From Serge Lages, introduce readRef*File() methods which pass back ref_ptr<> rather than C pointers.

include/osgDB/ReadFile

@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ inline osg::Object* readObjectFile(const std::string& filename)
     return readObjectFile(filename,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
 }
 
-
 /** Read an osg::Image from file. 
   * Return valid osg::Image on success,
   * return NULL on failure.
@@ -133,6 +132,88 @@ inline osg::Node* readNodeFiles(osg::ArgumentParser& parser)
     return readNodeFiles(parser,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
 }
 
+
+/** Read an osg::Object from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * Use the Options object to control cache operations and file search paths in osgDB::Registry.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+extern OSGDB_EXPORT osg::ref_ptr<osg::Object> readRefObjectFile(const std::string& filename,const ReaderWriter::Options* options);
+
+/** Read an osg::Object from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+inline osg::ref_ptr<osg::Object> readRefObjectFile(const std::string& filename)
+{
+    return readRefObjectFile(filename,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
+}
+
+/** Read an osg::Image from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * Use the Options object to control cache operations and file search paths in osgDB::Registry.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+extern OSGDB_EXPORT osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image>  readRefImageFile(const std::string& filename,const ReaderWriter::Options* options);
+
+/** Read an osg::Image from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+inline osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image>  readRefImageFile(const std::string& filename)
+{
+    return readRefImageFile(filename,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
+}
+
+/** Read an osg::HeightField from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * Use the Options object to control cache operations and file search paths in osgDB::Registry.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+extern OSGDB_EXPORT osg::ref_ptr<osg::HeightField>  readRefHeightFieldFile(const std::string& filename,const ReaderWriter::Options* options);
+
+/** Read an osg::HeightField from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+inline osg::ref_ptr<osg::HeightField>  readRefHeightFieldFile(const std::string& filename)
+{
+    return readRefHeightFieldFile(filename,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
+}
+
+/** Read an osg::Node from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * Use the Options object to control cache operations and file search paths in osgDB::Registry.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+extern OSGDB_EXPORT osg::ref_ptr<osg::Node>  readRefNodeFile(const std::string& filename,const ReaderWriter::Options* options);
+
+/** Read an osg::Node from file. 
+  * Return an assigned osg::ref_ptr on success,
+  * return an osg::ref_ptr with a NULL pointer assigned to it on failure.
+  * The osgDB::Registry is used to load the appropriate ReaderWriter plugin
+  * for the filename extension, and this plugin then handles the request
+  * to read the specified file.*/
+inline osg::ref_ptr<osg::Node>  readRefNodeFile(const std::string& filename)
+{
+    return readRefNodeFile(filename,Registry::instance()->getOptions());
+}
+
+
 }
 
 #endif