Support for graphs of processes in a command interpreter
Chris McDonald, Trevor I. Dix · Software Practice and Experience · 1988
Abstract Since the inception of pipes in the UNIX operating system, the standard UNIX command interpreters, or shells, have supported processes connected only in linear arrangements. This paper explains why linear pipe structures are too restrictive and how the standard UNIX shells have dictated the interface strategy of new commands. A new command interpreter is presented that supports general directed process graphs. Processes and files are considered simply as nodes and pipes as arcs in a process graph.