Hi,
I know that there is no a solution, but anyway …
I am not a programmer, but because - in Blender Internal - in the material preview window I can see the effect of color and normal channel of procedural textures and in 3d view not?
I’m working on creating a procedural texture and the only way to see the results of the changes is to render every time … or detach the material preview window and zoom it 
…not very handy …
Would not it be handy to have a preview of the procedural material directly on the object, like in the material preview?
I know, Cycles has changed everything, but I think that Blender Internal Render is still very good in some situations, and I think that many people still use it …why not try to improve it?
…or is there a solution that I don’t know?
Sorry, but my English is not allowing me to be too technical … 
Davide