Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!samsung!xanth!mcnc!rti!sheol!throopw
From: throopw@sheol.UUCP (Wayne Throop)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: dataflow shell
Message-ID: <0221@sheol.UUCP>
Date: 22 Nov 89 21:48:50 GMT
References: <0207@sheol.UUCP> <8960001@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Lines: 23

> mjs@hpfcso.HP.COM (Marc Sabatella)
> Graphically, what we have is the following:
> inputfile1 --- reader1 \
> inputfile2 --- reader2 -- merger ---- outputfile1 (device driver)
> synthesizer1 ----------//       \---- synthesizer1 (device driver)
> synthesizer2 ----------/
> [...] can anyone suggest a syntax for expressing this sort of thing?

Well, a system that can handle nested fan-out and fan-in only (but
not circular or DAG-type connections), we might just have parallel
processes enumerated as a list, with familiar Lisp (lots of silly
paranthesis) syntax (but with "{", say)...which would make the above
work out to be:

    { { <inputfile1 reader1 }
      { <inputfile2 reader2 }
      { synthesizer1 }
      { synthesizer2 } } merger { { consumer1 >outputfile1 }
                                  { consumer2 } }

(I've altered the output fan-out a little.)
--
Wayne Throop <backbone>!mcnc!rti!sheol!throopw or sheol!throopw@rti.rti.org