[BUG] Negative repeat value in Column Editor causes hang

[cddiffz]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Description of the Issue

If you try to use the Column Editor to insert numbers with a negative number pasted into the "Repeat" field, the program hangs.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Copy -1 to the clipboard
2. Open Column Editor, select "Number to Insert", paste -1 into the "Repeat" field
3. Press "OK"

Current Behavior

Program stops responding

Expected Behavior

Either the repeat value is internally set to 1 (as if nothing or 0 was entered) or an error is reported.

Debug Information

Notepad++ v8.6.7   (64-bit)
Build time : May 12 2024 - 20:04:00
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
Periodic Backup : ON
OS Name : Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version : 1809
OS Build : 17763.1579
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins :
    mimeTools (3.1)
    NppConverter (4.6)
    NppExport (0.4)

Anything else?

No response

[molsonkiko]

Looks like it can be fixed with a simple change of this line from a == comparison to a <= comparison (i.e., would become if (repeat <= 0)) would fix this problem.

[molsonkiko]

This problem is fixed in this commit, but I'm holding off on submitting a PR, because I think this issue is mainly due to a lack of understanding of what the repeat field is for.
IMO any user who understands the purpose of the repeat field would not deliberately paste in a negative number, and it's not possible to enter a negative number except by pasting, so I'm not sure this is even worth a PR. If a core dev disagrees, I'll submit the PR.
The relevant documentation is here in the user manual, and I think it's already clear enough as is, but maybe if it were clearer people wouldn't make this mistake?

[alankilborn]

and it's not possible to enter a negative number except by pasting

Sigh. Because users apparently will try this, IMO it deserves to be prevented.

[donho]

@molsonkiko
It's not about the common sense of the users, but the attack from hackers - for the sake of security, any crash should be prevented.
You can submit the PR for fixing the issue, it will be merged into the master.