[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] Event loop

[Peter Ross]

On Thu, Dec 31, 2020 at 02:37:21PM +0100, Nicolas George wrote:
> This mail is about a project I have to make FFmpeg's API and
> infrastructure more convenient. For a common introduction, see this thread:
> https://ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/2020-December/274167.html
> 
> The API to access our protocols, in particular network protocols, is copied
> from the Unix file descriptor API, basically read() and write(). While this
> API is very simple and convenient when it works, it works mostly only with
> simple applications that do with only one input or output at a time. Extra
> features like timeouts or handling several streams simultaneously are
> complex to add.
> 
> Furthermore, timeouts and non-blocking mode are currently done with a
> periodic polling, which makes the application always active and can prevent
> embedded devices from going into deep sleep, draining the battery.
> 
> I want to replace it with an event loop. That means that instead of reading
> on a protocol context, we would register a callback for when data is
> available, and then let the loop run.
> 
> Of course, a compatibility layer will still allow to read directly.

Majority of our demuxers and muxers assume a blocking model. Will they need to be
rewritten (eventually) to use event-based i/o?

-- Peter
(A907 E02F A6E5 0CD2 34CD 20D2 6760 79C5 AC40 DD6B)