Abstract: A preferred embodiment comprises a visual language configured to utilize the infrastructure of a mainstream platform and take advantage of economic effects associated with a large network of users and component providers. In various aspects, systems and methods of the present invention enable translation of the primitives of a modem object-oriented language into a visual form and provide component composition facilities through a graphic interface. A preferred language is based on Microsoft's .NET platform, permits dataflow and event connections between .NET objects, and enables integration of a variety of disparate components such as query systems, browsers, and web services. Various aspects include the use of reflection to discover and expose object members, the use of the .NET type system to constrain and guide users' choices, and propagation algorithms that use heuristics to make the system conform to users' expectations.

Abstract: A gearbox arrangement couples an input shaft to an output shaft whereby the output shaft is driven by the input shaft in a constant rotational direction but at two different rotational speeds depending upon the particular direction of rotation of an input shaft for a given rotational speed of the input shaft. The input shaft has an input gear integral therewith and the output shaft has an output gear integral therewith. A first unidirectional clutch couples the input shaft with the output shaft such that rotation of the input shaft in a first input direction at a first input speed rotates the output shaft in a first output direction at a first output speed, but rotation of the input shaft in a second, opposite input direction causes the first unidirectional clutch to slip. An idler gear meshes with and is driven by the input gear. An intermediate shaft has a first intermediate gear integral therewith. The first intermediate gear is meshed with and driven by the idler gear.