Index: docs/gst/gstreamer-sections.txt
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/docs/gst/gstreamer-sections.txt,v
retrieving revision 1.358
diff -u -r1.358 gstreamer-sections.txt
--- docs/gst/gstreamer-sections.txt	16 Dec 2008 15:51:51 -0000	1.358
+++ docs/gst/gstreamer-sections.txt	18 Dec 2008 13:35:21 -0000
@@ -1641,6 +1641,10 @@
 gst_plugin_load_by_name
 gst_plugin_list_free
 gst_plugin_register_static
+<SUBSECTION>
+GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags
+gst_plugin_add_external_dependency
+gst_plugin_add_external_dependency_simple
 <SUBSECTION Standard>
 GstPluginClass
 GST_PLUGIN
@@ -1653,6 +1657,9 @@
 GST_IS_PLUGIN_CLASS
 GstPluginFlags
 GST_TYPE_PLUGIN_FLAGS
+GST_TYPE_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAGS
+GstPluginPrivate
+gst_plugin_external_dependency_flags_get_type
 <SUBSECTION Private>
 gst_plugin_get_type
 <SUBSECTION Private>
Index: gst/gst_private.h
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gst_private.h,v
retrieving revision 1.42
diff -u -r1.42 gst_private.h
--- gst/gst_private.h	29 Aug 2008 14:12:02 -0000	1.42
+++ gst/gst_private.h	18 Dec 2008 13:35:21 -0000
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@
 /* we need this in pretty much all files */
 #include "gstinfo.h"
 
+/* for the flags in the GstPluginExternalDep structure below */
+#include "gstplugin.h"
+
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 /* used by gstparse.c and grammar.y */
@@ -51,6 +54,26 @@
   GList * missing_elements;
 };
 
+/* used by gstplugin.c and gstregistrybinary.c */
+typedef struct {
+  /* details registered via gst_plugin_add_external_dependency() */
+  GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags  flags;
+  gchar **env_vars;
+  gchar **paths;
+  gchar **names;
+
+  /* information saved from the last time the plugin was loaded (-1 = unset) */
+  guint   env_hash;  /* hash of content of environment variables in env_vars */
+  guint   stat_hash; /* hash of stat() on all relevant files and directories */
+} GstPluginExternalDep;
+
+struct _GstPluginPrivate {
+  GList *external_deps;    /* list of GstPluginExternalDep structures */
+};
+
+gboolean _priv_plugin_external_deps_env_vars_changed (GstPlugin * plugin);
+gboolean _priv_plugin_external_deps_files_changed (GstPlugin * plugin);
+
 gboolean _priv_gst_in_valgrind (void);
 
 /* Initialize GStreamer private quark storage */
Index: gst/gstplugin.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstplugin.c,v
retrieving revision 1.186
diff -u -r1.186 gstplugin.c
--- gst/gstplugin.c	15 Jul 2008 22:52:59 -0000	1.186
+++ gst/gstplugin.c	18 Dec 2008 13:35:23 -0000
@@ -109,13 +109,15 @@
     const GstPluginDesc * src);
 static void gst_plugin_desc_free (GstPluginDesc * desc);
 
+static void gst_plugin_ext_dep_free (GstPluginExternalDep * dep);
 
 G_DEFINE_TYPE (GstPlugin, gst_plugin, GST_TYPE_OBJECT);
 
 static void
 gst_plugin_init (GstPlugin * plugin)
 {
-  /* do nothing, needed because of G_DEFINE_TYPE */
+  plugin->priv =
+      G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_PRIVATE (plugin, GST_TYPE_PLUGIN, GstPluginPrivate);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -135,6 +137,11 @@
   g_free (plugin->basename);
   gst_plugin_desc_free (&plugin->desc);
 
+  g_list_foreach (plugin->priv->external_deps,
+      (GFunc) gst_plugin_ext_dep_free, NULL);
+  g_list_free (plugin->priv->external_deps);
+  plugin->priv->external_deps = NULL;
+
   G_OBJECT_CLASS (gst_plugin_parent_class)->finalize (object);
 }
 
@@ -142,6 +149,8 @@
 gst_plugin_class_init (GstPluginClass * klass)
 {
   G_OBJECT_CLASS (klass)->finalize = GST_DEBUG_FUNCPTR (gst_plugin_finalize);
+
+  g_type_class_add_private (klass, sizeof (GstPluginPrivate));
 }
 
