Dictionary of Computing, Fifth Edition

a computer storage address that can only access one location 왘 also called actual address, machine ad-dress absolute addressing dresŋ/ noun the locating of a data word stored in memory

FIFTH EDITION

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FIFTH EDITION

S.M.H Collin

Originally published by Peter Collin Publishing

Fifth edition published 2004 Fourth edition published 2002 Third edition published 1998 Second edition published 1994 First published in Great Britain 1988

be reproduced in any form or by any means without the

permission of the publishers.

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eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0225-1 Text processing and computer typesetting by Bloomsbury

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This dictionary provides the user with a comprehensive range of the vocabularyused in the field of computing It covers all aspects of computing, includinghardware, software, peripherals, networks and programming, as well as manyapplications in which computers are used, such as the Internet or desktoppublishing It also describes the latest developments in networks, the Internet,communications, programming, multimedia, processor design and storagetechnology.

Each headword is explained in clear, straightforward English Examples are given

to show how the words and phrases can be used in context General commentsabout particular items of interest, complex ideas or hardware or softwareapplications are given in separate boxes Quotations from magazines and journalsare given to show how the words are used in real text

The dictionary includes a number of product names and company names Thetrademarked names that are included are those that are judged to be of de factoimportance to users or important in the development of computer technology

The following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of the mainwords in the dictionary.

Stress has been indicated by a main stress mark (
) and a secondary stress mark() Note that these are only guides, as the stress of the word changes according toits position in the sentence

A

A 1 /e/ symbol the hexadecimal equivalent

of the decimal number 10

A

A 2 /e/ abbr ampere

A:

A: used in some operating systems to

de-note the first disk drive on the system

Å

Å abbr angstrom

abandon

abandon /əbndən/ verb to clear a

document, file or work from a computer’s

memory without saving it 쑗 Once you

have abandoned your spreadsheet, you

cannot retrieve it again.

abb add.

abb add. abbr abbreviated addressing

abbreviated address

dres/ noun (in a network) a user name

that has fewer characters than the full

name, making it easier to remember or

type in or faster to decode

abbreviated addressing

dresŋ/ noun the use of

ab-breviated addresses Abbr abb add.

in-out restoring the previous backup settings

of the operating system

abbreviation

abbreviation /ə eʃ(ə)n/ noun a

short form of a word, command or

instruc-tion 쑗 Within the text, the abbreviation

proc is used instead of processor.

ABD

ABD abbr Apple Desktop Bus

abend

abend /bend/ noun an unexpected

stoppage of a program that is being run,

caused by a fault, error or power failure 쑗

An interrupt from a faulty printer caused

an abend Also called abnormal end,

ab-normal termination

abend code

abend code /bend kəυd/ noun a

spe-cial number, generated by the operating

system, that identifies the type of error that

has caused a particular problem

abend recovery program

software that will reload a program or

sys-tem software and restart it at the point at

which an abend occurred

aberration

aberration / reʃ(ə)n/ noun 1

dis-tortion of a light beam or image caused by

defects in the optical system 2 distortion

of a television picture caused by a corruptsignal or incorrect adjustment

ablation

ablation /əbleʃ(ə)n/ noun a method ofwriting data to an optical storage device inwhich a laser burns a hole or pit, represent-ing digital bits of data, into the thin metalsurface of the storage device

COMMENT : A laser burns a hole or pit (which represents digital bits of data) into the thin metal surface of the storage device.

net-abort sequence

abort sequence /ə

noun a unique sequence of bits that cates that the transmission will be termi-nated because of a fault, error or powerfailure

indi-About…

About… /əbaυt/ a menu selection in theSAA CUA front end that tells you who de-veloped the program and gives copyrightinformation

above-the-fold

above-the-fold /ə

jective referring to the part of a webpagethat is seen by all users who call up thepage, because they do not have to scroll

down to read it Compare below-the-fold

ABR

ABR /

by an ATM network that tries to providethe bandwidth requested by a customer,though it cannot guarantee to do so Full

form available bit rate

AB roll 2

AB roll

AB roll /

media application) a sequence of two

vid-eo or music segments that are

synchro-nised so that one fades as the second starts

ABS

ABS /

struction that returns the magnitude of a

number without the number’s sign 쑗 The

command ABS(-13) will return the answer

13 Full form absolute function

absolute address

noun 1 a computer storage address that

directly, without any modification,

access-es a location or device 쑗 Program

execu-tion is slightly faster if you code only with

absolute addresses Compare indexed

address 2. a computer storage address

that can only access one location 왘 also

called actual address, machine

ad-dress

absolute addressing

dresŋ/ noun the locating of a data word

stored in memory by the use of its absolute

address

absolute assembler

semblə/ noun a type of assembly

lan-guage program designed to produce code

that uses only absolute addresses and

val-ues

absolute cell reference

absolute cell reference /

sel ref(ə)rəns/ noun a spreadsheet

refer-ence that always refers to the same cell,

even when copied to another location

absolute code

absolute code /

binary code that directly operates the

cen-tral processing unit, using only absolute

addresses and values Also called actual

code, basic code

absolute coordinates

kəυ

that describe the distance of a point from

the intersection of axes

absolute device

noun an input device such as a tablet or

mouse that returns the coordinates of a

pointer within specified axes

absolute error

absolute error /

the value or magnitude of an error,

ignor-ing its sign

absolute expression

spreʃ(ə)n/ noun (in assembly language)

the value of an expression that is not

af-fected by program relocation

strkʃən/ noun an instruction that

com-pletely describes the operation to be formed, requiring no other data

per-absolute loader

absolute loader /noun a program that loads a section ofcode into main memory

absolute maximum rating

absolute maximum rating

/statement of the maximum values or limits

of a system

absolute positioning

zʃ(ə)nŋ/ noun the position of an object

in relation to a point of origin

absolute value

absolute value /noun the size or value of a number, regard-

less of its sign 쑗 The absolute value of – 62.34 is 62.34.

er loss of a signal when travelling through

a medium, due to its absorptance

abstract data type

abstract data type /store any kind of information

Full form application configuration cess protocol (NOTE: It was originallytermed IMSP (Interactive Mail SupportProtocol).)

ac-ACC

ACC /internal CPU storage register, containing

the data word that is to be processed 쑗

Store the two bytes of data in registers A and B and execute the add instruction –

3 accession number

the answer will be in the ACC Full form

accumulator

accelerated graphics port

accelerated graphics port /ək

form of AGP

acceleration time

acceleration time /ək reʃ(ə)n

tam/ noun 1 the time taken for a disk

drive to spin a disk at the correct speed,

from rest 쑗 Allow for acceleration time in

the access time 2. the total time between

an access instruction’s issue to a peripheral

and the transfer of the data

accelerator board

accelerator board /əkselə

selə

faster or more advanced version of the

same processor that runs your computer

Adding an accelerator board to your

com-puter makes it run faster

accelerator key

accelerator key /əkselə

noun a key that, when pressed together

with another, carries out a function that

would otherwise have to be selected from

a menu using a mouse 쑗 Instead of

select-ing the File menu then the Save option, use

the accelerator keys Alt and S to do the

same thing and save the file.

accept

accept /əksept/ verb to establish a

ses-sion or connection with another

comput-ing device

acceptable use policy

rules that describe what a user can write or

do on the Internet without offending other

users Abbr AUP

acceptance sampling

acceptance sampling /əkseptəns

dom part of a batch to see if the whole

batch is up to standard

acceptance test

acceptance test /əkseptəns test/

noun a test to check that a piece of

equip-ment will perform as required or will reach

access /kses/ noun 1 the fact of

be-ing able to reach or use somethbe-ing 쑗 to

have access to the computer room 2. the

fact of being allowed to use a computer

and read or alter files stored in it This is

usually controlled by a security device

such as a password 왍 to deny access to

refuse access to a circuit or system for

rea-sons of workload or security 쐽 verb to call

up data which is stored in a computer 쑗

She accessed the employee’s file stored on the computer.

access arm

access arm /chanical device in a disk drive used to po-sition the read/write head over the correct

track on a disk 쑗 The access arm moves to the parking region during transport.

access category

access category /noun a category that defines which files ordata a user can access and which he or shecannot

access channel control

trəυl/ noun (in a Ring network) the set of protocols thatmanage the data transfer between a stationand a medium access control

Token-access charge

access charge /cost due when logging onto a system orviewing special pages on a bulletin board

access code

access code /kses kəυd/ noun a ries of characters or symbols that must beentered to identify a user before access to

se-a computer is permitted

access control

access control /kses kən

noun a security device such as a passwordthat only allows selected users to use acomputer system or read files

access control byte

trəυl bat/ noun (in a Token-Ring work) a byte following a start marker in thetoken that indicates if the station can ac-cess the network

net-access controller

access controller /kses kən

vice that transfers image data to the videocontroller

access control list

lst/ noun full form of ACL

access hole

access hole /kses həυl/ noun anopening in both sides of a floppy disk’scasing allowing the read-write head to bepositioned over the disk’s surface

accession number

predefined access category (NOTE: The

lowest access level might allow the user

to only view data, the highest access

lev-el allows a user to do anything.)

access line

access line /kses lan/ noun a

per-manently connected communications line

between a terminal and a computer

access log

access log /kses lɒ/ noun a file on

a website server computer that contains a

record of every visitor to the website,

showing when a person visited and which

pages he or she viewed 쑗 The access log is

invaluable – we produce graphs of the

pages that are most popular using an

ac-cess log analyser program.

access mechanism

that moves an access arm over the surface

of a disk

access method

noun 1 a means used for the internal

transfer of data between memory and

dis-play or peripheral devices Differences in

the methods used are often the cause of

compatibility problems 2 a set of rules

that allows a device to send data onto a

net-work Token passing and CSMA/CD are

two methods commonly used in a local

area network

access method routines

access method routines /kses

routines that move data between main

storage and an output device

access name

access name /kses nem/ noun a

unique name that identifies an object in a

database

access number

noun the telephone number that a

compu-ter dials up in order to be connected to an

Internet service provider or other network

accessory /əksesəri/ noun an extra,

add-on device, e.g a mouse or printer, that

is attached to or used with a computer 쑗

The printer comes with several

accesso-ries including a soundproof hood (NOTE:

The plural is accessories.)

access path

access path /

scription of the location of a stored file

within the directory structure of a disk

access path journalling

access path journalling /

cording changes to an access path in case

access permission /kses pə

cess rights for a particular user

access point

access point /kses pɔnt/ noun atest point on a circuit board or in software,allowing an engineer to check signals ordata

access privilege

access privilege /noun the status granted to a user that al-lows him or her to see, read or alter files

access provider

access provider /kses prə

noun same as ISP

access rights

access rights /kses rats/ pluralnoun the rights of a particular user to ac-cess a particular file or data object

access time

access time /kses tam/ noun 1 the

total time that a storage device takes tween the moment the data is requested

be-and the return of the data 쑗 The access time of this dynamic RAM chip is around 200nS – we have faster versions if your

system clock is running faster 2. the length

of time required to find a file or program,either in main memory or a secondarymemory source

access unit

access unit /Token-Ring network) a wiring concentra-tor

accidental

accidental / dent(ə)l/ adjective

which happens by accident 쑗 Always keep backup copies in case of accidental dam- age to the master file.

