[Ctool-develop] suggestions to provide a 'real' public API

[Stefan S. <se...@sy...>]

hi there,

I'm looking at the ctool build system and code and I wonder
what is needed to compile/install and user the API.

There are some small but important changes I'd like to suggest
that would make it much more simple to use ctool as a library:

* the headers shouldn't be accessed directly like <decl.hpp>,
   but instead with a common prefix, such as <ctool/decl.hpp>

* all declarations should be wrapped in a common namespace
   (such as, surprize, 'ctool').

* 'make install' should place the headers in <prefix>/include/ctool/
   and the library in <prefix>/lib such that other programs can
   detect them there.

* the parsing should be separate from preprocessing, such that
   users can plug in their own preprocessors.

I realize that these are non-trivial changes, i.e. they break
backward compatibility. On the other hand, there are easy ways
to provide backward compatible hacks for those who need them.

What do you think of these changes ? They are technically quite
simple to accomplish, it's just a matter of determining the impact
they'll have, and providing the right means for backward compatibility.

Best regards,
		Stefan