 GQuark
@@ -1032,3 +1041,527 @@
   }
   g_list_free (list);
 }
+
+/* ===== external plugin dependencies ===== */
+
+/* Scenarios:
+ * ENV + xyz     where ENV can contain multiple values separated by SEPARATOR
+ *               xyz may be "" (if ENV contains path to file rather than dir)
+ * ENV + *xyz   same as above, but xyz acts as suffix filter
+ * ENV + xyz*   same as above, but xyz acts as prefix filter (is this needed?)
+ * ENV + *xyz*  same as above, but xyz acts as strstr filter (is this needed?)
+ * 
+ * same as above, with additional paths hard-coded at compile-time:
+ *   - only check paths + ... if ENV is not set or yields not paths
+ *   - always check paths + ... in addition to ENV
+ *
+ * When user specifies set of environment variables, he/she may also use e.g.
+ * "HOME/.mystuff/plugins", and we'll expand the content of $HOME with the
+ * remainder 
+ */
+
+/* we store in registry:
+ *  sets of:
+ *   { 
+ *     - environment variables (array of strings)
+ *     - last hash of env variable contents (uint) (so we can avoid doing stats
+ *       if one of the env vars has changed; premature optimisation galore)
+ *     - hard-coded paths (array of strings)
+ *     - xyz filename/suffix/prefix strings (array of strings)
+ *     - flags (int)
+ *     - last hash of file/dir stats (int)
+ *   }
+ *   (= struct GstPluginExternalDep)
+ */
+
+static guint
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_env_vars_hash (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    GstPluginExternalDep * dep)
+{
+  gchar **e;
+  guint hash;
+
+  /* there's no deeper logic to what we do here; all we want to know (when
+   * checking if the plugin needs to be rescanned) is whether the content of
+   * one of the environment variables in the list is different from when it
+   * was last scanned */
+  hash = 0;
+  for (e = dep->env_vars; e != NULL && *e != NULL; ++e) {
+    const gchar *val;
+    gchar env_var[256];
+
+    /* order matters: "val",NULL needs to yield a different hash than
+     * NULL,"val", so do a shift here whether the var is set or not */
+    hash = hash << 5;
+
+    /* want environment variable at beginning of string */   
+    if (!g_ascii_isalnum (**e)) {
+      GST_WARNING_OBJECT (plugin, "string prefix is not a valid environment "
+          "variable string: %s", *e);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    /* user is allowed to specify e.g. "HOME/.pitivi/plugins" */
+    g_strlcpy (env_var, *e, sizeof (env_var));
+    g_strdelimit (env_var, "/\\", '\0');
+
+    if ((val = g_getenv (env_var)))
+      hash += g_str_hash (val);
+  }
+
+  return hash;
+}
+
+gboolean
+_priv_plugin_external_deps_env_vars_changed (GstPlugin * plugin)
+{
+  GList *l;
+
+  for (l = plugin->priv->external_deps; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
+    GstPluginExternalDep *dep = l->data;
+
+    if (dep->env_hash != gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_env_vars_hash (plugin, dep))
+      return TRUE;
+  }
+
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
+static GList *
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_extract_env_vars_paths (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    GstPluginExternalDep * dep)
+{
+  gchar **evars;
+  GList *paths = NULL;
+
+  for (evars = dep->env_vars; evars != NULL && *evars != NULL; ++evars) {
+    const gchar *e;
+    gchar **components;
+
+    /* want environment variable at beginning of string */   
+    if (!g_ascii_isalnum (**evars)) {
+      GST_WARNING_OBJECT (plugin, "string prefix is not a valid environment "
+          "variable string: %s", *evars);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    /* user is allowed to specify e.g. "HOME/.pitivi/plugins", which we want to
+     * split into the env_var name component and the path component */
+    components = g_strsplit_set (*evars, "/\\", 2);
+    g_assert (components != NULL);
+
+    e = g_getenv (components[0]);
+    GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "expanding %s = '%s' (path suffix: %s)",
+        components[0], GST_STR_NULL (e), GST_STR_NULL (components[1]));
+
+    if (components[1] != NULL) {
+      g_strdelimit (components[1], "/\\", G_DIR_SEPARATOR);
+    }
+
+    if (e != NULL && *e != '\0') {
+      gchar **arr;
+      guint i;
+
+      arr = g_strsplit (e, G_SEARCHPATH_SEPARATOR_S, -1);
+
+      for (i = 0; arr != NULL && arr[i] != NULL; ++i) {
+        gchar *full_path;
+
+        if (!g_path_is_absolute (arr[i])) {
+          GST_INFO_OBJECT (plugin, "ignoring environment variable content '%s'"
+              ": either not an absolute path or not a path at all", arr[i]);
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        if (components[1] != NULL) {
+          full_path = g_build_filename (arr[i], components[1], NULL);
+        } else {
+          full_path = g_strdup (arr[i]);
+        }
+
+        if (!g_list_find_custom (paths, full_path, (GCompareFunc) strcmp)) {
+          GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "path: '%s'", full_path);
+          paths = g_list_prepend (paths, full_path);
+          full_path = NULL;
+        } else {
+          GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "path: '%s' (duplicate,ignoring)", full_path);
+          g_free (full_path);
+        }
+      }
+
+      g_strfreev (arr);
+    }
+
+    g_strfreev (components);
+  }
+
+  GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "Extracted %d paths from environment",
+      g_list_length (paths));
+
+  return paths;
+}
+
+static guint
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_hash_from_stat_entry (struct stat * s)
+{
+  if (!(s->st_mode & (S_IFDIR | S_IFREG)))
+    return (guint) -1;
+
+  /* completely random formula */
+  return ((s->st_size << 3) + (s->st_mtime << 5)) ^ s->st_ctime;
+}
+
+static gboolean
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_direntry_matches (GstPlugin * plugin, const gchar * entry,
+    const gchar ** filenames, GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags)
+{
+  /* no filenames specified, match all entries for now (could probably
+   * optimise by just taking the dir stat hash or so) */
+  if (filenames == NULL || *filenames == NULL || **filenames == '\0')
+    return TRUE;
+
+  while (*filenames != NULL) {
+    /* suffix match? */
+    if (((flags & GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_FILE_NAME_IS_SUFFIX)) &&
+        g_str_has_suffix (entry, *filenames)) {
+      return TRUE;
+    /* else it's an exact match that's needed */
+    } else if (strcmp (entry, *filenames) == 0) {
+      return TRUE;
+    }
