spelling and threads

Subject: spelling and threads
From: WJCarpenter (bill-abisource@carpenter.ORG)
Date: Sun Sep 17 2000 - 13:48:42 CDT

Speaking of spell-checking, something I have wondered for some time is
why the background spell-checking is done via a timer firing instead
of using multi-threading. I used to think it was because someone
thought there would be all these thread-safety problems that wouldn't
crop up with an async timer, but I guess recent explorations of
structures-in-transit during timer firings have pretty much washed
away that advantage. The obvious advantage of using a thread to do
background stuff is that more of it can be done when the user is
sipping coffee instead of typing (the thread will do lots of work
when other parts of Abi are idle). As it stands with the timer stuff,
a given quanta of work is done for every timer firing, no matter what
else is going on. It can take a long time to get through a long
document that way.

So, what is the consensus-of-experts, silverbacks, and graybeards
about the use of threading in Abi? Are there platform problems? 

-- 
bill@carpenter.ORG (WJCarpenter)    PGP 0x91865119
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       Buy my house in Woodinville (near Seattle):
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