A GnomeVFS API for accessing standard streams

[Giovanni Corriga <valkadesh libero it>]

Hi.

As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago I proposed to the GnomeVFS
hackers a console: method for accessing standard streams. There has been
some discussion, from which it has emerged that a specialized API would
be better than a method, given the fact that the console: method would
be used just by the developers, and not by the users. I tend to agree
with this. I originally went for the method route because I felt a new
module would have been less invasive than an API change. But now I think
that an API, and not a method, is the best way for handling the standard
streams.

What I am now proposing is to drop the console: method, and add these
three new functions to libgnomevfs:

GnomeVFSHandle* gnome_vfs_console_get_input();
GnomeVFSHandle* gnome_vfs_console_get_output();
GnomeVFSHandle* gnome_vfs_console_get_error();

These functions would return a GnomeVFSHandle to be used with the
standard API (gnome_vfs_read() etc). Implementing them would mean adding
just a new .c file to libgnomevfs.

If you feel it is OK, I can implement these functions in a day or two.

Regarding the API freeze issue, I didn't find any explicit notice on
desktop-devel-list, so I don't now if it has been announced or not. I
think that, if these API can't be added because the freeze, we should
drop the console: method and add the API in the next (Gnome 2.4)
release.

What do you think?

Bye

	Giovanni