+    GST_LOG ("%s does not match %s, flags=0x%04x", entry, *filenames, flags);
+    ++filenames;
+  }
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
+static guint
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_scan_dir_and_match_names (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    const gchar * path, const gchar ** filenames,
+    GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags, int depth)
+{
+  const gchar *entry;
+  gboolean recurse_dirs;
+  GError *err = NULL;
+  GDir *dir;
+  guint hash = 0;
+
+  recurse_dirs = !!(flags & GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_RECURSE);
+
+  dir = g_dir_open (path, 0, &err);
+  if (dir == NULL) {
+    GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, "g_dir_open(%s) failed: %s", path, err->message);
+    g_error_free (err);
+    return (guint) -1;
+  }
+
+  /* FIXME: we're assuming here that we always get the directory entries in
+   * the same order, and not in a random order */
+  while ((entry = g_dir_read_name (dir))) {
+    gboolean have_match;
+    struct stat s;
+    gchar *full_path;
+    guint fhash;
+
+    have_match =
+        gst_plugin_ext_dep_direntry_matches (plugin, entry, filenames, flags);
+
+    /* avoid the stat if possible */
+    if (!have_match && !recurse_dirs)
+      continue;
+
+    full_path = g_build_filename (path, entry, NULL);
+    if (g_stat (full_path, &s) < 0) {
+      fhash = (guint) -1;
+      GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "stat: %s (error: %s)", full_path,
+          g_strerror (errno));
+    } else if (have_match) {
+      fhash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_hash_from_stat_entry (&s);
+      GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "stat: %s (result: %u)", full_path, fhash);
+    } else if ((s.st_mode & (S_IFDIR))) {
+      fhash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_scan_dir_and_match_names (plugin, full_path,
+          filenames, flags, depth + 1);
+    } else {
+      /* it's not a name match, we want to recurse, but it's not a directory */
+      g_free (full_path);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    hash = (hash + fhash) << 1;
+    g_free (full_path);
+  }
+
+  g_dir_close (dir);
+  return hash;
+}
+
+static guint
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_scan_path_with_filenames (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    const gchar * path, const gchar ** filenames,
+    GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags)
+{
+  const gchar *empty_filenames[] = { "", NULL };
+  gboolean recurse_into_dirs, got_partial_names;
+  guint i, hash = 0;
+
+  /* to avoid special-casing below (FIXME?) */
+  if (filenames == NULL || *filenames == NULL)
+    filenames = empty_filenames;
+
+  recurse_into_dirs = !!(flags & GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_RECURSE);
+  got_partial_names =
+      !!(flags & GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_FILE_NAME_IS_SUFFIX);
+
+  /* if we can construct the exact paths to check with the data we have, just
+   * stat them one by one; this is more efficient than opening the directory
+   * and going through each entry to see if it matches one of our filenames. */
+  if (!recurse_into_dirs && !got_partial_names) {
+    for (i = 0; filenames[i] != NULL; ++i) {
+      struct stat s;
+      gchar *full_path;
+      guint fhash;
+
+      full_path = g_build_filename (path, filenames[i], NULL);
+      if (g_stat (full_path, &s) < 0) {
+        fhash = (guint) -1;
+        GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "stat: %s (error: %s)", full_path,
+            g_strerror (errno));
+      } else {
+        fhash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_hash_from_stat_entry (&s);
+        GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin,  "stat: %s (result: %08x)", full_path, fhash);
+      }
+      hash = (hash + fhash) << 1;
+      g_free (full_path);
+    }
+  } else {
+    hash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_scan_dir_and_match_names (plugin, path,
+        filenames, flags, 0);
+  }
+
+  return hash;
+}
+
+static guint
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_stat_hash (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    GstPluginExternalDep * dep)
+{
+  gboolean paths_are_default_only;
+  GList *scan_paths;
+  guint scan_hash = 0;
+
+  GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "start");
+
+  paths_are_default_only =
+      dep->flags & GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_PATHS_ARE_DEFAULT_ONLY;
+
+  scan_paths = gst_plugin_ext_dep_extract_env_vars_paths (plugin, dep);
+
+  if (scan_paths == NULL || !paths_are_default_only) {
+    gchar **paths;
+
+    for (paths = dep->paths; paths != NULL && *paths != NULL; ++paths) {
+      const gchar *path = *paths;
+
+      if (!g_list_find_custom (scan_paths, path, (GCompareFunc) strcmp)) {
+        GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "path: '%s'", path);
+        scan_paths = g_list_prepend (scan_paths, g_strdup (path));
+      } else {
+        GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "path: '%s' (duplicate, ignoring)", path);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /* not that the order really matters, but it makes debugging easier */
+  scan_paths = g_list_reverse (scan_paths);
+
+  while (scan_paths != NULL) {
+    const gchar *path = scan_paths->data;
+
+    scan_hash += gst_plugin_ext_dep_scan_path_with_filenames (plugin, path,
+        (const gchar **) dep->names, dep->flags);
+    scan_hash = scan_hash << 1;
+
+    g_free (scan_paths->data);
+    scan_paths = g_list_delete_link (scan_paths, scan_paths);
+  }
+
+  GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "done, scan_hash: %08x", scan_hash);
+  return scan_hash;
+}
+
+gboolean
+_priv_plugin_external_deps_files_changed (GstPlugin * plugin)
+{
+  GList *l;
+
+  for (l = plugin->priv->external_deps; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
+    GstPluginExternalDep *dep = l->data;
+
+    if (dep->stat_hash != gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_stat_hash (plugin, dep))
+      return TRUE;
+  }
+
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
+static void
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_free (GstPluginExternalDep * dep)
+{
+  g_strfreev (dep->env_vars);
+  g_strfreev (dep->paths);
+  g_strfreev (dep->names);
+  g_free (dep);
+}
+
+static gboolean
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_strv_equal (gchar ** arr1, gchar ** arr2)
+{
+  if (arr1 == arr2)
+    return TRUE;
+  if (arr1 == NULL || arr2 == NULL)