accordion fold

accordion fold /ə

cordion fanfold noun method of foldingcontinuous paper, one sheet in one direc-tion, the next sheet in the opposite direc-tion, allowing the paper to be fed into aprinter continuously with no action on the

part of the user Also called fanfold

account

account /əkaυnt/ noun (in a network

or online system) a record of a user’sname, password and rights to access a net-

work or online system 쑗 If you are a new user, you will have to ask the supervisor to create an account for you 쐽 verb to keeptrack of how much time and resourceseach user of a network or online systemuses

5 acoustic delay line

age rather than write it into a ledger Also

called accounts package

account name

account name /əkaυnt nem/ noun

the unique name of a user on a network or

online system 쑗 John Smith’s account

gather several things together over a

peri-od of time 쑗 We have gradually

accumu-lated a large databank of names and

ad-dresses (NOTE: accumulates –

accessed by an instruction held in the ACC

accumulator shift instruction

accumulator shift instruction /ə

command to shift the contents of an ACC

left or right by one bit

accuracy

accuracy /kjυrəsi/ noun 1 the extent

to which something is correct or true 2 the

extent to which a person avoids errors 3.

the total number of bits used to define a

number in a computer (NOTE: The more

bits allocated the greater the accuracy of

the definition.)

accuracy control character

accuracy control character

code that indicates whether data is

accu-rate or whether the data should be

disre-garded by a particular device

ACD

ACD /

phone system that can handle lots of

in-coming calls and direct them to a

particu-lar operator according to programmed

in-structions in a database Full form

automatic call distribution

ACDI

ACDI abbr asynchronous

communica-tions device interface

network that links banks together and

ena-bles them to handle payments made from

one bank to another through electronic

points of sale and withdrawals from

cash-points Full form automated clearing

house

achromatic colour

achromatic colour /

klə/ noun a grey colour within the range

between black and white displayed by a

graphics adapter

ACIA

ACIA /lows a computer to transmit and receiveserial data using asynchronous access Full

form asynchronous communications interface adapter

ACK

ACK /sent from a receiver to indicate that a trans-mitted message has been received and that

it is ready for the next one 쑗 The printer generates an ACK signal when it has re-

ceived data Full form acknowledge

acknowledge /əknɒld'/ noun full

form of ACK 쐽 verb 1 to tell a sender that

a message or letter has been received 2 to

send a signal from a receiver to show that

a transmitted message has been received(NOTE: acknowledges – acknowledging –acknowledged)

acknowledge character

acknowledge character /ək

krktə/ noun a special code sent by a ceiver to indicate to the transmitter that themessage has been correctly received

re-acknowledged mail

mel/ noun a function that signals to thesender when an electronic mail messagehas been read by the recipient

ACL

ACL /that has a list of user names and passwordsthat is checked by the operating system tofind out if a particular user is allowed toaccess or use a resource or feature of the

shared computer or network Full form cess control list

COMMENT : The acoustic coupler also converts back from sound signals to digital signals when receiving messages It is basically the same as a modem but uses a handset on which a loudspeaker is placed to send the sig- nals rather than direct connection to the phone line It is portable and clips over both ends of a normal telephone handset It can be used even in a public phone booth The acoustic coupler has generally been replaced

by a direct cable link from the computer’s dem to the standard telephone socket acoustic delay line

mo-acoustic delay line /ə lelan/ noun an outdated data storage meth-

acoustic feedback 6

od that delays data in the form of sound

pulses as they travel across a medium

soundproof cover put over a line printer to

cut down its noise

noun a soundproof panel placed behind a

device to reduce noise

acoustic store

acoustic store /ə

an outdated form of regenerative memory

that uses an acoustic delay line Also

called acoustic memory

ACPI

ACPI /

tem that allows the operating system to

configure compatible hardware

automati-cally Full form advanced configuration

and power interface

acquisition

acquisition / zʃ(ə)n/ noun the

accepting, capturing or collecting of

to a network that controls several dial-up

modems and allows remote users to

con-nect to the server using a modem link and

gain access to the network Full form

asynchronous communication server

action

action /kʃən/ noun (in a SAA CUA

front end) a user event, e.g pressing a

spe-cial key, that moves the cursor to the action

bar at the top of the screen

action bar

action bar /

of the screen that displays the menu names

action bar pull-down

action bar pull-down /

pυl/ noun (in a SAA CUA front end) a

fea-ture whereby the full menu is displayed

below the menu name when a user moves

the cursor to a particular menu name on

the action bar

action code

action code /kʃən kəυd/ noun (in a

SAA CUA front end) a single letter

associ-ated with a particular menu option to

speed up selection When the letter action

code is pressed, the menu option is

select-ed

action cycle

action cycle /

the series of steps required to carry out a

process or operation on data, e.g reading,

processing, output and storage

action list

action list /kʃən lst/ noun (in a SAA

CUA front end) a list of choices

ActionMedia

name for a digital video system developed

by Intel that uses its i750 video processorchip to allow a computer to record, playback and manipulate digital video

(in a SAA CUA front end) an object towhich a user specifies an action should beapplied

activate

activate /kt

process or to make a device start working

쑗 Pressing CR activates the printer 2 (in

an authoring tool or programming guage) to make a button or menu option orfield on a screen layout available to a user

lan-쑗 If the button or field is not activated, it is normally displayed greyed out and does not respond if a user selects it (NOTE: ac-tivates – activating – activated)

operat-active area

active area /

a spreadsheet program) the area that tains data bounded by the top left hand

con-corner and the bottom right hand cell 2 (in

a graphical window) an area that will start

or select a function if the user moves thepointer into it with a mouse

active cell

active cell /ktv sel/ noun the sheet cell that is currently selected with acursor or pointer

spread-active code page

by the system

active database

active database /noun a database file currently being ac-cessed by a database management pro-gram

active device

electronic component that requires cal power to operate and provides gain or

active file

active file /

is currently being worked on

7 actual data transfer rate

active gateway

active gateway /

noun (in a network) a gateway that

ex-changes routing information

active high

active high /ktv ha/ noun an

elec-tronic signal that is valid when it is high or

logical one or at five volts

active hub

active hub /

that selectively directs packets of data

ac-cording to their address or content

active line

active line /

a communications link or port that is being

used to transfer data or carry control

tronic signal that is valid when it is low or

logical zero or at zero volts

node on a network connected to or

availa-ble to connect to another node

active pixel region

active pixel region /

screen that can display graphic image

in-formation

active printer

active printer /

printer that is currently connected to the

computer’s printer port

active program

active program /

noun (in a multitasking system) a

pro-gram that is currently in control of the

an area on a screen that will start an action

or has been defined as a hotspot

Active Server Page

Active Server Page /

ped'/ noun a webpage that is created

only when accessed by a visitor, allowing

the website to display up-to-date

informa-tion or informainforma-tion from a database 쑗 The

database search results page is

imple-mented as an Active Server Page Abbr

ASP

active star

active star /

work consisting of a central point with

nodes branching out, in which a central

processor controls and routes all messages

lo-active streaming format

active video

active video /

active video signal noun a part of a

vid-eo signal that contains picture information

ActiveVRML

ActiveVRML /noun 쏡 VRML

active window

active window /

1. an area of the display screen where the

operator is currently working 2 (in a GUI

or SAA CUA front end) the window that iscurrently the focus of cursor movementsand screen displays 쒁 window

ActiveX

ActiveX /programming language and program defi-nition used to create small applications de-signed to enhance the functionality of awebpage 쒁 Java, VBScript

COMMENT : ActiveX applications, called plets, are often used to add database or mul- timedia effects to a website that cannot be supported with basic HTML commands When a user visits the web page that uses the ActiveX applet, the program is automatically downloaded by the user’s browser and run on the user’s computer.

ap-activities

activities /ktvtiz/ plural noun jobs

or tasks which are being performed on acomputer

activity loading

activity loading /k

noun a method of organising disk contents

so that the most often accessed files or grams can be loaded quickly

noun same as absolute address

actual code

actual code /ktʃuəl kəυd/ noun

same as absolute code

actual data transfer rate

actual data transfer rate /number of data bits transferred in a period

of time

actual instruction 8

actual instruction

strkʃən/ noun the resulting instruction

executed after the modification of an

orig-inal instruction

actuator

actuator /ktʃυetə/ noun a

mechani-cal device that can be controlled by an

ex-ternal signal, e.g the read/write head in a

disk drive

ACU

ACU /

lows a computer to call stations or dial

tel-ephone numbers automatically Full form

automatic calling unit

ad

ad abbr Andorra (NOTE: used in email

and website addresses)

A/D

A/D abbr analog to digital

ADA

ADA /

gramming language that is used mainly in

military, industrial and scientific fields of

computing

adapt

adapt /ədpt/ verb to change, adjust or

modify something so that it fits 쑗 Can this

computer be adapted to take 5.25 inch

disks?

adaptation

adaptation / teʃ(ə)n/ noun the

ability of a device to adjust its sensitivity

range according to various situations

adapter

adapter /ədptə/, adaptornoun a

de-vice that allows two or more incompatible

devices to be connected together

adapter card

adapter card /ə

card that plugs into an expansion bus in a

PC and adds a new function to the

compu-ter or allows it to communicate with

anoth-er device (NOTE: A sound card is a type of

adapter card that plugs into an

expan-sion connector and allows sound to be

played back or recorded.)

adapter plug

adapter plug /ədptə pl/ noun a

plug that allows plugs with different

num-bers or shapes of pins to be fitted into the

same socket

adaptive channel allocation

adaptive channel allocation /ə

provision of communications channels

ac-cording to demand rather than a fixed

allo-cation

adaptive compression

adaptive compression /ə

kəmpreʃ(ə)n/ noun a data compression

system that continuously monitors the data

it is compressing and adjusts its own

algo-rithm to provide the most efficient

com-pression

adaptive differential pulse code modulation

adaptive differential pulse code

pls kəυd mɒdju

form of ADPCM

adaptive packet assembly

used by the MNP error correcting protocol

to adjust the size of data packets according

to the quality of the telephone line Thebetter the line, the bigger the packet size

adaptive routing

adaptive routing /ə

noun the ability of a system to change itscommunications routes in response to var-ious events or situations such as line fail-ure (NOTE: The messages are normallysent along the most cost-effective pathunless there is a problem with that route,

in which case they are automatically routed.)

a digital form, which can be processed by

a computer Full form analog to digital converter

addend

addend /dend/ noun the number

add-ed to the augend in an addition

adder

adder /də/ noun a device or routinethat provides the sum of two or more in-puts, either digital or analog

COMMENT : A parallel adder takes one clock cle to add two words, a serial adder takes a time equal to the number of bits in a word to add.

add-in

add-in /d n/ noun, adjective thing that is added to something else 쐽 ad-jective that is added to something else

some-addition

addition /ədʃ(ə)n/ noun an arithmeticoperation that produces the sum of an ad-dend and augend

additional

additional /ədʃ(ə)nəl/ adjective which

is added or extra 쑗 Can we link three tional workstations to the network?

addi-9 addressing method

addition record

addition record /ə

noun a record with changes used to update

a master record or file

addition time

addition time /ədʃ(ə)n tam/ noun

the time an adder takes to carry out an

ad-dition operation

addition without carry

addition without carry /ə

wð

tion without any carry bits or words

additive colour

additive colour /

colour produced by mixing two or three

colours from red, green and blue

add-on

add-on /d ɒn/ adjective added to a

computer system to improve its

perform-ance 쑗 The add-on hard disk will boost the

computer’s storage capabilities Opposite

built-in 쐽 noun a piece of software or

hardware that is added to a computer

sys-tem to improve its performance

add on board

add on board /

as expansion board

add register

add register /d red'stə/ noun a

reg-ister that is an adder

address

address /ədres/ noun 1 a number

al-lowing a central processing unit to

refer-ence a physical location in a storage

medi-um in a computer system 쑗 Each separate

memory word has its own unique address.

