\
`
`Microsoft Press
`
`Third Edition
`
`a
`
`MictOSott·Press
`
`

`
`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 1997 by Microsoft Corporation
`
`All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
`in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
`Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary. -- 3rd ed.
`p.
`em .
`ISBN 1-57231-446-X
`l. Computers--Dicti onaries. 2. Microcomputers--Dictionaries.
`I. Microsoft Press.
`QA76.15 .M54 1997
`004' .03--dc21
`
`97- 15489
`CIP
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`
`I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 QMQM 2 I 0 9 8 7
`
`Distributed to the boo k trade in Canada by Macmillan of Canada, a division of Canada Publishing
`Corporation.
`
`A CIP catalogue record fo r this book is available from the British Library.
`
`Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further
`information about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office. Or contact
`Microsoft Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329.
`
`Macintosh, Power Macintosh, QuickTime, and TrueType are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
`Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Directlnput, DirectX, Microsoft, Microsoft
`Press. MS-DOS , Visual Basic, Visual C++, Win32, Win32s, Windows, Windows NT, and XENIX are
`registered trademarks and ActiveMovie, ActiveX, and Visual 1++ are trademarks of Microsoft
`Corporation. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Other product and company names
`mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
`
`Acquisitions Editor: Kim Fryer
`Project Editor: Maureen Williams Zimmerman, Anne Taussig
`Technical Editors: Dail Magee Jr. , Gary Nelson, Jean Ross, Jim Fuchs, John Conrow, Kurt Meyer.
`Robert Lyon, Roslyn Lutsch
`
`'.
`;,
`i:
`~
`'.-r
`
`

`
`.dat
`
`data carrier
`
`tape .
`
`instea d of by passing seq ue n tia!I}· through a ll stor(cid:173)
`age areas. Fo r example. a disk dri\re is a DASD, hu t
`I
`a tape unit is not, because. with: a tape unit, th e
`data is stored as a linear sequence. See also direct
`access . Compare sequential access.
`.dat \ c!or-clat ' . dot'D-A-T"\ 17. A generi c file e. ·ten(cid:173)
`sion for a data fil e.
`OAT \dar, D' A-T"\
`11. See digital aud io
`dynam ic add ress translatio n.
`data \ d a'td. dat 'd\ Jl. Plural of the Latin datum .
`meaning an ite m o f info rmatio n . In practi ce. d Clltl
`is often use d for the singular as we ll as th e plural
`form o f the no un. Compare informatio n.
`data acquisition \ d~ 'rd a-1\.\vd-zi 'sh.;ln. dar';.)\
`11 .
`The process of obta ining d at a
`from a nother
`so urce, usu ally one o utside a specific system.
`data aggregate \da ' td a' g r.;l-grit, dat'd\ 11. A col(cid:173)
`It usu a lly
`includes a
`lectio n o f da ta record.-;.
`descriptio n of th e pla ceme nt of the data blocks
`and their relatio n to th e entire set.
`data attribute \da ' td a' tri-hy<Jot, d at 'd\ 17. Stru c(cid:173)
`tural info rmation a bo ut data that d escribes its con(cid:173)
`text and meaning.
`data bank \ da ' td hank', clat ';;l\ n . Anv substantia l
`collection o f d ata .
`database \ cia 'td-has \
`n . A
`fi le comp osed of
`reco rds . each conta ining fi e lds together with a set
`of operations for searching, sorting, recombining.
`and other fu nctio ns.
`database administrator \d a 't;;l-bas
`.;)d-min' -ds(cid:173)
`tra-t;;lr\ n. O ne w ho manages a da tabase. The
`administrato r determ ines
`the content,
`in ternal
`structure . and access strategy for a database .
`defi nes security and integrity . and monitors perfor(cid:173)
`mance. Acronym: DBA (IYB-A ' ). Also called da ta(cid:173)
`base manager.
`database analyst \da't.;l-bas an';;~- l ist \ 11. One ~v h o
`provides the ana lyt ic fun ctions need ed to des ign
`and maintain appl ications requiring a database.
