[Boost-build] is it possible to specify an alternate tool for the same file extension?

Subject: [Boost-build] is it possible to specify an alternate tool for the same file extension?
From: Michael Weber (michael.weber_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-04-17 14:50:09

Is there a way to specify, on a project or target basis, using the
requirements / feature syntax, that a specific tool should be used to
process an idl file?

I am developing a cross platform Firefox extension that includes a XPCOM /
C++ component. I have implemented an xpidl.jam tool that invokes Mozilla's
xpidl tool to compile IDL files into headers and type libs.
To make this work, I have renamed my Firefox IDL source files as .xpidl. I
cannot register a new type with the IDL extension, at least not when
building on the Windows platform, since midl.jam already registers the type
for the Microsoft IDL compiler.

I can work this way, but it made me wonder about the more general problem --
say, if you had to build a multitude of projects, some using COM / midl,
others using XPCOM / xpidl, and still others using CORBA / corba-idl.

Michael