+    return FALSE;
+  for (;*arr1 != NULL && *arr2 != NULL; ++arr1, ++arr2) {
+    if (strcmp (*arr1, *arr2) != 0)
+      return FALSE;
+  }
+  return (*arr1 == *arr2);
+}
+
+static gboolean
+gst_plugin_ext_dep_equals (GstPluginExternalDep * dep, const gchar ** env_vars,
+    const gchar ** paths, const gchar ** names,
+    GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags)
+{
+  if (dep->flags != flags)
+    return FALSE;
+
+  return gst_plugin_ext_dep_strv_equal (dep->env_vars, (gchar **) env_vars) &&
+      gst_plugin_ext_dep_strv_equal (dep->paths, (gchar **) paths) &&
+      gst_plugin_ext_dep_strv_equal (dep->names, (gchar **) names);
+}
+
+/**
+ * gst_plugin_add_external_dependency:
+ * @plugin: a #GstPlugin
+ * @env_vars: NULL-terminated array of environent variables affecting the
+ *     feature set of the plugin (e.g. an environment variable containing
+ *     paths where to look for additional modules/plugins of a library),
+ *     or NULL. Environment variable names may be followed by a path component
+ *      which will be added to the content of the environment variable, e.g.
+ *      "HOME/.mystuff/plugins".
+ * @paths: NULL-terminated array of directories/paths where dependent files
+ *     may be.
+ * @names: NULL-terminated array of file names (or file name suffixes,
+ *     depending on @flags) to be used in combination with the paths from
+ *     @paths and/or the paths extracted from the environment variables in
+ *     @env_vars, or NULL.
+ * @flags: optional flags, or #GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_NONE
+ *
+ * Make GStreamer aware of external dependencies which affect the feature
+ * set of this plugin (ie. the elements or typefinders associated with it).
+ *
+ * GStreamer will re-inspect plugins with external dependencies whenever any
+ * of the external dependencies change. This is useful for plugins which wrap
+ * other plugin systems, e.g. a plugin which wraps a plugin-based visualisation
+ * library and makes visualisations available as GStreamer elements, or a
+ * codec loader which exposes elements and/or caps dependent on what external
+ * codec libraries are currently installed.
+ *
+ * Since: 0.10.22
+ */
+void
+gst_plugin_add_external_dependency (GstPlugin * plugin, const gchar ** env_vars,
+    const gchar ** paths, const gchar ** names,
+    GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags)
+{
+  GstPluginExternalDep *dep;
+  GList *l;
+
+  g_return_if_fail (GST_IS_PLUGIN (plugin));
+  g_return_if_fail (env_vars != NULL || paths != NULL);
+
+  for (l = plugin->priv->external_deps; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
+    if (gst_plugin_ext_dep_equals (l->data, env_vars, paths, names, flags)) {
+      GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "external dependency already registered");
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
+  dep = g_new0 (GstPluginExternalDep, 1);
+
+  dep->env_vars = g_strdupv ((gchar **) env_vars);
+  dep->paths = g_strdupv ((gchar **) paths);
+  dep->names = g_strdupv ((gchar **) names);
+  dep->flags = flags;
+
+  dep->env_hash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_env_vars_hash (plugin, dep);
+  dep->stat_hash = gst_plugin_ext_dep_get_stat_hash (plugin, dep);
+
+  plugin->priv->external_deps =
+      g_list_append (plugin->priv->external_deps, dep);
+
+  GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, "added external dependency:");
+  for (; env_vars != NULL && *env_vars != NULL; ++env_vars)
+    GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, " evar: %s", *env_vars);
+  for (; paths != NULL && *paths != NULL; ++paths)
+    GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, " path: %s", *paths);
+  for (; names != NULL && *names != NULL; ++names)
+    GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, " name: %s", *names);
+}
+
+/**
+ * gst_plugin_add_external_dependency_simple:
+ * @plugin: the #GstPlugin
+ * @env_vars: one or more environent variables (separated by ':', ';' or ','),
+ *      or NULL. Environment variable names may be followed by a path component
+ *      which will be added to the content of the environment variable, e.g.
+ *      "HOME/.mystuff/plugins:MYSTUFF_PLUGINS_PATH"
+ * @paths: one ore more directory paths (separated by ':' or ';' or ','),
+ *      or NULL. Example: "/usr/lib/mystuff/plugins"
+ * @names: one or more file names or file name suffixes (separated by commas),
+ *   or NULL
+ * @flags: optional flags, or #GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_NONE
+ *
+ * Make GStreamer aware of external dependencies which affect the feature
+ * set of this plugin (ie. the elements or typefinders associated with it).
+ *
+ * GStreamer will re-inspect plugins with external dependencies whenever any
+ * of the external dependencies change. This is useful for plugins which wrap
+ * other plugin systems, e.g. a plugin which wraps a plugin-based visualisation
+ * library and makes visualisations available as GStreamer elements, or a
+ * codec loader which exposes elements and/or caps dependent on what external
+ * codec libraries are currently installed.
+ *
+ * Convenience wrapper function for gst_plugin_add_external_dependency() which
+ * takes simple strings as arguments instead of string arrays, with multiple
+ * arguments separated by predefined delimiters (see above).
+ *
+ * Since: 0.10.22
+ */
+void
+gst_plugin_add_external_dependency_simple (GstPlugin * plugin,
+    const gchar * env_vars, const gchar * paths, const gchar * names,
+    GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags)
+{
+  gchar **a_evars = NULL;
+  gchar **a_paths = NULL;
+  gchar **a_names = NULL;
+
+  if (env_vars)
+    a_evars = g_strsplit_set (env_vars, ":;,", -1);
+  if (paths)
+    a_paths = g_strsplit_set (paths, ":;,", -1);
+  if (names)
+    a_names= g_strsplit_set (names, ",", -1);
+
+  gst_plugin_add_external_dependency (plugin, (const gchar **) a_evars,
+      (const gchar **) a_paths, (const gchar **) a_names, flags);
+
+  if (a_evars)
+    g_strfreev (a_evars);
+  if (a_paths)
+    g_strfreev (a_paths);
+  if (a_names)
+    g_strfreev (a_names);
+}
+
Index: gst/gstplugin.h
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstplugin.h,v
retrieving revision 1.73
diff -u -r1.73 gstplugin.h
--- gst/gstplugin.h	17 Jan 2008 22:22:58 -0000	1.73
+++ gst/gstplugin.h	18 Dec 2008 13:35:23 -0000
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 
 typedef struct _GstPlugin GstPlugin;
 typedef struct _GstPluginClass GstPluginClass;
+typedef struct _GstPluginPrivate GstPluginPrivate;
 typedef struct _GstPluginDesc GstPluginDesc;
 
