[BUG] ini file functionlist ist not filled up like expected

[MaDill]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Is the issue reproducible in Notepad++ without plugin?

• I have tried Notepad++ without plugin

Is the issue reproducible in portable version of Notepad++?

• I have tried portable version of Notepad++

Does the issue affect SciTE?

• I have tried SciTE

Description of the Issue

The functionlist for ini files do not show all entries. I tried it with an ini file. In my testfile from tasmota

https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/blob/development/platformio_tasmota_env32.ini

or

https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/blob/development/platformio_tasmota_env.ini

Steps To Reproduce

1. download for example https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/blob/development/platformio_tasmota_env32.ini and save on the HD
2. open it in notpad++
3. display the functionlist and nothing is displayed
4. go to the functionList folder and create a copy of the ini.xml with the name my_ini.xml
5. modify the my_ini.xml

from: mainExpr="^\h*[["][\w*.;\x20()-]+["]]"
to: mainExpr="^[(.*?)]"

and

from:
to: >

6. open functionList/overrideMap.xml and point my_ini.xml to id 13
7. open the test ini file again and everythins is listed in the FunctionList

Current Behavior

With the test ini file the FunctionList stay empty

Expected Behavior

FunctionList show the entries like after the modification

Debug Information

Notepad++ v8.9.1   (64-bit)
Build time: Jan 18 2026 - 22:45:31
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.8/5.4.6
Boost Regex included: 1_90
pugixml included: 1.15
nlohmann JSON included: 3.12.0
Path: D:\PortableProgramme\notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line: 
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: ON
Cloud Config: OFF
Periodic Backup: ON
Placeholders: OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode: OFF
Display Info:
    primary monitor: 1920x1080, scaling 125%
    visible monitors count: 1
    installed Display Class adapters: 
        0001: Description - Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
        0001: DriverVersion - 30.0.100.9865
        0002: Description - AMD Radeon R7 M370
        0002: DriverVersion - 27.20.15030.19
OS Name: Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version: 25H2
OS Build: 26200.7623
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins: 
    mimeTools (3.1)
    NppConverter (4.7)
    NppExport (0.4)

Anything else?

No response

[pryrt]

from: mainExpr="^\h*[\["][\w*.;\x20()\-]+["\]]"
to: mainExpr="^[(.*?)]"

Your "to" expression does not do what you think it does. It searches for the beginning of the line, followed by one character that matches either ( or . or * or ? or )

Since your example file had no lines starting with any of those characters, there will be no functions found. However, if you did have such lines, the matching portion (ie, that first character) would show up as the function name:

If what you want is to allow the non-standard : character as part of the [section:name], you can add the : to the right character class in the original expression

from: mainExpr="^\h*[\["][\w*.;\x20()\-]+["\]]"
to: mainExpr="^\h*[\["][\w*.;:\x20()\-]+["\]]"

After you save that change and restart N++, then the example file will show lots of functions, like shown here:

The final regex I suggested has the following meaning:

• first, the ", since it's in XML attributes, will be translated into " characters for the underlying regex engine, so those just match literal quote characters in the regex
• the ^\h* says "the line must start with 0 or more spaces
• [\["] after XML interpretation is actually the regex [\["], which says "the next character must either be a literal [ or a quote character
• [\w*.;:\x20()\-]+ says the next one or more characters must be one of "any word character (A-Z, 0-9, _), or the literal asterisk * or the literal period . or the literal semicolon or colon ;: or the ASCII 20 space character or open or close parentheses () or a literal hyphen -
• ["\]] after XML interpretation is actually the regex ["\]], which says "the next character must either be a quote character oa a literal ] character

If you wanted it to be more permissive, allowing anything between the square brackets, you would need to just escape the brackets: mainExpr="^\h*\[(.*?)\]" -- which allows the brackets to be treated as the literal brackets, not as special regex characters wrapping a character class.

If one of the two regex I provided works for you, then you can feel free to close the issue. If not, you will need to include your my_ini.xml so that someone can see if they can replicate your problem.

[MaDill]

Thank you for your solution. I changed now the my_ini.xml to your suggested regex.

Should I close the issue, even the provided function list syntax, that is in the notepad++ package is not working properly? Or will the issue be closed, when it is fixed in the source?

[pryrt]

Should I close the issue, even the provided function list syntax, that is in the notepad++ package is not working properly?

It's arguable. I don't think a lot of INI implementations allow colons in the section name, so allowing it (as in your case) might be an edge case that most INI files don't need... or it might be that I've misunderstood the rules.

But, IMO, there are so many rule sets as to what is and isn't allowed in INI files (whether in the section-headers or in the key-value pairs) that I don't think it's possible to make everyone happy: some will want one set of restrictions, some will want an incompatible set, some will want to allow just about anything, and some will want super-strict adherance to their particular flavor.

As such, I think the existing ini.xml is a good starting place for distribution, and anyone who wants to customize it to their particular needs should just create a my_ini.xml, like you are. I am not the final decision maker, but I would recommend closing it