`Inc. Kodak is a registered trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company. Intel is a registered trademark and Indeo
`is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveMovie, Active Platform, ActiVeX,
`Authenticode, BackOffice, Directlnput, DirectX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS, MSN, NetMeeting,
`NetShow, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, WebTV, WebTV Network, Win32, Win32s, Windows,
`Windows NT, and XENIX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
`United States and/or other countries. PANTONE is a registered trademark of Pantone, Inc. Other product and
`company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
`
`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 1999 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 Computer Dictionary. -- 4th ed.
`p. cm.
`Previous eds. published under title: Microsoft Press computer
`dictionary
`ISBN 0-7356-0615-3
`
`2. Microcomputers Dictionaries.
`1. Computers Dictionaries.
`I. Microsoft Press computer dictionary.
`QA76.l5.M538
`1999
`004'.03--dc21
`
`«
`
`.
`
`99-20168
`CIP
`
`E
`‘
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`3456789 MLML 43210
`
`Distributed in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited.
`_
`A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the\B'ritish=Li-brary,
`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. Visit our Web site at mspress.microsoft.c0m.
`
`The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No associa-
`tion with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
`
`Acquisitions Editor: Christey Balm
`Project Editor: Kim Fryer
`
`
`
`
`
`p DVMRP
`
`A dynamic HTML]
`
`DVMRP n. See Distance Vector Multicast Routing
`Protocol.
`
`Dvorak keyboard \d9-vor’ak ke‘bord, do-vor’zhak\
`n. A keyboard layout developed by August Dvorak
`and William L. Dealey in 1936 as an alternative to
`the overwhelmingly popular QWERTY keyboard.
`The Dvorak keyboard was designed to speed typing
`by placing the characters on the keyboard for easiest
`access to the most frequently typed letters. In addi-
`tion, pairs of letters that often occur sequentially
`were separated so that the hands could alternate typ-
`ing them. See the illustration. See also ergonomic
`keyboard, keyboard. Compare QWERTY keyboard.
`
`
`
`Dvorak keyboard.
`
`DVST n. See direct View storage tube.
`
`DXF n. Short for drawing interchange format. A
`computer-aided design file format originally devel-
`oped by Autodesk; for use with the AutoCAD pro-
`gram to facilitate transfer of graphics files between
`different applications.
`dyadic \di-ad’ik‘\ adj. Of, pertaining to, or character-
`istic of a pair—for example, a dyadic processor,
`which contains two processors controlled by the
`same operating system. The term is usually limited to
`describing a system with two microprocessors. Dy-
`adic Boolean operations are those such as AND and
`OR in which the outcome depends _on both values.
`See also Boolean algebra, operand. Compare unaiy.
`
`dye-diffusion printer n. See continuous-tone printer.
`dye-polymer recording n. A recording technology
`used with optical discs in which dye embedded in a
`plastic polymer coating on an optical disc is used to
`create minute bumps on the surface that can be read
`by a laser. Dye-polymer bumps can be flattened and
`re-created, thus making an optical disc rewritable.
`
`dye-sublimation printer n. See continuous-tone
`printer.
`dynalink n. Short for dynamic link. See dynamic-link
`library.
`
`Dynaload drivers 11. Device drivers that are supported
`by Dynaload. Dynaload is a command that can be
`run from a DOS prompt under IBM’s PC DOS 7 and
`will load compliant device drivers without modifica-
`tion of the CONFIG.SYS file. See also CONFIG.SYS.
`dynamic adj. Occurring immediately and concurrently.
`The term is used in describing both hardware and soft-
`ware; in both cases it describes some action or event
`that occurs when and as needed. In dynamic memory
`management, a program is able to negotiate with the
`operating system when it needs more memory.
`dynamic address translation n. On-the-fly conver-
`sion of memory-location references from relative
`addresses (such as “three units from the beginning of
`X”) to absolute addresses (such as “location number
`123”) when a program is run. Acronym: DAT.
`dynamic allocation n. The allocation of memory dur-
`ing program execution according to current needs.
`Dynamic allocation almost always implies that dy-
`namic deallocation is possible too, so data structures
`can be created and destroyed as required. See also
`allocate, deallocate. Compare static allocation.
`dynamic binding n. Binding (converting symbolic
`addresses in the program to storage-related ad-
`dresses) that occurs during program execution. The
`term often refers to object-oriented applications that
`determine, during run time, which software routines
`to call for particular data objects. Also called late
`binding. Compare static binding.
`' dynamic caching n. A technique for storing recently
`used data in memory where cache size is based on
`how much memory is available rather than how much
`memory is assigned to the application currently running.
`
`Dynamic Data Exchange n. See DDE.
`dynamic dump n. A listing, either stored on disk or
`sent to a printer, of memory contents generated at the
`time of a break in the execution of a program~—a use-
`ful tool for programmers interested in knowing what
`is happening at a certain point in the execution of a
`program.
`
`Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol n. See DHCP.
