Dependency-based streamlined processing

A method of generating a multi-component output work product, the method comprising:

• a) defining initial components of a plurality of input objects;
• b) defining a plurality of processor nodes including at least one root processor node and a plurality of dependent processor nodes, wherein
• i) each processor node defines a node-specific set of operations performable by that processor node, and
• ii) each processor node defines node instance generation criteria for that processor node,
• c) linking the plurality of processor nodes to define a processing graph that includes the plurality of processor nodes, wherein
• i) the processing graph is defined as a directed acyclic graph in which data flows unidirectionally from upstream nodes to downstream nodes,
• ii) each dependent processor node is a downstream node linked to at least one upstream processor node, and
• iii) the at least one upstream processor node linked to each dependent processor node includes one of the root processor nodes;
• d) for each processor node, generating at least one operational instance using the node instance generation criteria for that processor node, wherein
• i) each operational instance identifies input data usable by that processor node to perform the node-specific set of operations,
• ii) each operational instance is operable to generate at least one output data object by performing the node-specific set of operations using the input data identified by that operational instance;
• iii) for each root processor node, the node instance generation criteria identify a node-specific set of input data usable by that processor node, and the at least one operational instance is generated from the node-specific set of input data, wherein for at least one root processor node the node-specific set of input data usable by that root processor node includes at least some of the initial components of the input objects;
• and
• iv) for each dependent processor node, the node instance generation criteria define the operational instances as a function of the at least one output data object defined by the operational instances in the node immediately upstream in the processing graph;
• e) automatically generating, for each operational instance in each dependent processor node, instance dependency relationships, wherein each instance dependency relationship defines, for a particular operational instance in that dependent processor node, the operational instance in the node immediately upstream that defines the at least one output data object usable by that particular operational instance;
• f) activating the plurality of nodes, wherein
• i) for each operational instance associated with each processor node, the processor node is operable to perform the node-specific set of operations using the input data identified by that operational instance when the input data identified by that operational instance is available, and
• ii) for each downstream operational instance, the input data identified by that operational instance is available following the generation of the at least one upstream output data object by the operational instance in the processor node immediately upstream that is identified by the dependency relationship;
• and
• g) generating the multi-component output work product by combining at least some of the output data objects generated by the plurality of processor nodes.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions executable by at least one processor to configure the at least one processor to perform a method of performing a plurality of processing operations, the method comprising:

• a) defining a plurality of processor nodes including at least one root processor node and a plurality of dependent processor nodes, wherein
• i) each processor node defines a node-specific set of operations performable by that processor node, and
• ii) each processor node defines node instance generation criteria for that processor node,
• b) linking the plurality of processor nodes to define a processing graph that includes the plurality of processor nodes, wherein
• i) the processing graph is defined as a directed acyclic graph in which data flows unidirectionally from upstream nodes to downstream nodes,
• ii) each dependent processor node is a downstream node linked to at least one upstream processor node, and
• iii) the at least one upstream processor node linked to each dependent processor node includes one of the root processor nodes;
• c) for each processor node, generating at least one operational instance using the node instance generation criteria for that processor node, wherein
• i) each operational instance identifies input data usable by that processor node to perform the node-specific set of operations,
• ii) each operational instance is operable to generate at least one output data object by performing the node-specific set of operations using the input data identified by that operational instance;
• iii) for each root processor node, the node instance generation criteria identify a node-specific set of input data usable by that processor node, and the at least one operational instance is generated from the node-specific set of input data;
• and
• iv) for each dependent processor node, the node instance generation criteria define the operational instances as a function of the at least one output data object defined by the operational instances in the node immediately upstream in the processing graph;
• d) automatically generating, for each operational instance in each dependent processor node, instance dependency relationships, wherein each instance dependency relationship defines, for a particular operational instance in that dependent processor node, the operational instance in the node immediately upstream that defines the at least one output data object usable by that particular operational instance;
• and
• e) activating the plurality of nodes, wherein
• i) for each operational instance associated with each processor node, the processor node is operable to perform the node-specific set of operations using the input data identified by that operational instance when the input data identified by that operational instance is available, and
• ii) for each downstream operational instance, the input data identified by that operational instance is available following the generation of the at least one upstream output data object by the operational instance in the processor node immediately upstream that is identified by the dependency relationship.