[vlc-devel] [GCI] libvlc: An API for listing audio & video filters

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

   Hello,

On Saturday 04 December 2010, Olivier Aubert wrote:
> I am also in favor of a generic API, for enumerating available modules
> and setting config values, which does not prevent from designing
> specialised APIs for specific features. Regrettably, such proposals have
> generally been met with reluctance on this list (see
> http://mailman.videolan.org/pipermail/vlc-devel/2009-July/062333.html
> for instance).

And then there won't be any incentive for clean API extensions. Therefore, I 
am against an such an addition until after the existing features are wrapped 
into a clean API. I cannot do that alone.

> IMHO, it is rather hypocritical, since many libvlc-based solutions have
> to specify command line parameters either when instanciating the vlc
> instance, or by setting parameters on input items. And in this case, you
> cannot even dynamically check for the presence of a plugin, you just
> have to hope that it will work.

It's not the LibVLC's developer's fault if some LibVLC users hack the 
libvlc_new() parameters to death instead of submitting patches to nicely 
extend the API. Compare vmem (nice) with amem and smem (horrible).

Just because the LibVLC users are lazy and/or have no taste is not an excuse 
for encouraging them in their (wrong) ways.

> That is why I think a generic API would be a very useful addition to
> libvlc (and once again, it would not prevent the design of specialised
> APIs).

We haven't even managed to make a generic API for enumerating options with the 
plugin API, so this is moot... You know, it's not nearly as easy as listing 
item names and types. Just look at the (really ugly) advanced preferences code 
in the Qt4 interface.

-- 
Rémi Denis-Courmont
http://www.remlab.net/