Axon.Linkage

Components only have input & output boxes. For data to get from a producer (eg a file reader) to a consumer (eg an encryption component) then the output of one component, the source component, must be linked to the input of another component, the sink component.

• linkage objects are handles describing a linkage from one postbox to another
• Axon.Postoffice.postoffice creates and destroys linkages

All components have a postoffice object, this performs the creation and destruction of linkages. Ask it for a linkage between inboxes and outboxes and a linkage object is returned as a handle describing the linkage. When a message is sent to an outbox, it is immediately delivered along linkage(s) to the destination inbox.

This is not the usual technique for software messaging. Normally you create messages, addressed to something specific, and then the message handler delivers them.

However the method of communication used here is the norm for hardware systems, and generally results in very pluggable components - the aim of this system, hence this design approach rather than the normal. This method of communication is also the norm for one form of software system - unix shell scripting - something that has shown itself time and again to be used in ways the inventors of programs/components never envisioned.

Test documentation

Tests passed:

• __init__ - Called with source & sink components forms a non-synchronous, non-passthrough linkage between the source component's outbox to the sink component's inbox
• __init__ - Called with no arguments fails - raises TypeError - must supply source & sink components...
• __init__ - called with both source/sink in/outboxes in addition to min-args forms a linkage between the specified source/sink boxes.
• __init__ - called with passthrough set to 0 results in a standard non-passthrough outbox to inbox linkage.
• __init__ - called with passthrough set to 1 means the source and sink boxes are both inboxes. This means the linkage is passthrough-inbound (normally from the inbox of a wrapper component to the inbox of a worker/sub-component).
• __init__ - called with passthrough set to 2 means the source and sink boxes are both outboxes. This means the linkage is passthrough-outbound (normally from the outbox of a worker/sub-component to the outbox of a wrapper component ). ttbw
• __str__ - Returns a string that indicates the link source and sink components and boxes. Precise formatting is checked.
• test_sourcePair (__main__.linkage_Test)

linkage(source, sink[, passthrough]) -> new linkage object

An object describing a link from a source component's inbox/outbox to a sink component's inbox/outbox.

Keyword arguments: - source -- source component - sink -- sink component - sourcebox -- source component's source box name (default="outbox") - sinkbox -- sink component's sink box name (default="inbox") - passthrough -- 0=link is from inbox to outbox; 1=from inbox to inbox; 2=from outbox to outbox (default=0)