[undantag]

Yep, for this "pipeline/processing" type of workflow, I've seen several good examples of visual editors. It feels like it should be possible to implement most of the standard unix commandline tools in this kind of environment. With a system like that, you'd be able to let users create essentially shellscripts, but with a lower barrier of entry.

I'd really like to see that project. Time to stop procrastinating, I guess :)

Edit: This kind of system would also facilitate having multiple inputs/outputs and typed data - stuff that's fairly complex to get right in the actual commandline.