Description of the Issue

N++'s VERSION_VALUE resource string sometimes has 3 digits, e.g. "8.33".
But with every "minor version" bump, it's reduced to only 2 digits, e.g. "8.4".
After N++ 8.3.3 comes 8.4, then, perhaps, 8.4.1, then 8.5, etc.

If a plugin is concerned about compatibility, it has to know that 4 comes after 33, and 5 comes after 41.
This is a headache for developers targeting N++'s plugin API ^{1 2 3}.

Steps to Reproduce the Issue

Method 1

1. Install Notepad++ 8.4 (64-bit)
2. Install HTML Tag (1.2.2)
3. Start Notepad++
4. Notice that HTMLTag thinks Notepad++ is incompatible:

5. Read this explanation of what went wrong

Method 2

1. Clone the Notepad++ source tree
2. Edit PowerEditor/src/resource.h by adding a 0 to the end of the VERSION_VALUE string: #define VERSION_VALUE "8.40"
3. Repeat steps 2-3 of Method 1
4. No more issue!

Method 3

1. Write a plugin that calls into the NPPM_GETNPPVERSION API
2. Build 4 different Notepad++ binaries with 4 different strings assigned to VERSION_VALUE
3. Run the plugin in each version and note the results:

Expected Behavior

Every version string has at least 3 digits, e.g.,

N++ 8.4 -> #define VERSION_VALUE "8.40"
N++ 8.5 -> #define VERSION_VALUE "8.50"

What does the plugin see now?

33 . . . 40 . . . 41 . . . 50 . . .

Every new version has a low word greater than the last one! Easy!

Actual Behavior

33 . . . 4 . . . 41 . . . 5 . . .

Debug Information

Notepad++ v8.4 (64-bit)
Build time : Apr 20 2022 - 03:31:06
Path : C:\bin\npp_8.4\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : ON
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 11 (64-bit)
OS Version : 2009
OS Build : 22000.651
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : HTMLTag.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll