:sponge: [UNIX] n. A special case of a {filter} that reads its
entire input before writing any output; the canonical example is a
sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently
overwrite the input file with the output data stream. If a file
system has versioning (as ITS did and VMS does now) the
sponge/filter distinction loses its usefulness, because directing
filter output would just write a new version. See also {slurp}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
entire input before writing any output; the canonical example is a
sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently
overwrite the input file with the output data stream. If a file
system has versioning (as ITS did and VMS does now) the
sponge/filter distinction loses its usefulness, because directing
filter output would just write a new version. See also {slurp}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- ponge n.
[Unix] A special case of a filter that reads its
entire input before writing any outpu
he canonical example is a sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently overwrite the input file with the output data stream.... - filter n.
[very common; orig. Unix, now also in
MS-DOS] A program that processes an input data stream into an
output data stream in some well-defined way
and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly on error conditio... - filter: [orig. {{UNIX}}, now also in {{MS-DOS}}] n.
A program that processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly on error conditio... - cat: [from `catenate' via {{UNIX}} `cat(1)'] vt.
1.
[techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other output sink without pause.... - cat [from `catenate' via Unix cat(1)] vt.
1. [techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other
output sink without pause.
2. By extension, to dump large amounts of data at an unprepared target or with no intention of browsing it carefully.... - lurp: vt. To read a large data file entirely into {core} before
working on it.
This may be contrasted with the strategy of reading a small piece at a time, processing it, and then reading the next piece.... - plumbing: [UNIX] n. Term used for {shell} code, so called
because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of
one program to the input of another.
Under UNIX, user utilities can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a shell scrip... - MFTL /M-F-T-L/
[abbreviation: `My Favorite Toy Language']
1.
adj. Describes a talk on a programming language design that is heavy on the syntax (with lots of BNF), sometimes even talks about semantics (e.... - off:: /N'rof/ [UNIX, from "new roff" (see {{troff}})] n.
A companion program to the UNIX typesetter {{troff}}, accepting identical input but preparing output for terminals and line printers....
