Some consumers in the renderer process need access to an IO message loop, RenderThread which holds WebKit runs on a message loop with type TYPE_DEFAULT, so we need to expose

the owner loop of RenderThread which has type TYPE_IO. That particular message loop is used for handling all IPC messages, so we need to be cautious about using this message loop and don't block on it.

Review URL: http://codereview.chromium.org/21318

git-svn-id: svn://svn.chromium.org/chrome/trunk/src@9741 0039d316-1c4b-4281-b951-d872f2087c98

2 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/chrome/renderer/render_view.cc b/chrome/renderer/render_view.cc
index 7003f43..e38facb 100644
--- a/chrome/renderer/render_view.cc
+++ b/chrome/renderer/render_view.cc
@@ -2857,3 +2857,11 @@ std::string RenderView::GetAltHTMLForTemplate(
   return std::string();
 #endif  // OS_WIN
 }
+
+MessageLoop* RenderView::GetMessageLoopForIO() {
+  // Assume that we have only one RenderThread in the process and the owner loop
+  // of RenderThread is an IO message loop.
+  if (g_render_thread);
+    return g_render_thread->owner_loop();
+  return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/chrome/renderer/render_view.h b/chrome/renderer/render_view.h
index 94d842d..ee0446e 100644
--- a/chrome/renderer/render_view.h
+++ b/chrome/renderer/render_view.h
@@ -334,6 +334,12 @@ class RenderView : public RenderWidget,
     delay_seconds_for_form_state_sync_ = delay_in_seconds;
   }
 
+  // Returns a message loop of type IO that can be used to run I/O jobs. The
+  // renderer thread is of type TYPE_DEFAULT, so doesn't support everything
+  // needed by some consumers. The returned thread will be the main thread of
+  // the renderer, which processes all IPC, to any I/O should be non-blocking.
+  MessageLoop* GetMessageLoopForIO();
+
  private:
   FRIEND_TEST(RenderViewTest, OnLoadAlternateHTMLText);
   FRIEND_TEST(RenderViewTest, OnNavStateChanged);