Retaining order of file tabs on UE restart

sssccc · Oct 07, 2014#12014-10-07T13:14+00:00

I normally have on an average 25 to 30 files (sometimes even more) opened simultaneously which include files from Unix (FTP). I arrange file tabs on the top according to my preference so it is easy for me to find any particular file. However, in the event I have to restart UE for any reason, all the files are reopened but the order of file tabs is lost. I have to rearrange them all over again.

Is there any setting which will allow me to save the order of tabs so that on UE restart, I get the same layout where I left off before the restart.

Thanks.

Mofi · Oct 07, 2014#22014-10-07T13:58+00:00

First, which version of UltraEdit do you use?

Second, open Advanced - Configuration - Application Layout - File Tabs - Miscellaneous and check that setting Sort tabs on file open is not enabled.

Third, open Advanced - Configuration - File Handling - Load and check there setting Reload FTP files when reloading a project or last open files which should be enabled for your use case.

Last, open Advanced - Configuration - File Handling - Advanced and look on state of setting Store project user interface (pui) files in profile directory. Click on button Help and read help about this setting.

You have to make sure that on your computer the user account used to start UltraEdit has permissions to create and update files in the directory into which the *.pui file for your project is saved and of course the *.pui file has not read-only attribute. Depending on the setting the location is either %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit (checked) or the directory containing the *.prj file of your project (not checked) which is usually the project main directory. The *.pui file is a plain text file which is easy to read. So you could verify after project close that this file is updated correct by UltraEdit and no other application like an anti-virus application blocked write access on this file or even deleted it.

sssccc · Oct 07, 2014#32014-10-07T15:20+00:00

Hi Mofi,

Thanks for the reply.

I am still using an older Portable Version 16.00. I am using it at work computer as my company currently does not have license for UE although I have put in the request to get UE approved for installation on work machines.

As for the settings, here they are:

Sort File Tabs - Not Checked
Reload FTP files..... - Checked

I can not find the last setting 'Store project user interface (pui) files in profile directory' under Advanced - Configuration - File Handling - Advanced . I do have 'Save Project Information for use on multiple systems. Is this the same ?

Thanks again for your help.

Mofi · Oct 07, 2014#42014-10-07T17:51+00:00

Save Project Information for use on multiple systems is a different setting introduced with UE v15.00. It does not control in which directory the *.pui file is stored, but with which file name.

If you are the only user of a project, it makes sense to have this option enabled to store the workspace data for the project in name of project.pui in same directory as name of project.prj.

But if the project is for example on a public share where a group of programmers open the same project at the same time, it is better to have this option not enabled so that each member of the group has its own workspace file with name name of project.%COMPUTERNAME%.%USERNAME%.pui in same directory as name of project.prj.

Store project user interface (pui) files in profile directory was introduced with UE v17.20 making it possible to store the *.pui files for all projects in the application data directory of UltraEdit for the current user.

This makes it possible that the *.prj file is in a directory which is write-protected for most users of a group working on a project. And it makes also reading/writing the *.pui files faster as they are always stored in local directory %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit even if the project itself is on public share accessed using UNC paths or a network drive mapping. With this setting enable nobody else than the current user (and computer administrators) can view the *.pui files as stored in a local directory where by default only the current user has read access (and administrators of that computer).

It could be also that your *.pui file is partly corrupt. I suggest to rename that file while the project is not opened in UltraEdit, open the project (a new *.pui is automatically created), open two or more files, close the project and re-open it.

Are the files opened in same order as on previous project close?

A *.pui file contains the information about open file on project close as follows:

Code: Select all

[Open Files]
Active File Display Mode=1
Active File Index=1
Open File Line0=0
Open File Line1=0
Open File Pos0=0
Open File Pos1=0
Open File Window Pos0=0,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,3,21,1277,682
Open File Window Pos1=0,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,3,21,1277,682
Open File0=C:\Temp\ProjectFile1.txt
Open File1=C:\Temp\ProjectFile2.txt
Open File2=

As you can see the index number on left side determines the order on opening the files on next project load.

Please do not edit the *.pui file as that does not make much sense and could just lead to invalid data in the file.

sssccc · Oct 08, 2014#52014-10-08T20:29+00:00

Hi Mofi,

That did not work for me. I went in File/Project/New Project, gave it a name and then Saved it. All files closed and a blank UE screen appeared. Then I went in to open the project and it did not open any files. So, in the process I lost the list of about 30 files I had it open. I opened all those files again. But now whenever I start a new instance of UE, by default it opens my last project which had no files open. Also, I seem to have lost all my settings of FTP Accounts information. Is there a way I can get the previous setting back where it will open all the files I had opened when I close UE.

