Ways to clean the "Find" "Replace"

[ineuw]

It took me ~15 years of using TP to ask the community on what is the recommended way to clean the Find and Replace list in ConfigState.xml when these functions fail because the limit was reached.

[ben_josephs]

Which functions fail and in what way?

[ineuw]

Nothing is lost, I was wondering if the ConfigState.xml should be touched at all and if there is a recommended way to reset the fields other than what I am doing. I consider understanding it important in the context of time saving.

[ben_josephs]

I don't know which "functions fail" or how, or "what [you are] doing". But you might try this:

Close all instances of TextPad.
Find your ConfigState.xml file, probably one of these:

Code: Select all

%APPDATA%\Helios\TextPad\8\ConfigState.xml
%APPDATA%\Helios\TextPad\9\ConfigState.xml

Save it somewhere safe.
Open it in an editor that isn't TextPad.
Find this section:

Code: Select all

  <Recent-Strings> 
    <value name="Find" type="collection"> 
      <element>here</element>
      <element>there</element>
      <element>somewhere else</element>
      ...
    </value>
    <value name="Replace" type="collection"> 
      <element>this</element>
      <element>that</element>
      <element>the other</element>
      ...
    </value>
  </Recent-Strings>

Adjust it as required.
Save the file.
Open TextPad and examine the Find and Replace lists.

[ineuw]

Apologies for the typos and omissions. It was a terrible first post. It was the end of the day for me, and I was in a rush to post questions of concern on various forums. So, please accept this rewrite.

The search and replace function fails when the fields are filled up with about 20 entries. Then, I edit the file, erase the old entries and add a single <element/> which is sufficient.

There are a number of backups, but the reason I ask is because I use this feature constantly and simultaneously on dozens of open documents and must edit the file frequently.

I remember that in early versions of 8, the .xml file corrupted easier and although I know how to rebuild the configuration, I didn't look forward to doing it.