 /**
@@ -76,6 +77,27 @@
 } GstPluginFlags;
 
 /**
+ * GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags:
+ * @GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_NONE : no special flags
+ * @GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_RECURSE : recurse into subdirectories
+ * @GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_PATHS_ARE_DEFAULT_ONLY : use paths
+ *         argument only if none of the environment variables is set
+ * @GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_FILE_NAME_IS_SUFFIX : interpret
+ *         filename argument as filter suffix and check all matching files in
+ *         the directory
+ *
+ * Flags used in connection with gst_plugin_add_external_dependency().
+ *
+ * Since: 0.10.22
+ */
+typedef enum {
+  GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_NONE = 0,
+  GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_RECURSE = (1 << 0),
+  GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_PATHS_ARE_DEFAULT_ONLY = (1 << 1),
+  GST_PLUGIN_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCY_FLAG_FILE_NAME_IS_SUFFIX = (1 << 2)
+} GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags;
+
+/**
  * GstPluginInitFunc:
  * @plugin: The plugin object that can be used to register #GstPluginFeatures for this plugin.
  *
@@ -156,7 +178,8 @@
   gboolean      registered;     /* TRUE when the registry has seen a filename
                                  * that matches the plugin's basename */
 
-  gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING];
+  GstPluginPrivate *priv;
+  gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING - 1];
 };
 