2. a unique number that identifies a device

on a network 쑗 This is the address at

which the data starts 쐽 verb to put the

lo-cation data onto an address bus to identify

which word in memory or storage device

is to be accessed 쑗 A larger address word

increases the amount of memory a

compu-ter can address.

addressability

addressability /ə blti/ noun

the control available over pixels on screen

addressable

addressable /ədresəb(ə)l/ adjective

which can be addressed 쑗 With the new

operating system, all of the 5MB of

in-stalled RAM is addressable.

pɔnt/ noun a point or pixel in a graphics

system that can be directly addressed

addressable terminal

addressable terminal /ə

accept data if it has the correct address and

identification number in the message

header

address access time

address access time /ə

tam/ noun the total time which a storage

device takes between the moment the data

is requested and the return of the data

address base

address base /ədres bes/ noun thepart of an address that defines the origin towhich the logical address is added

address book

address book /ədres bυk/ noun 1 (in

a network) a list of node addresses 2 (inelectronic mail) a list of the network ad-dresses of other users to which electronicmail can be sent

address bus

address bus /ədres bs/ noun a ical connection that carries the addressdata in parallel form from the centralprocessing unit to external devices

phys-address code

address code /ədres kəυd/ noun aspecial code that identifies the part of adocument that is an address

address field

address field /ə

a network) the part of a packet that

con-tains the address of the destination node 2.

(in programming) the part of a computerinstruction that contains the location of theoperand

address format

address format /ə

the set of rules defining the way the ands, data and addresses are arranged in aninstruction

addressing

addressing /ədresŋ/ noun the process

of accessing a location in memory

addressing capacity

addressing capacity /ədresŋ kə

certain program or CPU can directly dress, without special features, e.g virtualmemory or memory banks

ad-addressing level

addressing level /ə

noun zero-level: operand is the addresspart of the instruction; first-level: operandstored at the address of the instruction;second-level: operand stored at the addressgiven in the instruction

addressing method

tion of memory is located

addressing mode 10

addressing mode

addressing mode /ədresŋ məυd/

noun a way in which a location is

ad-dressed, e.g sequential, indexed or direct

address mapping

address mapping /ə

noun the translation of a virtual address to

an absolute real address

address mark

address mark /ə

special code on a disk that indicates the

start of sector location data

address mask

address mask /ə

pattern of binary data bits that is used to

block out parts of an address data word It

is normally used to separate the network

and subnet parts of an address within a

long Internet or IP address 쑗 The address

mask ‘111000’ will block off the last three

bits of any address data.

address modification

keʃ(ə)n/ noun the changing of

the address field, so that it can refer to a

different location

address register

address register /ə

noun register in a computer that is able to

store all the bits that make up an address

,which can then be processed as a single

unit

address resolution

Internet address into the correct physical

network address that corresponds to the

distant computer or resource

address resolution protocol

address resolution protocol /ə

full form of ARP

address space

address space /ədres spes/ noun the

total number of possible locations that can

be directly addressed by the program or

CPU

address strobe

address strobe /ədres strəυb/ noun a

signal in the form of a pulse that indicates

that a valid address is on the address bus

address track

address track /ədres trk/ noun

track on a magnetic disk containing the

ad-dresses of files or other data stored on

computer word that contains the address

data In a small micro it is usually made up

of two data words

add time

add time /d tam/ noun a period of

time taken either by a CPU or adder to

per-form one addition operation

adjacent domains

menz/ plural noun two domains linked

by two adjacent nodes

adjacent nodes

adjacent nodes /əd'es(ə)nt nəυdz/plural noun two nodes connected by a paththat does not connect any other node

adjunct register

adjunct register /noun a 32-bit register in which the top 16bits are used for control information andonly the bottom 16 bits are available foruse by a program

adjustment

adjustment /əd'stmənt/ noun themaking of a slight change made to some-thing so that it works better, or a change

made 쑗 The brightness needs adjustment.

AdLib

AdLib /dlb/ noun a type of sound cardfor a PC with basic sound playback andMIDI functions

Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems /ə

software company that developed productsincluding Acrobat, ATM, and PostScript

Adobe Type Manager

Adobe Type Manager /ə

mnd'ə/ a trade name for a standard fordescribing scalable fonts, used with AppleSystem 7 and Microsoft Windows to pro-vide fonts that can be scaled to almost anypoint size, and printed on almost any print-

er Abbr ATM

adaptive differential pulse code ulation

mod-ADSL

ADSL /transmission standard that uses the samecopper telephone wires as a normal tele-

11 aggregate bandwidth

phone service, but is much faster than a

standard modem or a digital system such

as ISDN Full form Asymmetric Digital

Subscriber Line (NOTE: As well as the

speed, ADSL provides a user with an

‘al-ways on’ connection to the Internet –

there is no need to dial an access

number and no delay Typically,

compa-nies provide ADSL for a fixed monthly

rental; data is usually transferred from

the Internet to the user’s computer at

2Mbps but transferred from the user’s

computer to the Internet at a slower rate

Advanced Micro Devices

AMD

advanced peer-to-peer networking

advanced peer-to-peer

network-ing /əd

noun full form of APPN

advanced power management

advanced power management /əd

form of APM

advanced program to program communications

advanced program to program

keʃ(ə)nz/ noun full form of APPC

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

Advanced Research Projects

Agency Network /əd

full form of ARPANET

advanced run-length limited

advanced run-length limited /əd

od of storing data onto a hard disk that is

faster and more efficient than RLL Abbr

ARLL

advanced technology attachment

advanced technology attachment

noun full form of ATA

advanced technology attachment packet interface

advanced technology attachment

noun a type of standard interface that is

used for CD-ROMs Abbr ATAPI Also

called ATA packet interface

Advanced Television Systems Committee

Advanced Television Systems

advanced wave modulation

advanced wave modulation /əd

three-dimen-AFAIK

AFAIK abbr as far as I know (NOTE: used

in emails and text messages)

affiliate marketing

affiliate marketing /əfliətuses a central website to advertise and sellproducts and services from other sites

computers Full form Appletalk Filing Protocol

AGC

AGC /cuit that adjusts the level of an incomingsignal so that it is suitable for the next part

of the circuit Full form automatic gain control

agent

agent /ed'ənt/ noun 1 a program or

piece of software that runs on a tion in a network and sends performanceand statistical information about the work-station to a central network management

worksta-console 2 a series of commands or actions

that are carried out automatically on a ticular file or data

fŋkʃən/ noun a mathematical database

function performed on a selected field in

every record in a selected database

aggregate line speed

aggregate line speed /

data can be transmitted through a

particu-lar channel

aggregate operator

ɒpəretə/ noun a command in a database

management program that starts an

aggre-gate function

AGP

AGP /

between a graphics controller and main

memory that allows data to be transferred

very quickly without using the main

proc-essor Full form accelerated graphics

port (NOTE: It is used with the Intel

Pen-tium II processor to provide very

high-speed three-dimensional graphics and

video processing This port does not

re-place a PCI bus but works with it.)

AI

AI /

ment of computer programs that attempt to

imitate human intelligence and

decision-making functions, providing basic

reason-ing and other human characteristics Full

form artificial intelligence 쒁 IKBS

aiming symbol

aiming symbol /

aiming field noun a symbol displayed on

screen which defines the area in which a

light-pen can be detected

airbrush

airbrush /eə

software) a painting tool that creates a

dif-fuse pattern of dots, like an mechanical

airbrush 쑗 We used the airbrush to create

the cloud effects in this image.

air gap

air gap /eə p/ noun a narrow gap

be-tween a recording or playback head and

the magnetic medium

AIX

AIX /

of UNIX produced by IBM to run on its

range of PCs, minicomputers and

main-frames Full form advanced interactive

executive

A law

A law /

digital audio data so that an 8-bit data

word can contain a 13-bit audio sample

alert

alert /ə

sent from software to warn a person or

ap-plication that an error or problem has

oc-curred

alert box

alert box /ə

panel displayed on screen to warn a user

about something 쑗 The alert box warned

me that I was about to delete all my files.

alert condition

alert condition /ə dʃ(ə)n/noun a status of a particular object or de-vice that triggers an alarm

algebra

algebra /ld'brə/ noun the use of ters in certain mathematical operations torepresent unknown numbers or a range ofpossible numbers

pro-applications Full form algorithmic guage

lan-algorithm

algorithm /lərð(ə)m/ noun a set ofrules used to define or perform a specifictask or to solve a specific problem

‘…image processing algorithms are step by step cedures for performing image processing opera-

pro-tions’ [Byte]

‘…the steps are: acquiring a digitized image, oping an algorithm to process it, processing the im- age, modifying the algorithm until you are satisfied

devel-with the result’ [Byte]

algorithmic

algorithmic / rðmk/ adjectiveexpressed using algorithms

sys-aliasing

aliasing /eliəsŋ/ noun jagged edgesthat appear along diagonal or curved linesdisplayed on a computer screen caused bythe size of each pixel

alias name

alias name /eliəs nem/ noun anothername that is used on a network instead ofthe user name

for-derstood 쑗 When you have an alien disk select the multi-disk option to allow you to turn the disk drive into an alien disk read- er.

alien disk reader

alien disk reader /noun an add-on device that allows a com-puter to access data on disks from othercomputers or systems

align

align /əlan/ verb 1 to make sure that

the characters to be printed are spaced andlevelled correctly, either vertically or hori-

13 alphanumeric operand zontally 2 to arrange numbers into a col-

umn with all figured lines up against the

right hand side (right-aligned) or the

left-hand side (left-aligned) 3 to ensure that a

read/write head is correctly positioned

over the recording medium

aligner

aligner /əlanə/ noun a device used to

make sure that the paper is straight in a

printer

aligning edge

aligning edge /əlanŋ ed'/ noun an

edge of an optical character recognition

system used to position a document

alignment

alignment /əlanmənt/ noun the

cor-rect spacing and levelling of printed

char-acters 왍 in alignment correctly aligned

alignment pin

alignment pin /əlanmənt pn/ noun a

peg that fits in a hole to ensure that two

de-vices are correctly aligned

allocate

allocate /lə

riod of time or a piece of work in various

ways and share it out between users 쑗 The

operating system allocated most of main

memory to the spreadsheet program.

