Translators
The ``translators'' (or ``methods'' in object-based terminology) are
programs which give other PI's a viewport into a data set.
These programs are responsible for
- receiving requests for subselections of the data
- gathering the requested information from the data set
- translating the information into the internal form used for
transferring data
- sending the information through the communication line to the
process which made the request.
One translator may serve several different data sets -- the
translators depend on the format chosen by the PI, but generally not
on the information itself, though there can be exceptions.