Source Code Printouts

Expert Source Code Analysis

The Microsoft Windows tool, Notepad++, is often used to print electronic text documents for use as exhibits when questioning deponents and trial witnesses.

Below is the Notepad++ dialog box which is used to configure how to print source code documents. This dialog box is accessed by Settings > Preferences > Print. It contains the configurations I have successfully used on multiple cases.

  • Check the “Print line number” box; even if you have this box checked, Notepad++ will only print line numbers if you also have them printed on the screen by checking the box accessed by Settings > Preferences > Margins/Borders/Edge > Line Number > Display.
  • Choose “Black on white” from the Color Options to avoid hard to read color text that gets harder to read if the printout is scanned and re-printed, especially if scanned and re-printed in greyscale.
  • Choose 0 for each Margin Setting to maximize content on the page since most cases limit the number of pages you can print.
  • In the Left part of the Header, put the “Full file path name” Variable, which is identified by the string: “$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)”.
  • For the Header, since the “Full file path name” is sometimes very long, the smallest most condensed font name and font size that I have found to be still legible in hardcopy printouts is “Times New Roman” and “9”, without being either Bold or Italic.
    • This setting is very important because Notepad++ neither wraps text in headers and footers nor warns you if it truncates header or footer text that is too long. This is particularly a problem since the part of the path it will truncate is some or all of the file name. 
    • I suggest you ensure the root of the source code tree being cited is as short as possible; for example, “C:\Review\…” and not a folder which will use-up the limited number of characters you have available in the header of your printouts. An example of an unnecessarily long root folder name would be: “C:\Review installed January 12, 2024\…”.
    • You might consider printing in landscape mode instead of portrait mode, but this is a trade-off. Landscape mode will accommodate longer headers, longer footers, and result in fewer wrapped source code lines, but will probably print fewer lines per page which might push you against your page limit.
    • I have found that Notepad++ will wrap long lines for its printouts even if those same long lines are not wrapped on the screen.
    • For the body of the document, a Notepad++ printout will use the same font name and font size used for the screen. Therefore, the smallest most condensed fixed-width font name and font size that I have found to be still legible in hardcopy printouts is “Courier New” and “9”, without being either Bold, Italic, or Underline; see Settings > Style Configurator > Select theme : Default (stylers.xml) > Language : Global Styles ; Style : Global override > Font Style > Font name and Font size
  • In the Left part of the Footer, put the confidentiality notice pertaining to source code, which can be found in the Protective Order. A confidentiality notice that I have found in multiple protective orders is: “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE”, but reference the Protective Order for your case.
  • In the Middle part of the Footer, put the “Page” Variable, which is identified by the string: “$(CURRENT_PRINTING_PAGE)”
    • The page number is put in the middle part of the footer to leave room in the right part of the footer for the Bates number that the attorneys’ IT team will stamp on each page.
  • For the Footer, I use the same font name and font size as in the Header.

Warning

Notepad++ will print the text highlights that appear on the screen at the time the print was made, if those highlights resulted from a text search or from a double-click on a word. For example, if you found a search term in the source code and then print that source code file, the highlighting of that search term will appear in the printout. This can give the other side a hint as to what you might consider to be important!

Further, any highlights will be printed in the color in which they appear on the screen, even if you have specified Settings > Preferences > Print > Color Options > Black on white. Therefore, if you print to PDF, those highlights will be in color in the PDF. However, if the IT staff which prints that PDF to paper uses a printer that can only print greyscale (or can print color, but is configured to only print greyscale), then the highlight of the text will probably obscure the text below it on the printed page, possibly enough that the text below the highlight will be illegible.