Text editors and JFace text

The workbench package org.eclipse.ui.editors.text implements the default text editor for the platform.  It uses the text editor framework in org.eclipse.ui.texteditor for its implementation.

The text editor framework provides a domain-model independent editor that supports the following features:

ITextEditor is defined as a text specific extension of IEditorPart.  The default implementation of this interface is provided by AbstractTextEditor

IDocumentProvider is used to establish the link between a domain model and an ITextEditor.  The document provider manages the text presentation of the domain model and can be shared between multiple editors.

The workbench text editing framework is built on top of JFace text.  The Java editor example in org.eclipse.ui.examples.javaeditor is a good place to start learning about the text editor framework and JFace text.  It shows how complex features like text coloring, hover help, and automatic indenting can be implemented.

JFace text

The package org.eclipse.jface.text and its sub-packages support the implementation of robust text editors such as the workbench text editor and the JDT Java editor.  

The following roadmap gives an overview of the support in JFace text.

The SWT StyledText widget is used by the JFace text support. 

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