Trying to setup a new editor in git

Question

I'm trying to find a good alternative to the VI editor that comes with my git version 1.8.0.msysgit.0 installed on my windows XP box. I've looked through the forums here and tried some of their suggestions. I must be missing something because they aren't working for me. I've tried this from the git command line:

git config --global core.editor "'C:/Program Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe' -multiInst"

I also tried another way that used a shell. There I created a folder named shell on the root of C: I then created a sh file named npp.sh with this content:

#!/bin/sh
"c:/Program Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe" -multiInst "$*"

after that I entered this command:

git config --global core.editor C:/shell/npp.sh

In both cases if I enter notepad++ on the git command line I get the message sh.exe": notepad++: command not found.

In the first case are accidentally truncate the closing " when coping/pasting a command? — Marcin Zajączkowski
– Marcin Zajączkowski, Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 0:10
Yes that's what happened when copying to this forum. Thanks for pointing it out. — jimeast
– jimeast, Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 1:06
I'm trying to find a good alternative to the VI editor . i do not think you will find the editor better. — Vlad Nikitin
– Vlad Nikitin, Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 7:31

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:31:41Z

2

This turns out to be surprisingly difficult. /c/Program\ Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe executes fine from Git bash, but doesn't seem to work with git config core.editor.

However, you can create a Bash alias for Notepad++ and use that as your core.editor. See this answer for details.

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:31

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answered Feb 2, 2014 at 1:46

Chris

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6 Comments

jimeast Over a year ago

when I hover the mouse over the quick launch icon it displays Git Bash twice so I guess I have Git Bash. Do I leave the quotes the same? I didn't know there were different flavors of Git, is there a better one for Windows?

Chris Over a year ago

You should be able to leave the quotes the same. Git bash is fine, but it uses different pathing from cmd.exe (Unix-style instead of Windows-style).

jimeast Over a year ago

I changed C:/ to /c/ but no luck.

Chris Over a year ago

@jimeast, strangely /c/Program\ Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe executes fine from Git bash, but doesn't seem to work with git config core.editor. This answer might be useful to you.

jimeast Over a year ago

I spoke too soon I didn't realize I had to restart the terminal window for my changes to take effect now the alias works as intended.

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Dee · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-20 14:44:22Z

1

I encountered this issue and the git documentation enlightened me.

https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/getting-started-with-git/associating-text-editors-with-git

The section under "Using Notepad++ as your editor" provided the answer.

Run the following in Git Bash and you're away.

$ git config --global core.editor "'C:/Program Files (x86)/Notepad++/notepad++.exe' -multiInst -notabbar -nosession -noPlugin"

If you want to open up the global git config file after setting up notepad++ use this:

$ git config --global -e

answered Aug 20, 2022 at 14:44

Dee

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