From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Received: from cortex.physiol.su.oz.au ([129.78.139.131]) by hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu with SMTP id <2221>; Mon, 20 Jul 1992 20:52:09 -0400
Received: by cortex.physiol.su.oz.au (5.57/Ultrix3.0-C)
	id AA19000; Tue, 21 Jul 92 10:51:47 +1000
From:	John (_You_ hide, they seek.) Mackin <john@physiol.su.oz.au>
Date:	Mon, 20 Jul 1992 20:45:52 -0400
To:	The rc Mailing List <rc@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu>
Subject: Re: Question about redirection 
In-Reply-To: <92Jul16.121858edt.2581@groucho.cs.psu.edu>
Message-Id: <199207211045.18924.rc.babat@physiol.su.oz.au>
X-Face: 39seV7n\`#asqOFdx#oj/Uz*lseO_1n9n7rQS;~ve\e`&Z},nU1+>0X^>mg&M.^X$[ez>{F
 k5[Ah<7xBWF<un6={nlL7Om5<0UsuHKjCxs)C$`DP.N'-LLb8=8)"a@d2bG-f7qD2AJ#UZ>-@-ru?&
 @4K4-b`ydd^`(n%Z{

    The strangeness is that >[n=m] means "the thing on the right reads n
    but gets m", while |[n=m] means "the thing on the right reads m but
    gets n.  Backwards!

Not at all.  Or at least I don't think so.  All it takes is the right way
of looking at it; I think I have a right way, and I hope it will answer
Malte's question as to how to explain this to an rc novice.

When we write >[2=1], we think of that as "create two by duplicating one",
and view it like an assignment statement (left receives right).  When
we write |[2=1], we think "the left process's two gets connected to the
right process's one", and don't use the assignment metaphor.

I think that as long as we think about this in the right way, there
should be no problem.

OK,
John.