Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!coracle.cis.ohio-state.edu!sarrel From: sarrel@coracle.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: graphical pipes Message-ID: Date: 10 Feb 89 00:06:11 GMT Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Distribution: comp Organization: Ohio State Computer Science Lines: 45 One of the things that I like about UNIX that isn't on the Mac is the ability to use pipes. Does anyone know if Apple has any plans to create a graphical pipe system for the Mac? I envision something along the following lines: 1) It works from within the finder. 2) A window pops up and you are able to construct, by clicking and dragging icons, a graphical representation of a pipe. If anyone remembers the graphical, iconic, programming language used in ChipWits, this is the sort of thing I have in mind. 3) Each icon would accept at least one input (maybe more) and would have at least one output. 4) There is no reason that the files being passed through the pipe have to be restricted to text files. Other standard mac files might be used, such as PICT. A file might read in a text file and output a PICT. 5) Double clicking on an icon would bring up a dialog box that would serve the same function as setting flags. 6) Standard applications could be extended to work in "pipe mode" so they don't have to start up their full-blown interactive versions. Of course, it doesn't make sense for all applications to have a pipe mode. But certain ones, like image processing might benefit. 7) There might also be certain applications that run, gasp, only in pipe mode. 8) Apple would have to approve the idea and define the way that files in the pipe would be passed from application to application. 9) This idea does not require multiprocessing in the UNIX sense, but probably would require multifinder. But, memory could be conserved in two ways. Presumably the "pipe mode" version of the program would be smaller and the applications could be run sequentially, rather than concurrently. Well, what do you think? This is just pure wishful thinking on my part. Does it go against the grain of the Macintosh Philosophy? Does it really rub people the wrong way (like scratchin a chalkboard)? Any discussion will certainly be of interest. :-) -=- Marc Sarrel sarrel@cis.ohio-state.edu | "Language is a virus from Department of Computer and Information Science | outer space. And, it's The Ohio State University | better to hear your name 2036 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH USA 43210-1277 | than see your face."