--- a/ExternalStream.st	Thu Apr 26 14:18:44 2001 +0200
+++ b/ExternalStream.st	Thu Apr 26 15:03:31 2001 +0200
@@ -1998,13 +1998,23 @@
     OBJ fp;
 
     if ((fp = __INST(filePointer)) != nil) {
-	FILEPOINTER f;
-
-	f = __FILEVal(fp);
-	RETURN ( __MKINT(fileno(f)) );
+        FILEPOINTER f;
+
+        f = __FILEVal(fp);
+        RETURN ( __MKINT(fileno(f)) );
     }
 %}.
-    ^ self errorNotOpen
+    filePointer isNil ifTrue:[^ self errorNotOpen].
+    ^ self fileDescriptorOfFile:filePointer
+!
+
+fileDescriptorOfFile:filePointer
+    "for migration to rel5 only:
+     return the fileDescriptor of the argument filePointer -
+     notice: this one returns the underlying OSs fileDescriptor -
+     this may not be available on all platforms (i.e. non unix systems)."
+
+    self primitiveFailed
 !
 
 filePointer
@@ -5633,6 +5643,6 @@
 !ExternalStream class methodsFor:'documentation'!
 
 version
-    ^ '$Header: /cvs/stx/stx/libbasic/ExternalStream.st,v 1.226 2001-04-26 12:18:44 cg Exp $'
+    ^ '$Header: /cvs/stx/stx/libbasic/ExternalStream.st,v 1.227 2001-04-26 13:03:31 cg Exp $'
 ! !
 ExternalStream initialize!