`database designer \ da 't;;l-bas c.k:J-zl ' ndr\
`11 . One
`who designs and implenwnrs functions requ ired
`for app lications that use a database.
`database engine \cia 't.:l-bas en- j.;)n \
`11 . The pro(cid:173)
`gram mo dul e or modu les that provide acces.-., to a
`database management system <DB,I\1Sl.
`11 . 1. A
`database machine \ da 't,::~-ha." m.:J-shen' \
`peripheral that executes database tasks, there by
`relieving th e main computer from perf< >rm ing
`
`them. 2. A d ata base server that performs o nl y
`database tasks.
`system \da' t;;l-bas
`database
`n1anagement
`11 . A software
`inte rfa ce
`man -,:)j-mdnr si' st,:)!11 \
`be tween the d ata base and the user. A d ~lta base
`ma nagement s ystem handles use r req uesb
`for
`da tahase actio ns and allows for control o f security
`and data integrity requirements. Acronym . DBMS
`(])" B-M-S ' ). Also called database manage r. See a lso
`clatahase e ng ine .
`database manager \ d a ·t;;l- bas man' .:l-j.:lr\
`11 . See
`d atabase administrato r. d atabase management svs(cid:173)
`tem .
`database publishing \ da 't.:l-l>as p u'bl;;l-.-; heng\ 11.
`T he use of desktop publishing o r Internet tech nol(cid:173)
`ogy ro produce reports co nta ining
`informat ion
`obtained from a d atabase.
`database server \ cia ' t;;l-bas s;;lr' v.:lr\ 11 . A network
`no d e . o r station. d e dicat ed to storing an d pro,·id(cid:173)
`ing access to a shared database . Also called data(cid:173)
`base machine .
`database structure \cia 't;;l-b as struk-chur\
`11. A
`ge ne ral descri p tio n o f the format of records in a
`database. includi ng the nu m ber of fi e lds , specifi(cid:173)
`ca tions regard ing the type of data that can be
`entered in each fie ld , and the field names used .
`data bit \ da ' t.:l hi t'. dat ';;l\
`11 . In asvnchronous
`com mun ications. o ne of a group of from ') to 8 bits
`that represents a single character of data for trans(cid:173)
`missio n. Data bits are preceded hy a start hit and
`foll owed by an o ptio nal parity hit and o ne or more
`stop hits . See also ::~sy n c h ronous transmission . bit.
`communications parameter.
`data buffer \da't.:l huf.;lr, dat ';;l\ n. An area in
`memory where data is tempo raril y stored \Yhile
`being moved from one location to anot her. Sec>
`a lso buffer 1
`.
`data bus \cia ' t.:l bus'. dat '.;l\ 11 . • '->'ce bus.
`data cable \da 't,;> ka' bl , dat ·.:l\ 11. Fiber-optic or
`wire cable used to transfer clata from one device
`to another.
`datacapture \ c.l a ' t;;~ kap' chur, dat '.:J\ n . 1. The
`collection of information at the time of a transac(cid:173)
`tion . 2. The process of sa\·ing on a storage
`medium a record of intt'rchanges het\Yeen a user
`and a remote information utility.
`data carrier \ c.la ' t;;l kflr· e-er. c.bt '.;l\ 11 . See carrier
`(definition 1 ).
`
`

`
`real-time
`
`real-time \ rei 'rim\ adj. Of or reJ,aring to a time
`frame imposed by external const 'fl ints. Rea l-time(cid:173)
`operations are those in which the I~achine 's activi(cid:173)
`ties match the human perceptio n of time o r those
`in which computer operations proceed at the same
`rate as a physical o r external process. Real-time
`operations are characteristic of aircraft guidance
`systems. transaction-processing systems, scientific
`applications, and othe r areas in which a computer
`must respond to situatio ns as th y occur (for exam(cid:173)
`ple, animating a graphic in a flight simulator o r
`making corrections based o n measurements).
`real-time animation \ rel'-t!m an-;;J-ma 'sh;;m \
`11 .
