2 questions: getter/setter use and streams use

I am looking to use getter/setter functionality within classes in an extension. After going through the object_handler piece, it looks like the only way to implement it is by using a single function which then must handle performing the appropriate function based on the property that was passed in. The only examples I could see using this functionality were extensions which were working against external objects (such as the ones in the rpc extensions). Is this the only way to do this or are there any other calls that can be used (similar to the add_property_x calls but which would allow you to specify a function for the get/set)? If so, is it possible to use a hash table for each class which would have the property and a function so that when the property name is passed in to the _get/_set handler it can look up the property and then call the appropriate function? Now that being said how can a private hash be setup on a class basis and how is the memory destruction to be handled for a private hash? Last question concerns streams. How stable are streams at this point? Its been a while since I had seen talk about streams other than when they were first being introduced. We are possibly looking to implement some functionality using streams (not a priority in the extension at this point), but want to know wether it is something to consider or not. Thanks, Rob Richards