BComputer Terms
The definitions below came from www.pcwebopedia.com (an on-line dictionary of computer terms).
Abend: 1. Acronym for Abnormal End of Task. It refers to software crashes or lossage. Derives from an error message on the IBM 360.
2. Acronym for Absent By Enforced Net Deprivation. Sent in e-mail subject lines warning friends and others of forced loss of Internet access (due to moving, network outages, or illness).
Batch Files: A file that contains a sequence, or batch, of commands. Batch files are useful for storing sets of commands that are always executed together because you can simply enter the name of the batch file instead of entering each command individually.
In DOS systems, batch files end with a.BAT extension. For example, the following DOS batch file prints the date and time and sets the prompt to GO>:
date
time
prompt [GO>]
Whenever you boot a DOS -based computer, the system automatically executes the batch file named AUTOEXEC.BAT, if it exists.
Many operating systems use the terms command file or shell script in place of batch file.
DLL: Short for Dynamic Link Library, a library of executable functions or data that can be used by a Windows application. Typically, a DLL provides one or more particular functions and a program accesses the functions by creating either a static or dynamic link to the DLL. A static link remains constant during program execution while a dynamic link is created by the program as needed. DLLs can also contain just data. DLL files usually end with the extension .dll,.exe., drv, or .fon. A DLL can be used by several applications at the same time. Some DLLs are provided with the Windows operating system and available for any Windows application. Other DLLs are written for a particular application and are loaded with the application.
DNS: (1) Short for Domain Name System (or Service), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.
The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.
(2) Short for digital nervous system, a term coined by Bill Gates to describe a network of personal computers that make it easier to obtain and understand information.
Gateway: a device that connects two dissimilar LANs or that connects a LAN to a WAN, minicomputer, or mainframe. A gateway has its own processor & memory & may perform protocol conversion & bandwidth conversion.
Home Directory (e.g., H Drive): personal directory, includes the following:
Cookies, Favorites, Notes/Data (id file, ini, nsf, user dict.), Office 97 (templates, custom dict), Profiles (address book, IE history, recent file list, Start Menu)
.INI: Pronounced dot -in-ee file, a file that has a.INI extension and contains configuration information for MS-Windows. Two.INI files, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI, are required by MS-Windows. In addition, many applications have their own.INI files. In Windows 95 and Windows NT,.INI files have been replaced by the Registry, though many applications still include.INI files for backward compatibility.
IP: (n) A section of main memory or mass storage that has been reserved for a particular application
Abbreviation of Internet Protocol, pronounced as two separate letters. IP specifies the format of packets, also called datagrams, and the addressing scheme. Most networks combine IP with a higher-level protocol called Transport Control Protocol (TCP), which establishes a virtual connection between a destination and a source.
IP by itself is something like the postal system. It allows you to address a package and drop it in the system, but there's no direct link between you and the recipient. TCP/IP, on the other hand, establishes a connection between two hosts so that they can send messages back and forth for a period of time.
The current version of IP is IPv4. A new version, called IPv6 or IPng, is under development.
Partition: To divide memory or mass storage into isolated sections. In DOS systems, you can partition a disk, and each partition will behave like a separate disk drive. Partitioning is particularly useful if you run more than one operating system. For example, you might reserve one partition for Windows and another for UNIX.
In addition, partitioning on DOS and Windows machines can improve disk efficiency. This is because the FAT system used by these operating systems automatically assigns cluster size based on the disk size: the larger the disk, the larger the cluster. Unfortunately, large clusters can result in a wasted disk space, called slack space. There is an entire sector of the software industry devoted to building utilities that let you partition your hard disk.
On Apple Macintosh computers, there are two types of partitioning: hard and soft. Hard partitioning is the same as DOS partitioning -- the disk is physically divided into different sections. Soft partitioning, on the other hand, does not physically affect the disk at all, but it fools the Finder into believing that the disk is partitioned. The advantage of this is that you can partition the disk without affecting the data on it. With hard partitioning, it is usually necessary to reformat the entire disk.