(NOTE: allocates – allocating – allocated)

allocation

allocation / keʃ(ə)n/ noun the

di-viding of something such as memory, disk

space, printer use, operating system time,

or a program or device in various ways

allocation routine

the memory resources of a system between

the software and peripherals that use it

allocation unit

allocation unit / 

noun a sector or set of sectors on a hard

disk that is used to store a file or part of a

file

all points addressable mode

all points addressable mode /

graphics mode in which each pixel can be

individually addressed and its colour and

attributes defined Also called APA mode

alpha

alpha /lfə/ noun 1 same as alpha test

쑗 The new software is still in an alpha

product stage 2 an item of data that

de-fines the properties of a pixel or part of an

image

ALPHA

ALPHA /lfə/ noun a 64-bit RISC

proc-essor chip developed by Digital

Equip-ment Corporation

alpha beta technique

alpha beta technique /

tek

used in artificial intelligence for solving

game and strategy problems

alphabetic character set

alphabetic character set

/

characters, both capitals and small letters,

that make up the alphabet

alphabetic string

alphabetic string /noun a string that only contains alphabeticcharacters

informa-alpha blending

alpha blending /control over the transparency of a graphi-cal object, normally used to display com-plex graphical objects such as glass andwater

alpha channel

alpha channel /(in 32-bit graphics systems) the top eightbits that define the properties of a pixel(NOTE: The lower 24 bits define the pixel’scolour.)

alphageometric

adjective referring to a set of codes that struct a teletext terminal to display variousgraphics patterns or characters

adjec-alphanumeric

ad-jective using the letters of the alphabet, theArabic numerals and punctuation marks(NOTE: The US term is alphameric.)

Also called alphanumerics

alphanumeric data

alphanumeric data /

detə/ noun data that represents the ters of the alphabet and the Arabic numer-als

let-alphanumeric display

alphanumeric display

device able to show characters as well asnumbers

alphanumeric operand

alphanumeric operand

/

alphanumerics 14

and which can contain alphanumeric

char-acters, e.g a string

strŋ/ noun a series of alphanumeric

characters that are manipulated and treated

tvəti/ noun a problem

experienced by certain MOS memory

de-vices exposed to alpha radiation, causing

loss of stored charge and so of data

alphaphotographic

rfk/ adjective which represents

pic-tures using predefined graphics characters,

for teletext services

alphasort

into alphabetical order

alpha test

alpha test /lfə test/ noun the first

working attempt of a computer product

Also called alpha 쒁 beta test

alt

alt /

Internet that contains discussions about

al-ternative subjects 쒁 newsgroup (NOTE:

These are not official newsgroups and

are not supported or monitored by any

company, and any user can write just

about anything that he or she wants to

say Some online service providers do

not allow their subscribers to view all of

the alt newsgroups because they may

contain offensive and pornographic

ma-terial.)

alternate

alternate /

from one state to another and back, over

and over again (NOTE: alternates –

alter-nating – alternated)

alternate character set

alternate character set / 

cial characters that can be accessed from a

keyboard 쑗 We can print Greek characters

by selecting the alternate character set.

noun an application for multi-user use, in

which two operators can access and share

a single file at the same time

alternate route

alternate route / 

backup path in a communications system,

used in case of a fault or breakdown

alternating current

alternating current 1 /

krənt/ noun an electrical current whosevalue varies with time in a regular sinusoi-dal way, changing direction of flow each

half cycle Abbr AC

COMMENT : The mains electricity supply uses alternating current to minimise transmission power loss, with a frequency of 50 Hz in the

UK, 60 Hz in the USA.

out-Alt key

Alt key /PC’s keyboard used to activate special

functions in an application 쑗 Press Alt and

P at the same time to print your document.

COMMENT : The Alt key has become the ard method of activating a menu bar in any software running on a PC For example, Alt-F normally displays the File menu of a program, Alt-X normally exits the program.

stand-ALU

ALU /CPU that performs all arithmetic and logi-

cal functions Full form arithmetic logic unit Also called arithmetic unit 쒁 CPU

always on

always on /ring to a feature of high-speed broadbandcommunications devices such as cablemodems and ADSL that link your compu-ter to the Internet whereby your computerappears to be permanently connected tothe net and you do not need to dial up aspecial number

ambient

ambient /mbiənt/ adjective referring

to normal background conditions

ambient noise

ambient noise /normal background noise that is present allthe time, usually given a reference pres-sure level of 0.00002 pascal in SI units

15 analog recording

ambiguous

ambiguous /mbjuəs/ adjective

which has two or more possible meanings

ambiguous filename

ambiguous filename /m

falnem/ noun a filename which is not

unique to a single file, making it difficult

to locate the file

AMD

AMD a company that develops and

pro-duces processor components including a

range of processors that are compatible

with Intel processors and are used in many

PCs Full form Advanced Micro

American National Standards Institute

American National Standards

In-stitute /ə

ANSI

American Standard Code for Information Interchange

American Standard Code for

In-formation Interchange /ə

ntətʃend'/ noun full form of ASCII

America Online

America Online /ə

company that is the largest Internet service

provider in the world Abbr AOL

amount

amount /əmaυnt/ verb 왍 to amount to

to make a total of 쑗 The total keyboarded

characters amount to ten million.

amp

amp /mp/ noun same as ampere

(NOTE: used with figures: a 13-amp fuse)

ampere

ampere /mpeə/ noun the base SI unit

of electrical current, defined as the current

flowing through an impedance of one ohm

which has a voltage of one volt across it

Abbr A

amplification

noun the output-to-input signal strength

ratio 쑗 Increase the amplification of the

signal power or amplitude 쑗 The received

signal needs to be amplified before it can

be processed (NOTE: amplifies –

ing data by varying the size of a carrier

sig-nal of fixed frequency according to the

digital

analog channel

analog channel /noun a communications line that carriesanalog signals such as speech

analog display

noun a display or monitor that can display

an infinite range of colours or shades ofgrey, unlike a digital display that can onlydisplay a finite range of colours VGAmonitors are a form of analog display

analog gate

analog gate /nəlɒ et/ noun a

log-ic gate whose output is proportional to aninput signal

analog input card

analog input card /quired for amplifying and converting ana-log input signals to a digital form

analog line

analog line /communications line that carries analogsignals, e.g a telephone line

analog loopback

analog loopback /noun a test mode on a modem used to testthe serial port of the local computer or ter-minal 왍 analog loopback with selftest a

test mode on a modem used to test the rial port of the modem

se-analog monitor

analog monitor /noun a display screen that uses a continu-ously variable input signal to control thecolours display so that it can display a nearinfinite range of colours

analog output card

required to convert digital output datafrom a computer to an analog form

analog recording

noun the storing of signals in their naturalform without conversion to digital form

analog representation 16

analog representation

teʃ(ə)n/ noun a value or

varia-ble in analog form

dd't(ə)l/ adjective referring to

chang-ing a signal from an analog form to a

dig-itally coded form Abbr A/D, A to D

analog to digital converter

analog to digital converter

full form of ADC

analog transmission

trnzmʃ(ə)n/ noun data transmission in

which the data is sent as a series of

chang-es in a continuously varying signal

analyser

analyser /nəlazə/ noun a piece of

electronic test equipment that displays

var-ious features of a signal (NOTE: The US

spelling is analyzer.)

analyst

analyst /nəlst/ noun a person who

carries out an analysis of a problem

analytical engine

end'n/ noun a mechanical calculating

machine developed by Charles Babbage in

1833 that is generally considered the first

general-purpose digital computer

anamorphic

referring to an image that has unequal

ver-tical and horizontal scaling, making it

ap-pear squashed or taller than the original

ancestral file

ancestral file /n

system of backing up files based on a son

to father to grandfather file, where the son

is the current working file

anchor cell

anchor cell /ŋkə sel/ noun a cell in a

spreadsheet program that defines the start

of a range of cells

ancillary equipment

kwpmənt/ noun equipment which is

used to make a task easier but which is not

absolutely necessary

AND

AND /nd/ noun an operator, often used

in searches, that matches text that contains

both search words Compare OR (NOTE:

For example, searching for ‘cat AND dog’

finds all entries that contain both the

words ‘cat’ and ‘dog’)

logical function whose output is true if

both its inputs are true Also called

coin-cidence function

COMMENT : If both inputs are 1, results of the

AND will be 1 If one of the input digits is 0,

cir-AND operation

AND operation /noun the processing of two or more inputsignals, outputting their AND function

anechoic chamber

tʃembə/ noun a perfectly quiet room inwhich sound or radio waves do not reflectoff the walls

angle

angle /ŋəl/ noun a measure of thechange in direction, usually as the distanceturned from a reference line

angled line

angled line /with three or more points, e.g a zig-zag

the caller Full form automatic number identification

animated GIF

ef/ noun a simple animation effect

creat-ed by saving several small graphic imageswithin one file so that they can be repeat-edly displayed in sequence giving an im-pression of animation It is often used tocreate animated buttons or other effects on

a webpage 쒁 transparent GIF

animation

animation / meʃ(ə)n/ noun thecreation of the illusion of movement bydisplaying a series of slightly different im-ages on screen very rapidly to give the ef-fect of smooth movement Also called

computer animation

animation software

animation software / meʃ(ə)n

to draw several separate frames, eachslightly different, and then display themone after another in rapid succession togive the impression of movement Eachframe is called a cel and the objects thatmove are normally called actors

animatronics

animatronics / trɒnks/ noun

a technology that uses computers and aform of radio control to make puppets orother models appear to move in a lifelikeway, e.g in films

annotation

annotation / teʃ(ə)n/ noun acomment or note in a program which ex-plains how the program is to be used

annotation symbol

17 anti-tinkle suppression

ing flowcharts, to allow comments to be

added

announce

announce /ənaυns/ verb to publicise a

new or updated website by registering the

domain name with the main search

en-gines; (NOTE: announces – announcing –

announced)

COMMENT : Each search engine allows a

per-son to add a new website and enter a

descrip-tion and category Because there are now

several hundred search engines, special

soft-ware utilities are available to automatically

register the website with each engine.

annunciator

annunciator /ənnsietə/ noun a

sig-nal which can be heard or seen in order to

attract attention

anode

anode /nəυd/ noun a positive

electri-cal terminal of a device

anonymiser

anonymiser /ənɒnmazə/,

ano-nymizer noun a website that allows a

per-son to browse the World Wide Web

with-out leaving any traces of his or her identity

anonymous FTP

anonymous FTP /ə

the Internet that allows a user to connect to

a remote computer using the FTP protocol

and log in as a guest to download publicly

accessible files 쒁 FTP (NOTE: If you are

using the FTP protocol to connect to a

re-mote computer and you are asked for a

login name and password, you can

nor-mally gain access to the remote

compu-ter’s public areas by entering

‘anony-mous’ as the login user name and your

full email address as the password.)

