std::process::Child PID type compatibility

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I recently needed to write some code that directly invokes libc::wait4, so that it can retrieve the rusage of the child process in addition to the exit status. libc::wait4 expects a libc::pid_t, a type alias for i32. However, Child::id() returns a u32. As a result, I end up having to use an as cast.

This seems like it ought to be fixable through type improvements. What change would it take to call libc::wait4 without a cast? Should Child have a method that returns a type compatible with OS PIDs? (Could we make that method portable, if possible?)

(Obviously we can’t change the type of the existing Child::id() method, but we could potentially add a new method that returns the correct type.)

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Note that the unix implementation already stores the real pid_t and its id() uses as u32.

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Right, but I don’t see any way to get the underlying pid_t. That might not be possible in a portable way (though no platform seems to actually want a u32), but if that’s not possible, then perhaps with an associated type or an extension.

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