Ping: Short for Packet Internet Groper, a utility to determine whether a specific IP address is accessible. It works by sending a packet to the specified address and waiting for a reply. PING is used primarily to troubleshoot Internet connections. There are many freeware and shareware PING utilities available for personal computers.
MS Dos: at command line type ping — address: goes to that address and reports back the route it took to get to address and how long it took.
Print Screen: get on page to be copied, print screen button, open Word, Paste = picture (can scale). Copies the entire screen to the clipboard. Need Snag It program to copy individual items on the screen.
Proxy Server: A server that sits between a client application, such as a Web browser, and a real server. It intercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself. If not, it forwards the request to the real server.
A Web proxy server is a specialized HTTP server. The primary use of a proxy server is to allow internal clients access to the Internet from behind a firewall. Anyone behind a firewall can now have full Web access past the firewall host with minimum effort and without compromising security. The proxy server listens for requests from clients within the firewall and forwards these requests to remote Internet servers outside the firewall. The proxy server reads responses from the external servers and then sends them to internal client clients. In the usual case, all the clients within a given subnet use the same proxy server. This makes it possible for the proxy to cache documents efficiently that are requested by a number of clients. People using a proxy server should feel as if they are getting responses directly from remote servers. Clients without Domain Name Services (DNS) can still use the Web. The proxy IP address is the only information they need. Organizations using private network address spaces such as the class A net 10.*.*.* can still use the Internet as long as the proxy is visible to both the private internal net and the Internet. Most proxy servers are implemented on a per-access method basis. Proxy servers can allow or deny internet requests according to the protocol of the requests. For instance a proxy server can allow calls to FTP servers while denying calls to HTTP servers. http://vms.process.com/~help/helpproxy.html#E9E94
Registry: A database used by the Windows operating system (Windows 95 and NT ) to store configuration information. The Registry consists of the following major sections:
HKEY_Classes_Root - file associations and OLE information
HKEY_Current_User - all preferences set for current user
HKEY_User - all the current user information for each user of the system
HKEY_Local_Machine - settings for hardware, operating system, and installed applications
HKEY_Current_Configuration - settings for the display and printers
HKEY_Dyn_Data - performance data
Most Windows applications write data to the Registry, at least during installation. You can edit the Registry directly by using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) provided with the operating system. However, you must take great care because errors in the Registry could disable your computer.
Router: A device that connects any number of LANs.
Routers use headers and a forwarding table to determine where packets go, and they use ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.
Very little filtering of data is done through routers. Routers do not care about the type of data they handle. A router is able to connect networks with different physical media, as well as able to translate between different network architectures, such as token right & Ethernet.
Scripts: Another term for macro or batch file, a script is a list of commands that can be executed without user interaction. A script language is a simple programming language with which you can write scripts.
Apple Computer uses the term script to refer to programs written in its HyperCard or AppleScript language
Sequel Server: Generically, any database management system (DBMS) that can respond to queries from client machines formatted in the SQL language. When capitalized, the term generally refers to either of two database management products from Sybase and Microsoft. Both companies offer client-server DBMS products called SQL Server.
SQL: Abbreviation of structured query language, and pronounced either see-kwell or as separate letters. SQL is a standardized query language for requesting information (accessing the resources) from a database. Historically, SQL has been the favorite query language for database management systems running on minicomputers and mainframes. Users write SQL statements that access the mainframe to retrieve specific requests for information. Increasingly, however, SQL is being supported by PC database systems because it supports distributed databases (databases that are spread out over several computer systems). This enables several users on a local-area network to access the same database simultaneously. SQL is an elegant & concise language with only thirty commands.
The 4 basic commands (select, update, delete, & insert) correspond to the 4 basic functions of data manipulation (data retrieval, data modification, data deletion, & data insertion). SQL queries approximate the structure of an English language query. For example, the request, "Show me the title & rating of those videotapes in the inventory database in which the CATEGORY field contains the word children, & put the result in order title,: is represented by the following SQL query: SELECT title, rating; FROM inventory; WHERE category = "children"; ORDER BY title. SQL is table-oriented; SQL queries do not display individual records. Instead the queries result in on-screen display of rows & columns of table data.
TCP/IP: Abbreviation for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP.
