TSynGeneralSyn.SetKeyWords mutates the list it gets in parameter

[EricGrange]

The implementation of TSynGeneralSyn.SetKeyWords first turns all the strings in its TUnicodeStrings parameter, then forces it to be Sorted (see snippet below) before the method exits.

Does anyone know if there is a particular rationale for it ?

Otherwise it seems to be that FKeyWords should be where the uppercase is applied.

procedure TSynGeneralSyn.SetKeyWords(const Value: TUnicodeStrings);
var
  i: Integer;
begin
  if Value <> nil then
  begin
    Value.BeginUpdate;
    for i := 0 to Value.Count - 1 do
      Value[i] := SynWideUpperCase(Value[i]);
    Value.EndUpdate;
  end;

  TUnicodeStringList(FKeyWords).Sorted := False;
  FKeyWords.Assign(Value);
  TUnicodeStringList(FKeyWords).Sorted := True;

  DefHighLightChange(nil);
end;

[pyscripter]

I guess because it is faster to add strings to an unsorted TStrings and then sort than to add them to a sorted list.

[EricGrange]

Yes, but why mutate the list passed in parameter ?

Also it's the parameter list that is set to unsorted, not the destination list, and keywords are rarely changed in an highlighter (usually once at initialization).

AFAICT this would be similar without affecting the parameter list:

procedure TSynGeneralSyn.SetKeyWords(const Value: TUnicodeStrings);
var
  i: Integer;
begin
  FKeyWords.BeginUpdate;
  FKeyWords.Clear;
  if Value <> nil then
  begin
    for i := 0 to Value.Count - 1 do
      FKeyWords.Add(SynWideUpperCase(Value[i]));
  end;
  FKeyWords.EndUpdate;

  DefHighLightChange(nil);
end;