`dynamic HTML n. A technology designed to add
`richness, interactivity, and graphical interest to Web
`pages by providing those pages with the ability to
`change and update themselves dynamically, that is, in
`response to user actions, without the need for repeated
`
`158
`
`
`
`
`
`dynamic RAM \di-nam’ik ram\ n. A form of semi-
`conductor random access memory (RAM). Dynamic
`RAMs store information in integrated circuits con-
`taining capacitors. Because capacitors lose their
`charge over time, dynamic RAM boards must include
`logic to refresh (recharge) the RAM chips continu-
`ously. While a dynamic RAM is being refreshed, it
`cannot be read by the processor; if the processor
`must read the RAM while it is being refreshed, one
`or more wait states occur. Despite being slower, dy-
`namic RAMs are more commonly used than RAMs
`because their circuitry is simpler and because they
`can hold up to four times as much data. Acronym:
`DRAM. See also RAM. Compare static RAM.
`
`dynamic random access memory n. See dynamic
`RAM.
`
`dynamic relocation n. The relocation in memory of
`data or of the code of a currently running program by
`an internal system routine. Dynamic relocation helps
`a computer use memory efficiently.
`
`dynamic scheduling n. The management of concur-
`rently running processes (programs), usually by the
`operating system.
`
`dynamic SLIP \di-nam’ik s1ip\ n. Short for dynamic
`Serial Line Internet Protocol. Internet access under
`
`SL113 in which the user’s IP address is not permanent
`but is reassigned from a pool each time the user con-
`nects. The number of IP addresses an Internet service
`
`provider needs to offer is reduced to the number of con-
`nections that can be in use at once, rather than the total
`number of subscribers. See also IP address, ISP, SLIP.
`
`dynamic storage 11. 1. Information storage systems
`whose contents will be lost if power is removed from
`the system. RAM (random access memory) systems
`are the most common form of dynamic storage, and
`both dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM
`(SRAM) are considered forms of dynamic storage.
`See also dynamic RAM, static RAM. Compare per-
`manent storage. 2. In programming, blocks of
`memory that can be allocated, deallocated, or freely
`changed in size.
`
`dynamic Web page n. A Web page that has fixed
`form but variable content, allowing it to be tailored
`to a customer’s search criteria.
`
`159
`
`dynarnic-link library n. A feature of the Microsoft
`Windows family of operating systems and OS/2 that
`allows executable routines to be stored separately as
`files with DLL extensions and to be loaded only
`when needed by a program. A dynarnic-link library
`has several advantages. First, it does not consume
`any memory until it is used. Second, because a dy-
`namic-link library is a separate file, a programmer
`can make corrections or improvements to only that
`module without affecting the operation of the calling
`program or any other dynamic-link library. Finally, a
`programmer can use the same dynamic-link library
`with other programs. Acronym: DLL.
`
`dynamic memory allocation :1. The allocation of
`memory to a process or program at run time. Dy-
`namic memory is allocated from the system heap by
`the operating system upon request from the program.
`
`dynamic page n. An HTML document that contains
`animated G11-ls, Java applets, or ActiveX controls.
`See also ActiveX control, GIF, HTML, Java applet.
`
`
`
`A
`
`.
`
`a dynamic Web page‘:
`
`downloads from a server. Dynamic HTML enables
`client-side scripts programs that affect elements on a
`Web page produced with languages such as VBScript
`and Javascript to control and manipulate elements,
`— such as fonts and graphics, by means of HTML tags
`that describe how the page is to appear on the user’s
`screen. From the user’s point of view, dynamic
`HTML produces the type of interactivity and rela-
`V tively rapid download times associated with multime-
`-
`V, dia CD-ROM products. Examples of dynamic HTML
`actions include moving graphics on the page and dis-
`: playing information, such as menus or tables, in re-
`sponse to mouse movements or clicks. A number of
`‘ vendors, including Microsoft and Netscape, have
`developed their own versions of Dynamic HTML and
`have submitted them to the World Wide Web Consor-
`
`tium (W3C) for possible inclusion in the Document
`_ Object Model (DOM) specification being developed
`by W3C. See also Document Object Model.
`
`dynamic keys n. An encryption technique in which
`messages are encrypted differently for each transmis-
`sion based on different keys so that if a key'is cap-
`* tured and decrypted, it would never be useful again.
`See also encryption, key (definition 3).
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`The comprehensive
`
`Standard for Business,
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`School, Library, and Home
`
`MICROSOFT COMPUTER DICTIONARY, Fourth
`
`Edition, remains the authoritative source
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`of definitions for computer terms,
`
`concepts, and acronyms. Written in a
`
`clear, easy—to-understand style, this
`
`Fourth Edition defines over 8,000 terms
`
`and has been fully updated to include
`
`the latest technologies you will
`encounter at home and at work-
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`networks, e—commerce, cyberculture,
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`enterprise computing, component
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`terminology, Microsoft Windows® 2000,
`
`and UNIX. As an added bonus, the
`
`dictionary extensively covers computer
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`industry acronyms, jargon, and slang-
`
`often the most confusing terms in the
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`high—tech world.
`
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`Computers/General Reference
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`ISBN 0-7356-0615-3
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`Here's why the new MIcRosoFr
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`I
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`Semauter Qictionary :53 the
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`ptmzfing’ ward tar pmgzse
`eomputer cuitwe. ”
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`author at iilectrie tangeage and
`Virtue? fieafiisnz
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`“‘;I"’If’re rrstistifzave semester
`resmurree.
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`ll
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