If you can help please.
Thanks.

Mofi · Oct 09, 2014#62014-10-09T06:12+00:00

I'm confused about what you have done and how you worked up to now.

UltraEdit can remember the workspace of the user in two different files:

In uedit32.ini with no project/workspace currently open on exit of UltraEdit.
In project.pui on close of a project/workspace which of course occurs also on exit of UltraEdit with project/workspace currently open.

At Advanced - Configuration - File Handling Load there are 2 reload settings:

Reload files previously open on startup
Reload FTP files when reloading a project or last open files

The first setting controls if information about open files on exit is stored at all in uedit32.ini and those files are reloaded on next start.

The second setting controls if files loaded via FTP should be automatically also reloaded on startup or opening a project by connecting to server and download the files again.

There are two more settings regarding reloading files on startup of UltraEdit or opening a project:

Open from Explorer also loads file list at File Handling - Advanced
Close all files when opening or switching projects at File Handling - Miscellaneous

On exit of UltraEdit with currently a project/workspace open, the list of open files in uedit32.ini is ignored and instead the project/workspace is opened automatically on next start of UltraEdit with loading the workspace information with list of open files from project.pui.

If you create a new project/workspace and do not have any file opened on close of project or exit of UltraEdit with a project/workspace currently opened, the project.pui file is updated by clearing the current information. So on next opening of the project (manually or automatically on startup), you get again a workspace with no file opened as on close of the project.

The FTP account settings are independent on usage of projects. The FTP account settings are stored either in uedit32.ini (default), or in the file specified at Advanced - Configuration - FTP on using Store FTP accounts and settings in user selected file, or in %APPDATA%\IDMComp\Common\FTP Accounts\IdmFTPAccounts.txt if setting Share FTP Accounts is enabled also at Advanced - Configuration - FTP if the FTP account settings should be shared with either applications of IDM Computer Solutions, Inc. like UltraCompare Professional.

The FTP account settings should not get lost just because of creating a new project. Open File - FTP/Telnet - FTP Account Manager and you should see all FTP servers configured.

What you may have lost with creating a new project/workspace, open no file and exit UltraEdit are the information about opened files as there were no files opened on exit. Therefore UltraEdit stored in uedit32.ini just the name of the project file to reload this project on next startup.

You cannot get back the last saved list of files opened on last exit before making the exit with a project/workspace currently loaded with UltraEdit. The list of opened files on exit of UltraEdit with no project/workspace loaded is still present in uedit32.ini, but with closing the project/workspace, all open files are closed and UltraEdit does not automatically load now the workspace data in uedit32.ini. So after closing a project you always get an UltraEdit workspace with no file opened. Exiting now UltraEdit results in clearing the workspace information in uedit32.ini. And on next start of UltraEdit no file is opened automatically as no file was opened on last exit.

If the workspace data in uedit32.ini is still present because last exit was done with project/workspace opened, it would be possible to get those workspace data back by opening %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\uedit32.ini while UltraEdit is not running with Notepad, search for line starting with LastProject=, delete the project file name after the equal sign, save the file, exit Notepad and start UltraEdit. The workspace data in uedit32.ini is loaded instead of the project workspace.

BTW: There are in menu Advanced the menu items Import Settings, Export Settings and Backup/Restore Customizations. Read more about those menu items in help of UltraEdit. When experimenting with settings it is advisable to use those features to create backups in case of something goes wrong and be able to restore the settings. Of course it is also possible to create backups of directory %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit while UltraEdit is not running as this directory usually (not on my computer) contains all user configuration files.

sssccc · Oct 10, 2014#72014-10-10T18:59+00:00

Hi Mofi,

Wow. That was an excellent explanation. I can not help without saying that I have been on many forums but no one ever comes up with the kind of answers that you do on these forums. Hats off to you. It appears to me that you know the stuff more than the developers do.

Anyway, I am as confused as you are and I can not really recall the sequence of actions what I did which ended me in this situation. But I did lose the FTP accounts though. How, I really don't know. Now, rather than trying to restore to what I had I thought I will set everything back up again and manually enter the information where I have to. I was able to recover an .ini file from 2 years ago and that has become my starting point to put everything back the way it was.

I had never used the projects before and my first experience with it has not been very rewarding. I think I will try and stay away from Projects, if I can. May be in some spare time, I will play around with it again and if I feel comfortable using them, I might but as of now I have gone back to my good old style of using UE - no projects.

Thanks again for all your help.