 struct _GstPluginClass {
@@ -298,6 +321,18 @@
 GstPlugin *             gst_plugin_load                 (GstPlugin *plugin);
 GstPlugin *             gst_plugin_load_by_name         (const gchar *name);
 
+void gst_plugin_add_external_dependency (GstPlugin    * plugin,
+                                         const gchar ** env_vars,
+                                         const gchar ** paths,
+                                         const gchar ** names,
+                                         GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags);
+
+void gst_plugin_add_external_dependency_simple (GstPlugin   * plugin,
+                                                const gchar * env_vars,
+                                                const gchar * paths,
+                                                const gchar * names,
+                                                GstPluginExternalDependencyFlags flags);
+
 void gst_plugin_list_free (GList *list);
 
 G_END_DECLS
Index: gst/gstregistry.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstregistry.c,v
retrieving revision 1.85
diff -u -r1.85 gstregistry.c
--- gst/gstregistry.c	24 Nov 2008 09:59:07 -0000	1.85
+++ gst/gstregistry.c	18 Dec 2008 13:35:24 -0000
@@ -863,6 +863,8 @@
      * was already seen by the registry, we ignore it */
     plugin = gst_registry_lookup (registry, filename);
     if (plugin) {
+      gboolean env_vars_changed, deps_changed = FALSE;
+
       if (plugin->registered) {
         GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (registry,
             "plugin already registered from path \"%s\"",
@@ -871,8 +873,12 @@
         gst_object_unref (plugin);
         continue;
       }
+
+      env_vars_changed = _priv_plugin_external_deps_env_vars_changed (plugin);
+
       if (plugin->file_mtime == file_status.st_mtime &&
-          plugin->file_size == file_status.st_size) {
+          plugin->file_size == file_status.st_size && !env_vars_changed &&
+          !(deps_changed = _priv_plugin_external_deps_files_changed (plugin))) {
         GST_LOG_OBJECT (registry, "file %s cached", filename);
         plugin->flags &= ~GST_PLUGIN_FLAG_CACHED;
         GST_LOG_OBJECT (registry, "marking plugin %p as registered as %s",
@@ -888,9 +894,11 @@
       } else {
         GST_INFO_OBJECT (registry, "cached info for %s is stale", filename);
         GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (registry, "mtime %ld != %ld or size %"
-            G_GINT64_FORMAT " != %"
-            G_GINT64_FORMAT, plugin->file_mtime, file_status.st_mtime,
-            (gint64) plugin->file_size, (gint64) file_status.st_size);
+            G_GINT64_FORMAT " != %" G_GINT64_FORMAT " or external dependency "
+            "env_vars changed: %d or external dependencies changed: %d",
+            plugin->file_mtime, file_status.st_mtime,
+            (gint64) plugin->file_size, (gint64) file_status.st_size,
+            env_vars_changed, deps_changed);
         gst_registry_remove_plugin (gst_registry_get_default (), plugin);
         /* We don't use a GError here because a failure to load some shared 
          * objects as plugins is normal (particularly in the uninstalled case)
Index: gst/gstregistrybinary.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstregistrybinary.c,v
retrieving revision 1.42
diff -u -r1.42 gstregistrybinary.c
--- gst/gstregistrybinary.c	20 Nov 2008 20:44:56 -0000	1.42
+++ gst/gstregistrybinary.c	18 Dec 2008 13:35:25 -0000
@@ -74,17 +74,20 @@
 