ANSI

ANSI /nsi/ a US organisation which

specifies computer and software

stand-ards, including those of high-level

pro-gramming languages (US) Full form

American National Standards Institute

small resident software program in a PC

that interprets ANSI screen control codes

and controls the screen appropriately

ANSI escape sequence

ANSI screen control characters that

con-trols the colours and attributes of text on

screen (NOTE: The sequence must begin

with the ASCII character Esc (ASCII 27)

and the character [ (ASCII 91).)

ANSI keyboard

ANSI keyboard /

a standard for a keyboard that provides

ei-ther uppercase or upper and lowercase

characters on a typewriter-style keyboard

ANSI screen control

ANSI screen control /kən

developed by ANSI that control how ours and simple graphics are displayed on

answer back

answer back /nal sent by a receiving computer to identi-

state of a modem that is waiting to receive

a telephone call and establish a connection

answer modem

noun the state of a modem that emits ananswertone before establishing a connec-tion with an originate modem

answer/originate

answer/originate , answer/originate device noun a communications device,e.g a modem, that can receive or send data

answer time

answer time /time taken for a receiving device to re-spond to a signal

anti-aliasing

anti-aliasing /method of reducing the effects of jaggededges in graphics by using shades of grey

to blend in along edges Also called jagging 2. a method of adding sound sig-nals between the sound samples to create asmoother sound

de-anticoincidence circuit

function noun a logical function whoseoutput is true if either of two inputs is true,and false if both inputs are the same

anti-static mat

anti-static mat /noun a special rubberised mat which dissi-pates static electricity charge through anelectrical earth connection (NOTE: An op-erator touches the mat before handlingsensitive electronic components thatcould be damaged by static electricity.)

anti-tinkle suppression

tŋk(ə)l sə

anti-virus program 18

prevents other telephones on a line ringing

when a modem dials out

anti-virus program

anti-virus program /

looks for virus software on a computer and

destroys it before it can damage data or

munication in which a single computer

user sends data across a network to the

nearest of a group of receivers

er software that provides the basic

func-tions required to operate a web server on a

computer

aperture

aperture /pətʃə/ noun an opening in a

device that allows a certain amount of light

or a signal to pass through it

aperture mask

aperture mask /

a mask used in colour monitors to keep the

red, green and blue beams separate

API

API /

program functions and commands that

al-low any programmer to interface a

pro-gram with another application 쑗 If I follow

the published API for this system, my

pro-gram will work properly Full form

appli-cation programming interface

APL

APL /

gramming language used in scientific and

mathematical work Full form A

pro-gramming language

APM

APM /

that allows an operating system such as

older Windows to control the power

man-agement features of a computer Full form

advanced power management 쒁 ACPI

(NOTE: This standard has been replaced

by the ACPI standard in Windows 98 and

Windows NT 5.0.)

APPC

APPC /

tocols developed by IBM that allows

peer-to-peer communication between

worksta-tions connected to an SNA network Full

form advanced program to program

communication Also called LU 6.2

pro-tocols

append

append /əpend/ verb 1 to add data to

an existing file or record 쑗 If you enter the

DOS command COPY A+B, the file B will

be appended to the end of file A 2 to add

a file or data to the end of an existing file

Apple Computer Corporation

Apple Computer Corporation

company, formed in 1975, that has oped a range of personal computers in-cluding the Apple II, Apple Lisa and, morerecently, the Apple Mac

devel-‘Apple Computer has fleshed out details of a tion path to the PowerPC RISC architecture for its 7 million Apple Macintosh users Developments in the pipeline include PowerPC versions of the AppleTalk

migra-Remote Access networking protocol.’ [Computing]

Apple Desktop Bus

bus built into Apple Macs that allows speed devices, e.g the keyboard andmouse, to communicate with the proces-

low-sor Abbr ADB

Apple file exchange

gram that runs on an Apple Mac allowing

it to read disks from a PC

Apple filing protocol

Apple filing protocol /storing files on a network server so thatthey can be accessed from an Apple Mac

Apple Mac

Apple Mac /p(ə)l mk/ , Apple intosh computer a trade name for any of

Mac-a rMac-ange of personMac-al computers developed

by Apple Computer Corporation that has agraphical user interface and uses the

68000 family of processors

AppleScript

AppleScript /p(ə)lskrpt/ a tradename for a script language built into theoperation system of an Apple Mac that al-lows a user to automate simple tasks

Appleshare

Appleshare /p(ə)lʃeə/ a trade namefor software that allows Apple Macs toshare files and printers using a file server

Apple System

trade name for a version of the operatingsystem for the Apple Mac that introducesmultitasking, virtual memory and peer-to-peer file sharing

applet

applet /plət/ noun 1 a small utility

within Microsoft Windows, originally any

of the icons in the Control Panel window,but now any piece of software that is used

to configure the computer 쑗 There are plets to help format your disk and config-

ap-ure your keyboard 2. a small applications

on the Internet designed to enhance the

19 applications programmer

functionality of a webpage 쒁 ActiveX,

Java, VBScript (NOTE: For example, if

you want to add multimedia effects to

your webpage, you cannot carry out

these functions with standard HTML

commands, but you could write a small

ActiveX program, called an applet, that is

automatically downloaded by the user’s

browser and run on the user’s computer.)

AppleTalk

AppleTalk /

for a communications protocol developed

by the Apple Computer Corporation that

carries data over network hardware

be-tween two or more Apple Macs and

pe-ripherals (NOTE: AppleTalk is similar to

the seven-layer OSI protocol model It

can link up to 32 devices, uses a

CS-MA/CA design and transmits data at 230

Kbps.)

AppleTalk Filing Protocol

AppleTalk Filing Protocol /

appliance computer

system that can be bought in a shop, taken

home and used immediately for a

particu-lar purpose 쒁 turnkey system

application

application / keʃ(ə)n/ noun a

task which a computer performs or a

prob-lem which a computer solves

application configuration access protocol

application configuration access

ACAP

application developer

application developer

pro-grammer who designs the look of an

appli-cation and defines its functions

application file

application file / keʃ(ə)n fal/

noun a binary file stored on disk that

con-tains the machine code instructions of a

program

application form

application form /pl

noun a form to be filled in when applying

for something 쑗 to fill in an application

form for an account on the system

application generator

special software that allows a programmer

to define the main functions and look of an

application The generator then

automati-cally creates the instructions to carry out

the defined application

application icon

symbol that represents an application

pro-gram in a graphical user interface

application layer

ISO/OSI network, which allows a user torequests functions such as transfer files,send mail and use resources The otherlayers are not normally accessed by users

application orientated language

application orientated language

/noun a programming language that pro-vides functions which allow the user tosolve certain application problems

application package

application package / keʃ(ə)ngrams and manuals that cover all aspects

of a particular task, e.g payroll, stock

con-trol or tax Also called applications package

application program

application program / keʃ(ə)n

software 쑗 The multi-window editor is used to create and edit applications pro- grams.

application programming interface

application programming

application service element

application service element

/part of a program in the application layer

of an OSI environment that interacts withthe layers beneath it

application service provider

application service provider

specialist company that installs, ures and manages software on its ownserver and then allows any business to usethe software via the Internet or a private

config-network Abbr ASP (NOTE: The user doesnot realise that the software is located on

a distant server, and the business doesnot need to buy or support the software,just rent it.)

application specific integrated circuits

application specific integrated

minal, e.g at a sales desk, which is

spe-cially configured to carry out certain tasks

application window

application window / keʃ(ə)n

running in a window displayed in a

graph-ical user interface such as Microsoft’s

Windows

APPN

APPN /

to the IBM SNA protocol that allows

workstations to share information on a

peer-to-peer basis without the need for a

central mainframe Full form advanced

peer-to-peer networking (NOTE: It is

of-ten used to route information around a

network and dynamically adjusts the

route if part of the network is damaged.)

language used to control numerically

con-trolled machines Full form

figures such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc (as opposed

to the Roman numerals I, II, III IV, etc.) 쑗

The page numbers are written in Arabic

figures.

arbitration software

arbitration software / treʃ(ə)n

ble for allocating resources to devices,

of-ten used to manage the way Plug and Play

adapters use other resources in a computer

Archie

Archie /

on the Internet that catalogue the public

files available on the Internet

architecture

architecture /

layout and interconnection of a computer’s

internal hardware and the logical

relation-ships between CPU, memory and I/O

de-vices

‘Software giant Microsoft is also interested in using

Xerox’ Glyph technology as part of its Microsoft At

Work architecture that seeks to unite office

comput-archival quality

archival quality /noun the length of time that a copy can bestored before it becomes illegible

archive

archive /over a long period 쐽verb to put data instorage (NOTE: archives – archiving – ar-chived)

archive attribute

archive bit noun a special attribute tached to a file that indicates if the file hasbeen archived since it was last changed

at-Also called archive flag

archived copy

archived copy /copy kept in storage

archive file

archive file /containing data which is out of date butwhich is kept for future reference

archive storage

archive storage /noun storage of data for a long period oftime

area search

area search /search for specific data within a certainsection of memory or files

argument separator

symbol that separates several arguments

on one line 쑗 The command ‘MULTIPLY

A, B’ uses a comma as the argument rator.

sepa-arithmetic capability

arithmetic capability /

blti/ noun the ability of a device

to perform mathematical functions

21 ascender

arithmetic check

arithmetic check /ərθmətk tʃek/

noun a further arithmetic operation carried

out to ensure that a result is correct

arithmetic functions

arithmetic functions /ə

fŋkʃənz/ plural noun calculations

car-ried out on numbers, e.g addition,

subtrac-tion, multiplication and division

arithmetic instruction

arithmetic instruction /

nstrkʃən/ noun an instruction to

per-form an arithmetic operation on data rather

than a logical function

arithmetic logic unit

arithmetic logic unit /

arithmetic operation

arithmetic operation /

reʃ(ə)n/ noun a mathematical

func-tion carried out on data

arithmetic operator

ɒpəretə/ noun a symbol which indicates

an arithmetic function, e.g + for addition,

noun a word or data moved one bit to the

left or right inside a register, losing the bit

shifted off the end

machine or routine for action or inputs 2.

to define which interrupt lines are active

armed interrupt

armed interrupt /

noun an interrupt line which has been

made active, using an interrupt mask

ARP

ARP /

the TCP/IP standard that is used to

deter-mine whether the source and destination

address in a packet are in the data-link

control or Internet protocol format Full

form address resolution protocol

(NOTE: Once the format of the address is

known, the packet can be correctly

rout-ed over a network.)

