Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!gitpyr!loligo!pepke From: pepke@loligo.uucp (Eric Pepke) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: graphical pipes Message-ID: <7282@pyr.gatech.EDU> Date: 14 Feb 89 17:52:54 GMT References: Sender: news@pyr.gatech.EDU Reply-To: pepke@loligo.UUCP (Eric Pepke) Distribution: comp Organization: Supercomputer Computations Research Institute Lines: 37 In article sarrel@coracle.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel) writes: >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: ... Yes! Such a thing is desperately needed! I use MPW from time to time, and I can't stand the shell. A graphical piping system which inherently included a makefile capability would allow me to throw the shell away. I would even accept severe limitations on the power of expression one gets in the shell if it meant that I could work with compilers and linkers graphically, because I believe that if one is writing a program with a visual user interface one should deal with visual interfaces as much as possible. I am working on such a graphical replacement for the MPW shell right now, but it will be of limited utility as long as it is not linked to MultiFinder and does not have hooks to the desktop. As Apple have threatened to take away the existing facilities for doing such things, and as they have made good of such threats in the past, these modifications should come from inside Apple to maintain compatibility, or Apple should provide a much better set of tools for dealing with the Finder. For an early version of the graphical pipe ideas, see "A Data-flow Manager for Interactive Graphics" by Paul Haeberli of Silicon Graphics, published in _IRIS_Universe_, Fall 1987. Eric Pepke pepke%fsu.mfenet@nmfecc.arpa Supercomputer Computations pepke%scri.hepnet@lbl-csa2.arpa Research Institute pepke%fsu.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu Florida State University "It happens sometimes. People just Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 explode. Natural causes." (904) 644-2276 Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.