Xref: utzoo comp.sys.3b1:450 comp.sys.att:11873 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!bcm!convex!egsner!texrex!rmfowler From: rmfowler@texrex.uucp (Rex Fowler) Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1,comp.sys.att Subject: Re: ".GIF" files Message-ID: <1991Feb23.034818.8245@texrex.uucp> Date: 23 Feb 91 03:48:18 GMT References: <1991Feb7.204039.5842@sonyd1.Broadcast.Sony.COM> <993@gnosys.svle.ma.us> <659@quad.sialis.com> Organization: texrex - Personal System - Dallas, TX Lines: 36 In article <659@quad.sialis.com> dts@quad.sialis.com (David Sandberg) writes: >In article <993@gnosys.svle.ma.us> gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo) writes: >>I've never understood why some people insist on using cat(1) to get stuff >>into the standard input of the lead program in a pipeline. I claim that: >> cat a | b | c >>is entirely equivalent in result to: >> b < a | c > >The latter may be functional equivalent, but it's not nearly as >readable to my eyes. The "path" by which the data "travels" >starts in the middle of the command line, then jumps backwards to >the start before leap-frogging forward to the end. On the other >hand, using cat(1) to feed the start of a pipeline gives you a >nice "front-to-back" data path which is more readily apparent at >the viewer's first glance. (In my opinion, of course.) > >-- > \\ David Sandberg \ ,=, ,=, \\ > // dts@quad.sialis.com / | |uadric `=,ystems // > \\ uunet!umn-cs!sialis!quad!dts \ `=\ `=' \\ If your into speed, use method 2. If your into pretty, use method 1. Method 1 creates an extra unnecessary process. Of course, in the case of viewing gif->pbm files, it's not very significant since the conversions take so long anyway. To save time viewing your GIF files, why not just keep them stored as PBM files. Then everytime you want to view one of them, its ready to go.. % giftoppm filename.gif | ppmtopgm | pgmtopbm > filename.pbm % pbmto3b1 filename.pbm -- Rex Fowler UUCP: egsner!texrex!rmfowler Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com