 /* macros */
 
-#define unpack_element(_inptr, _outptr, _element)  \
+#define unpack_element(_inptr, _outptr, _element)  G_STMT_START{ \
   _outptr = (_element *) _inptr; \
-  _inptr += sizeof (_element)
+  _inptr += sizeof (_element); \
+}G_STMT_END
 
-#define unpack_const_string(_inptr, _outptr) \
+#define unpack_const_string(_inptr, _outptr) G_STMT_START{\
   _outptr = g_intern_string ((const gchar *)_inptr); \
-  _inptr += strlen(_outptr) + 1
+  _inptr += strlen(_outptr) + 1; \
+}G_STMT_END
 
-#define unpack_string(_inptr, _outptr)  \
+#define unpack_string(_inptr, _outptr)  G_STMT_START{\
   _outptr = g_strdup ((gchar *)_inptr); \
-  _inptr += strlen(_outptr) + 1
+  _inptr += strlen(_outptr) + 1; \
+}G_STMT_END
 
 #define ALIGNMENT            (sizeof (void *))
 #define alignment(_address)  (gsize)_address%ALIGNMENT
@@ -551,6 +554,39 @@
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+static gboolean
+gst_registry_binary_save_external_plugin_dep (GList ** list,
+    GstPluginExternalDep * dep)
+{
+  GstBinaryExternalDep *ed;
+  GstBinaryChunk *chk;
+  gchar **s;
+
+  ed = g_new0 (GstBinaryExternalDep, 1);
+  chk = gst_registry_binary_make_data (ed, sizeof (GstBinaryExternalDep));
+
+  ed->flags = dep->flags;
+  ed->n_env_vars = 0;
+  ed->n_paths = 0;
+  ed->n_names = 0;
+
+  ed->env_hash = dep->env_hash;
+  ed->stat_hash = dep->stat_hash;
+
+  for (s = dep->env_vars; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s, ++ed->n_env_vars)
+    gst_registry_binary_save_string (list, *s);
+
+  for (s = dep->paths; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s, ++ed->n_paths)
+    gst_registry_binary_save_string (list, *s);
+
+  for (s = dep->names; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s, ++ed->n_names)
+    gst_registry_binary_save_string (list, *s);
+
+  *list = g_list_prepend (*list, chk);
+
+  GST_LOG ("Saved external plugin dependency");
+  return TRUE;
+}
 
 /*
  * gst_registry_binary_save_plugin:
@@ -572,8 +608,18 @@
 
   pe->file_size = plugin->file_size;
   pe->file_mtime = plugin->file_mtime;
+  pe->n_external_deps = 0;
   pe->nfeatures = 0;
 
