Why can't I launch notepad++ from the command line anymore?

Question

I'm teaching myself some Django tonight using the local dev package at instantdjango.com

I made it through half the tutorial, building a basic map with points on it, then closed out of the console for a bit. I just fired it back up and now when I try to use notepad++ to edit files, console tells me it doesn't recognize the command. What happened?

When I as working through the first half, I was able to type: "notepad++ filename.ext" and I'd get a text editor that would pop up.

Now when I type that, it doesn't recognize the command.

How do I get back the ability to use the text editor and how did I lose it?

Solution 1

Most likely the directory in which the Notepad++ executable resides is not in your system's PATH. For information about fixing this please see How to set the path in Windows 2000 / Windows XP.

Solution 2

In a windows terminal, you can launch notepad++ with the following:

start notepad++ <filename>

Note that the filename is optional.

Solution 3

If you are using gitbash or cygwin, you can create an alias

alias np='start notepad++'

And use

np myfile.txt

Solution 4

This is what I have done, in this way you dont have to type notepad++ Create np.bat file with this set of commands

@echo off
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe" %*

place np.bat file in c:\Windows

open the command prompt and type np or np myfile.txt and enter.

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Comments

[bflora2]

Does this explain why it was working the first time I started the Django dev environment but not the second?

[Dimitrios Mistriotis]

Is it possible to add a batch file wrapper in an another directory that resides within the %PATH% in order to keep the %PATH% as small as possible?

[computingfreak]

works with git bash as well, just confirmed, thanks!