ARPANET

network of interconnected computers,

linked by leased lines, that formed the first

prototype for the current Internet It was

developed by the US Department of

De-fense Full form advanced research

projects agency network

ARQ

ARQ /

tion system, used in some modems, which

asks for data to be re-transmitted if it

con-tains errors Full form automatic repeat

request

array

array /əre/ noun an ordered structurecontaining individually accessible ele-ments referenced by numbers, used tostore tables or sets of related data

array bounds

array bounds /əre baυndz/ pluralnoun limits to the number of elementswhich can be given in an array

array dimension

array dimension /əre da

noun the number of elements in an array,given as rows and columns

arrow key

arrow key /

of four keys on a keyboard that move thecursor or pointer around the screen, con-trolling movement up, down, left and right

arrow pointer

arrow pointer /small arrow on-screen that you can moveusing the mouse

artefact

artefact /

very small error in a video signal 2 a very

small error in a digital version of an analogsignal

article

article /newsgroup

of natural human behaviour such as ing and reproduction

learn-artificial neural network

artificial neural network /processing information that is made up ofinterconnected elements that behave in asimilar way to the neurons in the humannervous system and have the ability tolearn through experience

a ‘b’ or ‘d’

ascending order 22

ascending order

ascending order /ə

noun an arrangement of data with the

smallest value or date first in the list

ASCII

ASCII /

sents alphanumeric characters in binary

code Full form American Standard

Code for Information Interchange

ASCII file /ski fal/ noun a stored file

containing only ASCII coded character

data 쑗 Use a word processor or other

pro-gram that generates a standard ASCII file.

ASCII text /ski tekst/ noun the set of

letter and number characters with an

AS-CII code between 0 and 127

ASCIIZ string

ASCIIZ string /

a sequence of ASCII characters followed

by the ASCII code zero that indicates the

end of the sequence in programming

ASF

ASF /

ery format developed by Microsoft for

de-livery over the Internet and used in its

Net-Show product Full form active

stream-ing format

ASIC

ASIC /

designed ICs for one particular function or

to special specifications Full form

appli-cation specific integrated circuits

ASP

ASP abbr 1 Active Server Page 2

appli-cation service provider

noun a method of storing and indexing

documents in a retrieval system

ASR

ASR /

that can transmit and receive information

Full form automatic send/receive.

Compare KSR

COMMENT : An ASR terminal can input

informa-tion via a keyboard or via a tape cassette or

paper tape It can receive information and

store it in internal memory or on tape.

ASR keyboard

noun a communications console keyboard

that has all the characters and punctuation

keys and special control, send and receive

keys

assemble

assemble /əsemb(ə)l/ verb 1 to put a

hardware or software product together

from various smaller parts 쑗 The parts for

the disk drive are made in Japan and sembled in France (NOTE: assembles –

as-assembling – assembled) 2 to translate

assembly code into machine code 쑗 There

is a short wait during which time the

pro-gram is assembled into object code 3. toinsert specific library routines or macros

or parameters into a program

assembler

assembler /əsemblə/ noun a programwhich converts a program written in as-sembly language into machine code Also

called assembler program

assembler error messages

sages produced by an assembler that cate that errors have been found in thesource code

abbrevia-assembler program

assembly

assembly /əsembl/ noun the process

of putting an item together from various

parts 쑗 There are no assembly instructions

to show you how to put the computer gether.

to-assembly code

assembly code /əsembli kəυd/ noun

a set of mnemonics which are used to resent machine code instructions in an as-sembler program

rep-assembly language

guage using mnemonics to code tions which will then be converted to ma-

instruc-chine code Also called assembler guage, base language

assembly system

assembly system /ə

noun same as assembly routine

23 asynchronous communication

assembly time

assembly time /əsembli tam/ noun

the time taken by an assembler to translate

assets /sets/ plural noun separate

data elements such as video, audio and

im-age that are used in a multimedia

applica-tion

assign

assign /əsan/ verb 1 to give a

compu-ter or person something to do 쑗 He was

as-signed the job of checking the sales

fig-ures 2. to set a variable equal to a string of

characters or numbers 3 to keep part of a

computer system for use while a program

is running

assigned numbers

nmbəz/ plural noun unique numbers

that are each assigned to an Internet or

net-work manufacturer’s device, protocol or

other resource (NOTE: Manufacturers

ap-ply for a unique ID number from the IANA

organisation.)

assignment

assignment /əsanmənt/ noun the

process of setting a variable equal to a

the Pascal programming language)

refer-ring to a value whose type is established by

a check to be allowed

assignment conversion

and Fortran programming languages) an

operation to change the type of a value

assignment statement

assignment statement /ə

stetmənt/ noun a basic programming

command that sets a variable equal to a

value or string or character

associated document

associated document /fal/,

associ-ated file noun a document or file that is

linked to its originating application (NOTE:

When you select the file, the operating

system automatically starts the

originat-ing application.)

associative addressing

associative addressing /ə

ədresŋ/ noun the identification of a

lo-cation by its contents rather than its

ad-dress Also called content-addressable

addressing

associative memory

associative memory /ə

mem(ə)ri/ noun a method of data

retriev-al that uses part of the data rather than an

address to locate the data Also called

associative storage register

associative storage register /ə

register that is located by its contents

rath-er than a name or address

asterisk

asterisk /stərsk/ noun 1 a graphical

symbol (*) used in programming as a sign

for multiplication 2 a graphical symbol

(*) used as a wildcard in many operatingsystems, including DOS, to mean anycharacters

asterisk fill

asterisk fill /st(ə)rsk fl/ noun thefilling of unused decimal places with theasterisk symbol

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber

differ-asymmetric video compression

asymmetric video compression

noun the use of a powerful computer tocompress video, allowing it to be playedback on a less powerful computer

adjec-asynchronous access

asynchronous access /e

kses/ noun communication using shaking to synchronise data transmission

hand-asynchronous cache

asynchronous cache /e

kʃ/ noun a type of cache memory thatprovides the slowest performance and uses

a type of SDRAM that is cheap but slow

asynchronous communication

asynchronous communication /e

 keʃ(ə)n/ noundata transmission between devices that isnot synchronized to a clock, but is trans-mitted when ready

asynchronous communication server

asynchronous communication

puter that changes from one operation to

the next according to signals received

when the process is finished 2 a computer

in which a process starts on the arrival of

signals or data rather than on a clock pulse

asynchronous data transfer

asynchronous data transfer /e

fer of data between two devices that takes

place without any regular or predictable

timing signal

asynchronous mode

asynchronous mode /esŋkrənəs

məυd/ noun the state of a terminal linked

to another piece of equipment in a way in

which the two need not be synchronised

asynchronous port

asynchronous port /e

lowing asynchronous data access 쑗 Since

asynchronous ports are used no special

hardware is required.

asynchronous procedure call

asynchronous procedure call /e

gram function that runs separately from

the main program and will execute when a

particular set of conditions exist Abbr

APC

asynchronous transfer mode

asynchronous transfer mode /e

form of ATM

asynchronous transmission

asynchronous transmission /e

mʃ(ə)n/ noun datatransmission that uses handshaking sig-

nals rather than clock signals to

synchro-nize data pulses

AT

AT /

ard of PC originally developed by IBM

that uses a 16-bit 80286 processor

COMMENT : AT originally meant IBM’s

Ad-vanced Technology personal computer, but is

now used to describe any IBM PC compatible

that uses a 16-bit processor.

ATA

ATA /

nology in which the controller is part of

the disk drive rather than being part of the

main computer or located on the

mother-board Full form advanced technology

attachment Also called AT attachment

ATA Fast

ATA Fast /

prietary standard interface developed by

Seagate and based on ATA that improves

the transfer rate and has three modes of

op-eration that provide either 11.1 MBps,

13.3 MBps or 16.6 MBps transfer rates

ATA packet interface

vanced technology attachment packet interface

AT-bus

AT-bus /ət bs/ noun an expansion busstandard developed by IBM that uses anedge connector to carry 16-bits of data andaddress information

ATC

ATC /

by the software publisher to the user tomake a certain number of copies of a pro-

gram Full form authorization to copy

(NOTE: Some companies have duced ATC schemes that allow users ofcertain software to make duplicates ofthe companies’ programs for a fee.)

intro-AT command set

set/ noun a standard set of commands tocontrol a modem, developed by HayesCorporation

ATD

ATD /mand for compatible modems used to dial

a telephone number; defined by Hayes

Corporation Full form attention, dial

ATE

ATE /testing facilities that can check a complexcircuit or PCB for faults or problems Full

form automatic test equipment

Athlon XP

Athlon XP /name for a 32-bit processor, developed byAMD, that can run the same software as anIntel Pentium processor

ATM

ATM 2 /transferring data very rapidly, at up to 155

Mbps, across an ISDN link or network 2 a

CCITT and ANSI standard defining cellrelay transmission 왘 full form asynchro- nous transfer mode

ATM adaptation layer

ATM adaptation layer /

ATM system that translates a user’s data to

the standard ATM cell format Abbr AAL

25 audit trail

ATM cell format

ATM cell format /

data sent over an ATM network in a

53-oc-tet packet that includes a header and

ad-dress information

ATM layers

ATM layers /

method of dividing the functions of an

ATM network system into hierarchical

layers

AT mode

AT mode /

a modem that is ready to accept commands

using the Hayes AT command set

ATM payload

noun a section of an ATM cell that

con-tains the data It concon-tains 48 octets of data

within the 53-octet cell

same as ADC 쑗 The speech signal was

first passed through an A to D converter

before being analysed.

atom

atom /təm/ noun 1 the smallest

parti-cle of an element that has the same

proper-ties as the element 2 a value or string that

cannot be reduced to a simpler form

atomic

atomic /ətɒmk/ adjective an referring

to an operation that returns data to its

orig-inal state if it is stopped during processing

ATSC

ATSC /

that defines the SDTV and HDTV

stand-ards for use in the USA Full form

Ad-vanced Television Systems

Commit-tee

attach

attach /əttʃ/ verb to connect a node or

login to a server on a network

attached processor

prəυsesə/ noun a separate

microproces-sor in a system that performs certain

func-tions under the control of a central

proces-sor

attachment

attachment /əttʃmənt/ noun a

named file which is transferred together

with an electronic mail message 쑗 There is

an attachment with my last mail message –

it contains the sales report.