+  /* pack external deps */
+  for (walk = plugin->priv->external_deps; walk != NULL; walk = walk->next) {
+    if (!gst_registry_binary_save_external_plugin_dep (list, walk->data)) {
+      GST_ERROR ("Could not save external plugin dependency, aborting.");
+      goto fail;
+    }
+    ++pe->n_external_deps;
+  }
+
   /* pack plugin features */
   plugin_features =
       gst_registry_get_feature_list_by_plugin (registry, plugin->desc.name);
@@ -951,6 +997,61 @@
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+static gchar **
+gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep_strv (gchar ** in, guint n)
+{
+  gchar **arr;
+
+  if (n == 0)
+    return NULL;
+
+  arr = g_new0 (gchar *, n + 1);
+  while (n > 0) {
+    unpack_string (*in, arr[n-1]);
+    --n;
+  }
+  return arr;
+}
+
+static gboolean
+gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep (GstPlugin * plugin, gchar ** in)
+{
+  GstPluginExternalDep *dep;
+  GstBinaryExternalDep *ed;
+  gchar **s;
+
+  align (*in);
+  GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, "Unpacking GstBinaryExternalDep from %p", *in);
+  unpack_element (*in, ed, GstBinaryExternalDep);
+
+  dep = g_new0 (GstPluginExternalDep, 1);
+
+  dep->env_hash = ed->env_hash;
+  dep->stat_hash = ed->stat_hash;
+
+  dep->flags = ed->flags;
+
+  dep->names =
+      gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep_strv (in, ed->n_names);
+  dep->paths =
+      gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep_strv (in, ed->n_paths);
+  dep->env_vars =
+      gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep_strv (in, ed->n_env_vars);
+
+  plugin->priv->external_deps =
+      g_list_append (plugin->priv->external_deps, dep);
+
+  GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (plugin, "Loaded external plugin dependency from registry: "
+      "env_hash: %08x, stat_hash: %08x", dep->env_hash, dep->stat_hash);
+  for (s = dep->env_vars; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s)
+    GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, " evar: %s", *s);
+  for (s = dep->paths; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s)
+    GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, " path: %s", *s);
+  for (s = dep->names; s != NULL && *s != NULL; ++s)
+    GST_LOG_OBJECT (plugin, " name: %s", *s);
+
+  return TRUE;
+}
 
 /*
  * gst_registry_binary_load_plugin:
@@ -1001,6 +1102,8 @@
   gst_registry_add_plugin (registry, plugin);
   GST_DEBUG ("Added plugin '%s' plugin with %d features from binary registry",
       plugin->desc.name, pe->nfeatures);
+
+  /* Load plugin features */
   for (i = 0; i < pe->nfeatures; i++) {
     if (!gst_registry_binary_load_feature (registry, in, plugin->desc.name)) {
       GST_ERROR ("Error while loading binary feature");
@@ -1008,6 +1111,14 @@
     }
   }
 
+  /* Load external plugin dependencies */
+  for (i = 0; i < pe->n_external_deps; ++i) {
+    if (!gst_registry_binary_load_external_plugin_dep (plugin, in)) {
+      GST_ERROR_OBJECT (plugin, "Could not read external plugin dependency");
+      goto fail;
+    }
+  }
+
   return TRUE;
 
   /* Errors */
Index: gst/gstregistrybinary.h
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstregistrybinary.h,v
retrieving revision 1.11
diff -u -r1.11 gstregistrybinary.h
--- gst/gstregistrybinary.h	12 Nov 2008 10:39:25 -0000	1.11
+++ gst/gstregistrybinary.h	18 Dec 2008 13:35:28 -0000
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
  * This _must_ be updated whenever the registry format changes,
  * we currently use the core version where this change happened.
  */
-#define GST_MAGIC_BINARY_VERSION_STR ("0.10.21.1")
+#define GST_MAGIC_BINARY_VERSION_STR ("0.10.21.2")
 
 /*
  * GST_MAGIC_BINARY_VERSION_LEN:
@@ -108,9 +108,23 @@
   gulong file_size;
   gulong file_mtime;
 
+  guint n_external_deps;
+
   guint nfeatures;
 } GstBinaryPluginElement;
 
+/* GstBinaryExternalDep:
+ */
+typedef struct _GstBinaryExternalDep
+{
+  guint flags;
+  guint n_env_vars;
+  guint n_paths;
+  guint n_names;
+
+  guint env_hash;
+  guint stat_hash;
+} GstBinaryExternalDep;
 
 /*
  * GstBinaryPluginFeature:
Index: gst/gstregistryxml.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gstreamer/gstreamer/gst/gstregistryxml.c,v
retrieving revision 1.43
diff -u -r1.43 gstregistryxml.c
--- gst/gstregistryxml.c	30 Oct 2008 14:15:14 -0000	1.43
+++ gst/gstregistryxml.c	18 Dec 2008 13:35:28 -0000
@@ -785,6 +785,10 @@
   GList *walk;
   char s[100];
 
+  if (plugin->priv->external_deps != NULL) {
+    GST_WARNING ("XML registry does not support external plugin dependencies");
+  }
+
   if (!gst_registry_save_escaped (registry, " ", "name", plugin->desc.name))
     return FALSE;
   if (!gst_registry_save_escaped (registry, " ", "description",
