add method for safer text decoding

--HG--
branch : pmacs2

util.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import os
 import pwd
 import re
 import regex
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
 
 # character buffers use sequences like [r:d]foo[d:d] to indicate that foo
 # should be fg=red,bg=default. as such, we have to escape \, [ and ].
@@ -134,3 +135,20 @@ except:
         def __repr__(self):
             return 'defaultdict(%s, %s)' % (self.default_factory,
                                             dict.__repr__(self))
+
+def decode(s):
+    for format in ('utf-8', 'latin-1'):
+        try:
+            return s.decode(format)
+        except:
+            pass
+    return s.decode('ascii', 'replace')
+
+def communicate(cmd, stdin=None, stderr=False, shell=True):
+    if stderr:
+        pipe = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, shell=shell)
+    else:
+        pipe = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT, shell=shell)
+    out, err = pipe.communicate(input=stdin)
+    result = pipe.wait()
+    return result, decode(out or ''), decode(err or '')