`Computer animation in which images are com(cid:173)
`puted and updated on the screen at the same rate
`at which the objects simulated might move in the
`real world. Real-time animation allows dynamic
`involvement by the user because the computer can
`accept and incorporate keystrokes or controller ·
`movements as it is drawing the next image in the
`animation sequence. Arcade-style animation (such
`as in a flight simulator program) makes use of rea l(cid:173)
`time animation in translating game plays into on(cid:173)
`screen actions . In contrast. in animation done in
`virtual time, image frames are first ca lculated and
`stored and later replayed at a highe r rate to achieve
`smoother movement. See also animation, bit block.
`real-time clock \rel'-t!m klok '\ n . See clock (def(cid:173)
`inition 2).
`real-time conferencing \ rel't!m kon ' fr;;Jn-seng \
`n. See teleconferencing.
`real-time operating system \ rel't!m op ';;Jr-a-teng
`si' st;;Jm\ n. An operating system designed or o pti(cid:173)
`mized for the needs of a process-control environ(cid:173)
`ment. See also real-time system.
`real-titne system \ rt:Tt!m si' st;;Jm\ n. A computer
`and/or a software system that reacts to events before
`the events become obsolete. Fo r example, airline
`collision avoidance systems must process radar
`input. detect a possible colli ·ion, and warn air traffic
`controlle rs or pilots while they still have time to react.
`reboot \ re-bcJbt ·\ uh. To restart a computer by
`reloading the operating system. See also boot2,
`cold boo t, warm hoot.
`receipt notification \ r;;J-set - no-td-f;;J-ka' sh.:m \ n.
`An e-mail feature providing feedback
`to
`the
`sender that a message has been received by the
`recipient. See the illustration.
`
`record head
`
`_ L!IX
`
`System AdmlnistJator Sent: Fn 3{7/97 ll :OS AM
`From:
`Dall Magee Jr.
`To;
`Subjact: DehYered: Oogbert's New Rulilg Class
`1'our message
`
`To:
`Subject:
`Sent :
`
`Scott Adams
`Dogbert's New Ruling Class
`3/7/97 I I :05 AM
`
`1 f'ias delivered to the follow1ng recip1ent(s):
`
`Scott Adams on 3/ 7/97 II :05 AM
`
`l
`
`I
`
`R eceipt notification.
`
`receive \ r;;J-sev ' \ uh. To accept data from an exter(cid:173)
`nal communications system. su ch as a local area
`network (LAN) or a telephone line, and store the
`data as a file .
`Receive Data \ rd-sev' da 't;;J, dat ';;J\ 11 . See R.XD.
`rec. newsgroups \ rek'dot-nObz'grObps\ n. Usenet
`newsgroups that are part of the rec. hierarchy and
`whose names have the prefix "rec. " These news(cid:173)
`groups cover topics devoted to discussions of rec(cid:173)
`reational activities, hobbies, and the arts . See also
`newsgroup ,
`traditional newsgroup hie rarchy ,
`Usenet. Compare comp. newsgroups, misc. news(cid:173)
`groups, news. newsgroups. sci. newsgroups. soc.
`newsgroups, talk . newsgroups.
`recompile \re' k;;Jm-pll ' \
`l'b. To compile a pro(cid:173)
`gram again, usually because of changes that
`needed to he made in the source code in response
`to error messages generated by the compiler. See
`also compile .
`record1 \ rek ';;Jrd\ n. A data structure that is a col(cid:173)
`lection of fie lds (elements), each with its own
`name and type. Unlike an array, whose elements
`all represe nt the same type of info rmatio n and are
`accessed using an index, the e lements of a record
`represent different types of information and are
`accessed hy name . A record can be accessed as a
`collect ive unit of e lements, or the elements can be
`accessed individu ally. See also array, data struc(cid:173)
`ture , type 1 (definition 1)
`record2 \ r;;J-kord ' \ t'h. To retain information , usu(cid:173)
`ally in a file.
`recordformat \rek ';;Jrd f(Jr'mat\
`structure.
`record head \ rd-k6rd - hecr\ n . The device in a
`t::tpe machine that p laces data on the tape In some
`
`11 . See record