attack

attack /ətk/ noun the shape of the start

of a sound signal over time

attended operation

reʃ(ə)n/ noun a process which has an

op-erator standing by in case of problems

attention, dial

attention, dial /ə

full form of ATD

attention code

attention code /ətenʃən kəυd/ noun

the two characters ‘AT’ that are used to

preface a command to a Hayes-compatible

modem (NOTE: For example, ‘ATD123’

tells the modem to dial the number ‘123’)

difference between transmitted and

re-ceived power measured in decibels 쑗 If the cable is too long, the signal attenuation will start to cause data errors Opposite

gain

attribute

attribute /

try in a file 쑗 This attribute controls the

colour of the screen 2. a piece of tion concerning the display or presentation

informa-of information 3 a set informa-of control data

stored with and controlling particularfunctions or aspects of the file in some op-erating systems such as DOS and OS/2

auctioneering device

auctioneering device / nərŋd

maximum or minimum signal from anumber of input signals

audio range

audio range /frequency range between 50–20,000 Hzthat can be detected by a human ear

audio response unit

that allows a computer to speak responses

to requests

audiotex

audiotex /tive voice response over the telephone inwhich a computer asks the caller questionsand the caller responds by pressing num-bers on his telephone

audio/video interleaved

audio/video interleaved /

audio-video support system

audio-video support system

of AVSS

audit

audit /tasks carried out by a computer 쐽 verb toexamine the state of a system and checkthat it is still secure or working properly

audit trail

audit trail /details of the use made of a system by not-

augend 26

ing transactions carried out, used for

checking on illegal use or malfunction

augend

augend /

which another number, the addend, is

add-ed to produce the sum

augmented addressing

ədresŋ/ noun the producing of a usable

address word from two shorter words

noun a D-connector used to connect thick

Ethernet cable to a network adapter

AUP

AUP abbr acceptable use policy

authentication of messages

use of special codes to identify the sender

of messages, so that the messages can be

recognised as being genuine

authenticator

authenticator / θentketə/ noun a

trustworthy company that provides

au-thentication for digital signatures on the

Internet (NOTE: This process is used by

secure websites (shopping or payment

sites) to prove to a visitor that the website

has been created by the authorised

pub-lisher.)

author

author /

wrote a program 쐽 verb to create a

multi-media application by combining sound,

video and images

‘The authoring system is a software product that

in-tegrates text and fractally compressed images, using

any wordprocessor line editor, to create an electronic

book with hypertext links between different pages.’

[Computing]

authoring language

lŋwd'/ noun a programming

lan-guage used to write CAL and training

pro-grams

authoring software

sstəm/, authoring system noun 1 a

special application that allows you to

cre-ate multimedia titles Authoring software

lets you design the pages of the

multime-dia book and place video clips, images,

text and sound on a page (NOTE: Almost

all multimedia developers use some type

of authoring software rather than a

tradi-tional programming language because

it’s a much faster and easier way to

cre-ate multimedia programs.) 2 same as

webpage design software

authorisation

authorisation / zeʃ(ə)n/,

au-thorization noun 1 permission or power

to do something 2 the process of giving a

user permission to access a system

authorisation code

zeʃ(ə)n kəυd/ noun a code used to strict access to a computer system to au-thorised users only

authority file , authority list noun a list

of special terms used by people compiling

a database and also by the users of the tabase

da-author level

author level /mode of an authoring software packagethat is used by the author to design the ap-plication (NOTE: The user uses the fin-ished application at user level.)

auto advance

system by which the paper in a printer isautomatically moved forward to the nextline at the end of a line

auto-answer

auto-answer /feature of a modem that will automaticallyanswer a telephone when called

a modem that dials a number

automatical-ly using stored data

AUTOEXEC.BAT

noun (in an IBM PC running the MS-DOSoperating system) a batch file that con-tains commands that are executed whenthe computer is first switched on or reset

autoflow

autoflow /DTP or wordprocessing software that au-tomatically flows text around a graphicimage or from one page to the next

auto-login

auto-login //

password and user’s number transmittedwhen requested by a remote system to au-

tomate logon Also called automatic on

log-automated teller machine

automated teller machine

form of ATM

27 automatic speed matching

automatically programmed tools

automatically programmed tools

/

noun full form of APT

automatic backup

bkp/ noun same as auto save

automatic call distribution

automatic call distribution

/

full form of ACD

automatic calling unit

automatic calling unit /

automatic carriage return

automatic carriage return

tem in which the cursor automatically

re-turns to the beginning of a new line when

it reaches the end of the previous one

automatic checking

tʃekŋ/ noun error detection and

valida-tion check carried out automatically on

re-ceived data

automatic data capture

automatic data capture /

data is automatically recorded in a

compu-ter system, as it is input

automatic data processing

automatic data processing

/

form of ADP

automatic decimal adjustment

automatic decimal adjustment

noun the process of lining up all the

deci-mal points in a column of figures

automatic error correction

automatic error correction

rection of received data, using error

detec-tion and correcdetec-tion codes

automatic error detection

automatic error detection

of an alphanumeric code, e.g a grey code,

that will allow any errors to be detected

automatic font downloading

automatic font downloading

process in which special font information

is sent to a printer by the application

automatic frequency switching

automatic frequency switching

/

same as automatic mode

automatic gain

automatic gain /

noun an electronic circuit which

automat-ically increases the volume when someone

is speaking quietly and drops it when

someone is speaking loudly

automatic gain control

automatic gain control /

naʃ(ə)n/ noun a feature of a

soft-ware program that looks up in an

electron-ic delectron-ictionary how to correctly split and

hy-phenate words

automatic letter writing

automatic letter writing /ters using a word-processor

automatic loader

automatic loader /noun a short program, usually in ROM,that will boot up a system and load a pro-gram

automatic log on

automatic log on /

automatic mailing list

automatic mailing list /

ards Also called automatic frequency switching

automatic number identification

automatic number identification

noun full form of ANI

automatic power off

that will switch itself off if it has not beenused for a certain time

automatic programming

automatic programming

/process of producing an optimum operat-ing system for a particular process

automatic recovery program

automatic recovery program

au-pressed down Also called auto repeat

automatic repeat request

automatic repeat request

automatic speed matching

automatic speed matching

/ability of a modem to adjust its data rate tothe speed of the remote modem

automatic test equipment 28

automatic test equipment

automatic test equipment

form of ATE

automatic volume control

automatic volume control

full form of AVC

auto-redial

auto-redial /

feature of a modem that dials a telephone

number again if engaged, until it replies

auto-reliable mode

dem in which the modem will try and

es-tablish a reliable connection with another

modem using error correction

noun a software application that

automat-ically indicates that a person is unavailable

to respond to incoming email

auto restart

auto restart /

feature of a computer that can initialise

and reload its operating system if there is a

fault or power failure or at switch on

auto save

auto save /

of some application programs, e.g

word-processor or database software, that

auto-matically saves the file being used every

few minutes in case of a power failure or

system crash Also called automatic

backup

auto scan

auto scan /

ty of a monitor to maintain the same

rec-tangular image size when changing from

one resolution to another

of a tape player which stops when it has

reached the end of a tape

autosync

autosync /

a modem that allows it to transfer

synchro-nous data signals to and from a computer

that can only transfer asynchronous

sig-nals

auto trace

auto trace /

of some graphics programs that will

trans-form a bit-mapped image into a vector

im-age by automatically locating the edges of

the shapes in the image and drawing lines

around them

auto verify

auto verify /

ification procedure carried out

automati-cally, as soon as the data has been saved

AUX

AUX /nications port under the DOS operating

system Full form auxiliary

A/UX

A/UX a trade name for a version of theUnix operating system for the Apple Macrange of computers

auxiliary

auxiliary / zliəri/ noun full form of

AUX

auxiliary device

noun a piece of computer hardware that isnot part of the central processing unit but

is controlled by it, e.g a printer or scanner

Also called peripheral

to improve performance

auxiliary storage

storage medium that is not the main high

speed computer storage (RAM) 쑗 Disk drives are auxiliary storage on this ma-

chine Also called auxiliary memory

auxilliary audio device

auxilliary audio device / 

whose output is mixed with other forms

wave-available bit rate

available bit rate /ə available list

available list /əveləb(ə)l lst/ noun alist of unallocated memory and resources

in a system

available point

available point /əveləb(ə)l pɔnt/noun the smallest single unit or point of adisplay whose colour and brightness can

starts another 쑗 There was an avalanche of errors after I pressed the wrong key.

avatar

avatar /image that is used to represent a real per-son in a cyberspace or three-dimensionalsystem, e.g the image of a person in a

29 BABT approval three-dimensional adventure game 2 the

name for the superuser account on a UNIX

system Also called root

AVC

AVC 1 /

cuit that maintains a constant sound level

despite undesired differences in strength

of the incoming signal Full form

auto-matic volume control

AVC

AVC 2 /

media software developed by IBM that

works with its Audio Capture and Video

Capture boards

average access time

en between a request being sent and data

being returned from a memory device

average delay

noun the average time that a user must

wait when trying to access a

communica-tion network 쑗 The average delay

increas-es at nine-thirty when everyone triincreas-es to

log-in.

AVI

AVI /

media video format developed by

Micro-soft Full form audio/video interleaved

AVSS

AVSS /

system, originally for MS-DOS, used to

play back video and audio files on a

com-puter Full form audio-video support system

AWM

AWM /tem developed by Yamaha to sample natu-ral sounds and convert them to digital

form Full form advanced wave lation

modu-axis

axis /kss/ noun 1 a line around which

something turns 쑗 The CAD package lows an axis to be placed anywhere.

al-(NOTE: The plural is axes.) 2 a reference

line which is the basis for coordinates on agraph

azerty keyboard

azerty keyboard /ə

noun a method of arranging the keys on akeyboard where the first line begins AZ-ERTY, used mainly in Continental Europe

Compare QWERTY keyboard

lanmənt/ noun the correct horizontal

an-gle of a tape head to the magnetic tape 쑗

Azimuth alignment is adjusted with this small screw

B 2 symbol the hexadecimal equivalent of

the decimal number 11

B:

B: used in personal computers to indicate

the second disk drive, normally a floppy

disk drive 쑗 Copy the files from the hard

drive, C:, to the floppy drive, B:.

