[news.eclipse.platform.swt] syncExec happens only after a GUI event

[Shaun Jackman <sjackman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have a GUI thread and a computational thread. Upon calculating its result,
the computational thread calls syncExec(new Runnable { ... }) which adds an
item to a List. Upon calling syncExec, the computational thread blocks.
However, the GUI thread never wakes up. The GUI thread remains blocked, the
computational thread is blocked, and nothing happens until a GUI event (for
example some mouse movement) causes the GUI thread to wake up. At that
point, the syncExec occurs, and everything returns to normal. How do I
force the syncExec to occur now?

This seems like a FAQ to me, but I couldn't find the answer in the
documentation.

libswt-gtk-3007.so
org.eclipse.swt.gtk_2.1.0

Thanks,
Shaun