design issues for graphical interface for unix utilities in tcl/tk

[neonews]

I am working on making a graphical interface for popular archiving and compression tools available on unix platforms such as tar, gzip, etc. My problem is how a design my application so that it interfaces in a neat manner with the underlying programs such as tar and gzip. Can the application be modelled in such a manner that whenever a popular compression format comes along, I am able to write a plugin for it, attach it to my application and my graphical front end will start supporting files of that type. Specifically how to identify the files of various formats and then map the user operations on those zipped files to the command options for the underlying tool. I don't want to have a crude method wherein I try opening a file with one tool, if it fails try another tool, and so on. Can the file operations part be better implemented in C/C++. If yes how to go about it and then attach it with the graphical front end in tcl/tk?
I have just started using tck/tk and expect help before my boss kills me ....

 

[neonews]

I guess I asked tooooo many questions ... there has been no reply to my query ...So I will break down my problem into smaller problems. Unix commands have thousands switches and options ... if I am making a graphical interface for these commands how shouls I take care of all the permutations and combinations of these switches?