diff --git a/frontends/ParseOccam.hs b/frontends/ParseOccam.hs
index 3bb5ae8..6eb2567 100644
--- a/frontends/ParseOccam.hs
+++ b/frontends/ParseOccam.hs
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ dataType
 
 channelType :: OccParser A.Type
 channelType
-    =   do { sCHAN; optional sOF; p <- protocol; return $ A.Chan A.DirUnknown A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False} p }
+    =   do { sCHAN; optional sOF; p <- protocol; return $ A.Chan A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False} p }
     <|> arrayType channelType
     <?> "channel type"
 
@@ -853,7 +853,6 @@ direction :: OccParser A.Direction
 direction
     =   (sQuest >> return A.DirInput)
     <|> (sBang  >> return A.DirOutput)
-    <|> return A.DirUnknown
     <?> "direction decorator"
 
 -- | Parse a production with an optional direction specifier,
@@ -863,21 +862,16 @@ maybeDirected :: OccParser t -> OccParser (A.Type -> OccParser A.Type, t)
 maybeDirected inner
     =  do v <- inner
           m <- md
-          dir <- direction
-          return (case dir of
-                    A.DirUnknown -> return
-                    _ -> applyDirection m dir,
-                  v)
+          dirs <- many direction
+          return (foldFuncsM $ map (applyDirection m) (reverse dirs), v)
 
 -- | Parse a channel followed by an optional direction specifier.
 directedChannel :: OccParser A.Variable
 directedChannel
     =  do c <- channel
           m <- md
-          dir <- direction
-          case dir of
-            A.DirUnknown -> return c
-            _ -> return $ A.DirectedVariable m dir c
+          dirs <- many direction
+          return $ foldFuncs (map (A.DirectedVariable m) (reverse dirs)) c
 
 timer :: OccParser A.Variable
 timer
@@ -1636,6 +1630,7 @@ actual (A.Formal am t n)
             _ ->
               case stripArrayType t of
                 A.Chan {} -> var directedChannel
+                A.ChanEnd {} -> var directedChannel
                 A.Timer {} -> var timer
                 A.Port _ -> var port
                 _ -> var variable
diff --git a/frontends/ParseRain.hs b/frontends/ParseRain.hs
index a6ab4c2..b553eca 100644
--- a/frontends/ParseRain.hs
+++ b/frontends/ParseRain.hs
@@ -167,9 +167,9 @@ dataType
     <|> do {reserved "sint32" ; return A.Int32}
     <|> do {reserved "sint64" ; return A.Int64}    
     <|> do {reserved "time" ; return A.Time}
-    <|> do {sChannel ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.Chan A.DirUnknown (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
-    <|> do {sIn ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.Chan A.DirInput (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
-    <|> do {sOut ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.Chan A.DirOutput (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
+    <|> do {sChannel ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.Chan (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
+    <|> do {sIn ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.ChanEnd A.DirInput (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
+    <|> do {sOut ; inner <- dataType ; return $ A.ChanEnd A.DirOutput (A.ChanAttributes {A.caWritingShared = False, A.caReadingShared = False}) inner}
     <|> do {sLeftQ ; inner <- dataType ; sRightQ ; return $ A.List inner}
     <|> do {(m,n) <- identifier ; return $ A.UserDataType A.Name {A.nameMeta = m, A.nameName = n}}
     <?> "data type"
diff --git a/frontends/RainTypes.hs b/frontends/RainTypes.hs
index dea5c2c..877cba4 100644
--- a/frontends/RainTypes.hs
+++ b/frontends/RainTypes.hs
@@ -85,9 +85,9 @@ ttte m c f t = typeToTypeExp m t >>= \t' -> return $ OperType m c (\[x] -> f x)
 --  User data types should not be present in the input.
 typeToTypeExp :: Meta -> A.Type -> RainTypeM (TypeExp A.Type)
 typeToTypeExp m (A.List t) = ttte m "[]" A.List t
-typeToTypeExp m (A.Chan A.DirInput at t) = ttte m "?" (A.Chan A.DirInput at) t
-typeToTypeExp m (A.Chan A.DirOutput at t) = ttte m "!" (A.Chan A.DirOutput at) t
-typeToTypeExp m (A.Chan A.DirUnknown at t) = ttte m "channel" (A.Chan A.DirUnknown at) t
+typeToTypeExp m (A.ChanEnd A.DirInput at t) = ttte m "?" (A.ChanEnd A.DirInput at) t
+typeToTypeExp m (A.ChanEnd A.DirOutput at t) = ttte m "!" (A.ChanEnd A.DirOutput at) t
+typeToTypeExp m (A.Chan at t) = ttte m "channel" (A.Chan at) t
 typeToTypeExp m (A.Mobile t) = ttte m "MOBILE" A.Mobile t
 typeToTypeExp _ (A.UnknownVarType reqs en)
   = case en of
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ markCommTypes = checkDepthM2 checkInputOutput checkAltInput
   where
     checkInput :: A.Variable -> A.Variable -> Meta -> a -> RainTypeM ()
     checkInput chanVar destVar m p
-      = astTypeOf destVar >>= markUnify chanVar . A.Chan A.DirInput (A.ChanAttributes
+      = astTypeOf destVar >>= markUnify chanVar . A.ChanEnd A.DirInput (A.ChanAttributes
         False False)
 
     checkWait :: RainTypeCheck A.InputMode
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ markCommTypes = checkDepthM2 checkInputOutput checkAltInput
     checkInputOutput (A.Input _ _ im@(A.InputTimerAfter {})) = checkWait im
     checkInputOutput (A.Input _ _ im@(A.InputTimerRead {})) = checkWait im
     checkInputOutput p@(A.Output m chanVar [A.OutExpression m' srcExp])
-      = astTypeOf srcExp >>= markUnify chanVar . A.Chan A.DirOutput (A.ChanAttributes
+      = astTypeOf srcExp >>= markUnify chanVar . A.ChanEnd A.DirOutput (A.ChanAttributes
         False False)
     checkInputOutput _ = return ()