Patent ID: 8904371

Claim:
A method of processing a dataflow program by a program development tool, the method comprising: the program development tool performing: retrieving stored dataflow program instructions from a memory; detecting a pair of actors defined by the retrieved dataflow program instructions, wherein the pair of actors comprise a producer actor and a consumer actor, wherein the producer actor supplies a data structure to the consumer actor via a path that comprises at least one connection and none or more intervening other actors; performing an analysis that comprises analyzing one or more operations of the producer actor that involve the data structure and/or analyzing one or more operations of the consumer actor that involve the data structure; based on a result of the analysis, selecting a minimal amount of information from among a plurality of data handling strategies concerning the data structure; and producing a transformed program in which the selected minimal amount of information is caused to be passed from the producer actor to the consumer actor, wherein: the data structure comprises a plurality of members; and analyzing one or more operations of the consumer actor comprises ascertaining whether only a subset of input data structure members consisting of fewer than all of the input data structure members is needed for the consumer actor to fire.