How to use MetaEdit+ 4.5 program patches

To use a MetaEdit+ program patch temporarily, for a single MetaEdit+ session, choose File | File in Patches... in the MetaEdit+ Startup Launcher and select the desired patch file. To include a patch automatically on each MetaEdit+ startup, follow the instructions for your platform below.

When you start MetaEdit+ with a patch, you should see the progress dialog flash briefly before the Startup Launcher opens, and Help | About should show the name or date of the patch in the left list.

You can revert back to the version without the patches by simply undoing the operations below: patches are included dynamically at each MetaEdit+ startup.

Windows

The instructions below will tell you how to save the patch file, e.g. xxx.mep, in the MetaEdit+ working directory, and append fileInPatch: xxx.mep to the command line of the shortcut that starts MetaEdit+. The exact paths below will vary depending on whether you have the Evaluation version or not, and your choices of paths during installation.

  1. Open the MetaEdit+ program group menu, but don't start MetaEdit+:
    Start | Program Files | MetaEdit+ 4.5 [Evaluation]
  2. Right-click the MetaEdit+ 4.5 [Evaluation] shortcut inside that menu, and choose Properties.
  3. The "Start In:" field will contain the MetaEdit+ working directory, e.g.:
    "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\MetaEdit+ 4.5\"
    Copy the xxx.mep file to that directory.
  4. The "Target:" field will contain the MetaEdit+ command line, e.g.:
    "C:\Program Files\MetaEdit+ 4.5\mep45.exe"
    Edit the Target field to add the desired command-line parameters, e.g.:
    "C:\Program Files\MetaEdit+ 4.5\mep45.exe" fileInPatch: xxx.mep
    (replace xxx.mep with the name of the patch file)
  5. Press OK to close the Properties dialog

If you want several patches, precede each with fileInPatch:. Alternatively, you can switch to a single command line argument, fileInPatches (with no patch name), and move all patches to a patches subdirectory of the MetaEdit+ working directory. That will include all patches named in a patches.txt file in the MetaEdit+ working directory or its patches subdirectory, or, if there is no patches.txt file, all *.mep patches from the patches subdirectory in alphabetical order.

Linux

The Linux version already includes the fileInPatches command-line argument. Simply save the patch file, e.g. xxx.mep, to the patches subdirectory of your MetaEdit+ working directory, by default ~/metaedit/patches. If there is a patches.txt file in the working directory or patches subdirectory, edit it to add a new line with the file name of the patch, e.g. xxx.mep. File names can be relative to the directory of patches.txt.

Mac OS X

The Mac OS X version already includes the fileInPatches command-line argument. Simply save the patch file, e.g. xxx.mep, to the patches subdirectory of your MetaEdit+ working directory, by default ~/Documents/MetaEdit+ 4.5/patches. If there is a patches.txt file in the working directory or patches subdirectory, edit it to add a new line with the file name of the patch, e.g. xxx.mep. File names can be relative to the directory of patches.txt.