkbox isn't set at next startup after the code restores the search mode.]

[dinkumoil]

It is related to #3533 in that sense that if #3533 would be considered as a bug the issue here would be not a bug (and vice versa).

[sasumner]

This issue (and the related 3533) is antiquated. I will do a PR that will keep the Backward direction checkbox enabled regardless of the Search mode setting...to fix this issue.

To the time of this writing the Backward direction checkbox will go disabled if Search mode is set to Regular expression, even though the "up" arrow in this control set will not be disabled:

...and even though a backward direction regex search via Search > Find Previous also remains enabled.

It is hereby judged (from a somewhat high hill?) that backward searching regex searches are fine. :-)

Even though the results of searching this in regex mode (as an example):

to the test they travelled

for t\w+ results in 5 Find Next hits when traversing it in the forward direction, and (I think) 16 hits when traversing in the backward direction (with Shift+F3)! This makes me slightly uncomfortable as it is intuitive to think that a search should find the same things in either direction. :-)

[dinkumoil]

This logic is strange.

There is an inconsistency in GUI behaviour that allows users in some cases to perform actions that produce invalid results.

Instead of fixing the GUI inconsistencies in order to allow only valid user actions, you suggest a change that makes the GUI consistent in a way that users are always allowed to perform actions that produce invalid results.

That's not making things better, it's declaring a bug as a world-standard.

[sasumner]

@dinkumoil:

You've demonstrated before that you don't like my logic. Not sure there is a resolution to that, but I encourage you to contribute code of your own to the Notepad++ project, so that you can promote your opinions on how things should be with something concrete.

Originally (4 years ago?) I championed not allowing backwards regex searches, but since that time they have always been allowed, just not via the backward-direction checkbox. And...nobody has really cared enough to say or do anything about it.

So this is just an attempt to clean up that little annoyance, not to restart the whole discussion. But...I suppose I am up for more discussion if we really want to go there.

Is it your suggestion to disallow backward regex searches via the mechanisms that currently allow them? If so, I can hear the complaints from the customer community already. :-)

...actions that produce invalid results

I'm not convinced the results are "invalid", one just has to understand why certain actions produce certain results.

[dinkumoil]

@sasumner

I encourage you to contribute code of your own to the Notepad++ project, so that you can promote your opinions on how things should be with something concrete.

I can promote my opinion with words, is that not understandable enough? Or do you mean I'm not allowed to promote my opinion unless I contribute code to the project?

nobody has really cared enough to say or do anything about it.

Isn't it better to act proactively instead of only reacting to user complaints? Maybe the reason why nobody noticed the current behaviour is that people work with the dialog's buttons instead of using menu entries and their keyboard shortcuts.

Is it your suggestion to disallow backward regex searches via the mechanisms that currently allow them?

I don't know what you mean with that. To clarify what I mean: If in the Search & Replace dialog regex search is activated, the menu item for searching backwards should be disabled. I'm not sure if in a fresh installation of Notepad++ there is a toolbar button for searching backwards or if this button is only available when using the Customize Toolbar plugin. But this button should be disabled as well when regex search is activated. Maybe this happens automatically when disabling the menu entry.

I'm not convinced the results are "invalid", one just has to understand why certain actions produce certain results.

I'm not a native speaker, so maybe "invalid" is a too strong expression. But you gave an example in your comment above where a regex search in backward direction produces presumeably 16 results though the same search in forward direction only produces 5 results. The 16-results-set is not reasonable and no one would expect it. That's what I mean with "invalid". With your PR such searches are allowed but I can not imagine that anybody wants or needs unreasonable search results (again, I'm not a native speaker, maybe even "unreasonable" is the wrong word, but I think it should be clear what I mean).

[xylographe]

@sasumner
I cannot reproduce your example with to the test they travelled and t\w. It doesn't seem to make a difference if "Backward direction" is on or off. Also, no difference between clicking forward or backward button repeatedly. What am I missing?

[Ekopalypse]

What am I missing?

@xylographe - the plus sign in the regex :-) - makes a huge difference when used.