Probedata and plugins

[Henri Fallon]

Hi all,

I'm currently working on switching decoders to modules, and I have to
raise an old question : how should we handle the probedata we give to a
module so that it can decide whether he's the one to do it or not ?

First way : a fixed number of bytes. 
Problems  : how to chose this number ? What if the input hasn't received
so manybytes already ? Will this number be enough for new plugin being
written for codec we don't already know about ?

2nd way  : as many bytes as possible
problems : we have to set a limit anyway. Sometimes it's not enough if we
try to probe too early.

Many other ways ....

Second problem : what precisely to put in this data. For the time
being we only handle MPEG, so we may consider putting PES, the PID
may indicate us what kind of data it is, but we want to be as general
as possible. One of the aim of this pluginification is to take some
distance from MPEG-specific arch.


My vlc knowledge is far too weak to let me have a good enough idea, so I
need your help.

Currently, the mpeg audio decoder works builtin/plugin on my modified
version.

-- 
henri