sarrel@coracle.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel) (02/10/89)
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."
sg04@bunny.UUCP (Steven Gutfreund) (02/14/89)
Now that I think about it, the NEXT's Interface Builder is bascially what you are looking for; although it is not exactly a visual version of unix pipes - it provides the basic functionality you are asking for. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yechezkal Shimon (Steven) Gutfreund sgutfreund@bunny.UUCP GTE Laboratories, Waltham MA sgutfreund@gte.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
pepke@loligo.uucp (Eric Pepke) (02/15/89)
In article <SARREL.89Feb9190611@coracle.cis.ohio-state.edu> 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.