[platform-swt-dev] Styled text widget and TextStyle redundancy question

[Bill Fenlason <billfen@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The TextStyle object contains the information (12 fields)  necessary to 
control the display format of data fields within a StyledText widget.

Because the StyleRange object extends the TextStyle object rather than 
containing a reference, and because a separate StyleRange object is 
required for each StyledText data field, it seems to me that there is 
potentially a large amount of unnecessary redundancy.

For example, consider a large, fully tokenized and syntax colored file 
using a standard Eclipse editor and presentation manager.  There could 
be many thousand redundant TextStyle fields.

Wouldn't it be better if TextStyle information were shared?

Is this analysis correct?  Does anyone else see this as a performance 
and efficiency problem which should be addressed?

Bill Fenlason