Re: gtk-mailund-980804-0.patch.gz

[Thomas Mailund Jensen <mailund daimi aau dk>]

This looks great!

One thing though...what exactly will be the sematics of inserting data
with a give key on an interval.

E.G. [some text, a link, some text with with some hidden text]
          |         |                    |
          -         V                    V
             ("link", <<>>)       ("hidden", <<>>)

Let us say this is a text with 3 properties, where prop. 0 has no user
data, prop. 1 has a link, and prop. 2 has "hidden" text as
data. Adding data with keys not in the intervals current list is
simple, if we add a link to hidden in prop. 2 we get:

     [some text, a link, some text with with some hidden text]
          |         |           |                    |     |
          -         V           V                    V     V
             ("link", <<>>)("hidden", <<>>) ("link",<<>>)("hidden", <<>>)
                                                  |
                                                  V
                                          ("hidden", <<>>)

so we now have 5 prop.

But if we then want to make the entire text a link (with different
data), what would we get?  Eigther:

     [some text, a link, some text with with some hidden text]
               |                       | 
               V                       V
         ("link", <<>>)          ("link",<<>>)
                                       |
                                       V
                                ("hidden", <<>>)


or

     [some text, a link, some text with with some hidden text]
          |         |           |                    |     |
          V         V           V                    V     V
   ("link",<<>>) ("link", <<>>)("link", <<>>)("link",<<>>)("link", <<>>)
                     |             |              |             |
                     V             V              V             V
                  ("link",<<>>)("hidden", <<>>)("link",<<>>)("hidden",<<>>)
                                                  |
                                                  V
                                            ("link",<<>>)

In the first the old "links" in the text is replaced (and equal
properties is merged), in the other we remember the old links.

On a following lookup they will behave equally, the topmost (the new)
link will be found.

With the first we reduce the number of properties, with the other we
could get a stack-like behaviour of the user data.  (if we add a
pop/delete-data function).

The complexity of the two is about the same...which one do we want?  I
only need the first solution for my editor...but perhaps someone else
would like the stack solution.

well...that's just my thougths...

/mailund