[MOAB-dev] Detecting file types

[Tim Tautges]

Jason Kraftcheck wrote:

> 
> 
> But MOAB's choice of which reader to use is more complicated that just
> selecting one based on extension.  If it doesn't recognize the extension, it
> will try them all until one succeeds.  That is a good solution, as there is
> no better test of the type of a file then actually looking at the contents.
>  We do provide the information you describe above, as it is useful in some
> cases (e.g. constructing a file dialog in verdict), but I don't think
> utilizing this functionality is the correct solution to Steve's problem.
> 
> - jason
> 
> 

If an extension isn't recognized, though, the function should return NULL or some notion of unknown handler.  Also, if 
an extension is recognized but the registered reader/writer fails, does it cycle through the others?

Steve should be able to test the results of calling these functions and act accordingly.  Whether the read actually 
succeeds is another thing that should be handled.

- tim

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              Tim Tautges            Argonne National Laboratory
          (tautges at mcs.anl.gov)      (telecommuting from UW-Madison)
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