B2B

B2B /

advertising or marketing that is aimed at

other businesses rather than at consumers

Full form business-to-business

B2C

B2C /

advertising or marketing that is aimed at

consumers rather than at other businesses

Full form business-to-consumer

babble

babble /bb(ə)l/ noun crosstalk ornoise from other sources which interfereswith a signal

BABT

BABT /ent organisation that tests and certifies tel-

ecommunications equipment 쑗 If you sign a new modem, you must have BABT approval before you can sell it Full form

de-British Approvals Board for munications

Telecom-BABT approval

before a new modem can be sold and be

backbone 30

connected to the UK telephone network

(NOTE: The approval does not provide

any quality assurance about the modem,

but ensures that it is manufactured in

such a way that it does not damage the

telephone network A green label is

visi-ble on modem equipment that has

re-ceived BABT approval.)

backbone

backbone /bk

speed, high-capacity connection path that

links smaller sub-networks, usually used

to connect servers on a network 쑗 We have

linked the servers in each office using a

high-speed backbone (NOTE: Smaller

workgroups or networks are connected

to the backbone as segments or ribs.)

backbone ring

backbone ring /bk

high-speed ring network that connects a

number of smaller ring networks

back buffer

back buffer /bk bfə/ noun a section

of memory used as a temporary storage for

graphics before they are displayed on

screen (NOTE: The image is built up in the

back buffer memory area then

trans-ferred to the main video memory area for

backdrop /bkdrɒp/ noun a static

background image in front of which are

displayed actors or scenes

back-end network

mainframe computer and a high-speed

mass storage device or file server

noun a computer connected to a network

that carries out tasks requested by client

workstations

background

background /bkraυnd/ noun 1 the

part of a picture which is behind the main

object of interest 쑗 The new graphics

processor chip can handle background,

foreground and sprite movement

inde-pendently 2. a system in a computer where

low-priority work can be done in the

inter-vals when very important work is not

be-ing done

background colour

klə/ noun the colour of a computer

screen display, different from that of

char-acters and graphics 쑗 White background

colour with black characters is less

stress-ful for the eyes.

background job

background job /bkraυnd d'ɒb/noun a low-priority task

background mode

which two modes for program executionare possible, the mode that is for house-keeping and other necessary system pro-

grams Compare foreground mode

background noise

nɔz/ noun noise which is present along

with the required signal 쑗 The other chines around this device will produce a lot of background noise.

proc-background printing

background printing /

prntŋ/ noun printing from a computer

while it is processing another task 쑗 ground printing can be carried out whilst you are editing another document.

Back-background processing

background processing

/cution of a low-priority job when there are

no higher priority activities for the ter to attend to

al-background reflectance

background reflectance

/ flektəns/ noun light flected from a sheet of paper that is beingscanned or read by an optical characterreader

re-background task

background task /noun a process executed at any time by thecomputer system, not normally noticed bythe user

31 backup domain controller

manent storage medium onto which data

can be recorded before being processed by

the computer or after processing for later

retrieval 쑗 By adding another disk drive, I

will increase the backing store

capabili-ties.

back-level

back-level /bk lev(ə)l/ noun the

ear-lier release of a product which may not

support a current function

backlight

backlight /bklat/ noun light behind a

liquid crystal display unit that improves

the contrast of characters on the screen and

allows it to be read in dim light

backlit display

backlit display / sple/ noun

a liquid crystal display unit that has a

backlight fitted to improve the contrast of

the display

backlog

backlog /bk

that have yet to be processed 쑗 The

pro-grammers can’t deal with the backlog of

programming work.

back office

back office /

area of e-commerce software containing

details of a company’s store properties and

products and tax tables

backout

backout / aυt/ verb to restore a file

to its original condition before any

chang-es were made

back panel

back panel /bk pn(ə)l/ noun a

pan-el at the rear of a computer which normally

holds the connectors to peripherals such as

keyboard, printer, video display unit and

mouse

backplane

backplane /bkplen/ noun part of the

body of a computer which holds the circuit

boards, buses and expansion connectors

(the backplane does not provide any

processing functions) (NOTE: The

back-plane does not provide any processing

functions.)

back pointer

back pointer /bk pɔntə/ noun a

pointer in a tree structure that holds the

po-sition of the parent node relative to the

cur-rent node, used in programming to search

backwards through a file

back projection

back projection /bk prəd'ekʃ(ə)n/

noun the projection of an image from

be-hind a screen (NOTE: It is often used in

an-imation where the static scene is

dis-played with back projection, then the

foreground characters are displayed andthe composite scene photographed.)

backslash

backslash /bkslʃ/ noun ASCIIcharacter 92, , the sign which is used inMS-DOS to represent the root directory of

a disk, such as C: or to separate tories in a path, such as C:

backspace character /bkspes

space action in a display device Abbr BS

backspace key

backspace key /bk

the key which moves the cursor left on the

screen or back by one character 쑗 If you make a mistake entering data, use the backspace key to correct it.

backtab

backtab /bktb/ verb (in an SAACUA front end) to move the cursor back tothe previous field (NOTE: backtabbing – backtabbed)

backtrack

backtrack /bktrk/ verb to carry outlist processing in reverse, starting with thegoal and working towards the proofs

back up

back up /bk p/ verb 1 to support

something or help someone 쑗 He brought along a file of documents to back up his

claim 2. to make a copy of a file or data or

disk 쑗 The company accounts were backed

up on disk as a protection against fire damage.

backup

backup /bkp/ noun 1 the providing

of help 쑗 We offer a free backup service to

customers 2. the process of making a copy

of a file or data or disk as a security

pre-caution 3 a copy of a file or data or disk

made as a security precaution Also called

backup copy, backup version

‘…the previous version is retained, but its extension

is changed to BAK indicating that it’s a back-up’

[Personal Computer World]

backup agent

backup agent /

a software program that will carry out anautomatic backup of a set of files or fold-ers for you at a regular time and date eachweek

backup domain controller

backup domain controller /dəυmen kən

network that keeps a copy of database ofuser accounts to validate login requests incase of a fault with the main server

backup file 32

backup file

backup file /bkp fal/ noun a copy

of a file, made as a security precaution

backup path

backup path /

Token-Ring network) an alternative path

for a signal around a network avoiding a

malfunctioning device

backup plan

backup plan /bkp pln/ noun a set

of rules that take effect when normal

oper-ation has gone wrong 쑗 The normal UPS

has gone wrong, so we will have to use our

backup plan to try and restore power.

second computer on a network that

con-tains duplicate files and up-to-date data in

case of a problem with the main server

backup utility

a piece of software that simplifies the

process of backing up data (NOTE: Backup

utilities often allow a user to back up files

automatically at a particular time.)

tʃenŋ/ noun a method used in artificial

intelligence systems to calculate a goal

from a set of results

backward channel

tʃn(ə)l/ noun a channel from the

receiv-er to transmittreceiv-er allowing the receivreceiv-er to

send control and handshaking signals

backward error correction

backward error correction

tion of errors which are detected by the

re-ceiver and a signal is sent to the transmitter

to request a re-transmission of the data

backward LAN channel

network) a channel from receiver to sender

used to carry control signals

kv(ə)ri/ noun data retrieval from a

sys-tem that has crashed

backwards compatible

kəmptəb(ə)l/ adjective 1 able to work

with older versions or systems 2 referring

to a new piece of software that provides

the same functions as the previous version

and can read the files created in the

previ-ous version

backwards search

backwards search /noun a search for data in a word-processor

or database that begins at the position ofthe cursor or end of the file and searches tothe beginning of the file

Bankers Automated Clearing Services

bad break

bad break /inserted in the wrong place within a word,

a problem sometimes caused by the matic hyphenation feature of word-processing software

auto-badge reader

badge reader /chine that reads data from an identification

badge 쑗 A badge reader makes sure that only authorised personnel can gain access

to a computer room.

bad sector

bad sector /bd sektə/ noun a disksector that has been wrongly formatted orwhich contains an error or fault and is un-able to be correctly written to or read from

쑗 You will probably receive error

messag-es when you copy filmessag-es that are stored on bad sectors on a disk.

BAK file extension

stenʃ(ə)n/ noun a standard three-letterfile extension used in MS-DOS systems tosignify a backup or copy of another file

to the impedance of a line element.)

balanced error

balanced error /the probability of any error occurring from

a number of errors when it is the same forall errors

balanced line

balanced line /blənst lan/ noun acommunications line that is terminated ateach end with a balanced circuit, prevent-ing signal reflections

balanced routing

balanced routing /blənst raυtŋ/noun a method of using all possible routesthrough a network equally

33 base

balun

balun /blən/ noun a transformer that

matches two circuits which have different

impedances 쑗 We have used a balun to

connect the coaxial cable to the

twisted-pair circuit.

band

band /bnd/ noun 1 a range of

frequen-cies between two limits 2 a group of

tracks on a magnetic disk

bandpass filter

bandpass filter /

noun an electronic filter that allows a

range of frequencies to pass but attenuates

all frequencies outside the specified range

bandwidth

bandwidth /bndwdθ/ noun 1 a

range of frequencies 2 a measure of the

amount of data that can be transmitted

along a cable or channel or other medium

쑗 This fibre-optic cable has a greater

bandwidth than the old copper cable and

so it can carry data at higher speeds 3. a

measure of the range of frequencies that a

monitor or CRT will accept and display

(NOTE: High resolution monitors display

more pixels per area so need high speed

data input and so a higher bandwidth.)

bandwidth on demand

ɒn d

switching service, e.g ISDN, in a wide

area network that allows a user to send as

much information as he or she wants

be-cause the network will adjust to transmit

this amount of information

bank

bank /bŋk/ noun a collection of similar

devices 쑗 A bank of minicomputers

proc-ess all the raw data.

COMMENT : Memory banks are used to expand

the main memory of a CPU (often above the

addressing range of the CPU) by having a

number of memory chips arranged into banks.

Each bank operates over the same address

range but is selected independently by a

spe-cial code.

Bankers Automated Clearing Services

Bankers Automated Clearing

BACS

bank Internet payment system

bank Internet payment system

/

a protocol that enables bank payments to

be made over the Internet and gives each

financial institution a unique identification

number for the purposes of Internet

trans-actions Abbr BIPS

bank switching

noun selection of a particular memory

bank from a group

banner

banner /bnə/, banner

advertise-ment, banner ad noun an image that

car-ries an advertising slogan, logo or messageand is displayed on a web page

COMMENT : A long, narrow strip is now the official standard format for advertisements that appear on almost every commercial web- site on the Internet Some banner ads are im- ages, others include animation to attract the viewer’s attention If you click on a banner ad, you will usually jump to the advertiser’s own site If you would rather not see banner adver- tisements when you surf, you can install spe- cial software that blocks them Websites nor- mally charge advertisers according either to the number of times the banner ad is dis- played (called the number of impressions) or the number of times that a user clicks on the

un-ad (called the click-through rate).

banner page

banner page /bnə ped'/ noun apage that is printed out first with the time,date, name of the document and the name

of the person who has printed it

bar

bar /our

bar chart

bar chart /which values are represented as vertical or

horizontal bars Also called bar graph

bar code

bar code /sented as a series of printed stripes of var-ying widths (NOTE: The US term is bar graphics.)

COMMENT : Bar codes are found on most goods and their packages; the width and po- sition of the stripes is sensed by a light pen or optical wand and provides information about the goods such as price and stock quantities bar code reader

bar code reader /noun same as optical bar reader

bare board

bare board /board with no components on it, especially

a memory expansion board that does notyet have any memory chips mounted on it

po-erence 쏡 database 3. an initial or original

position 4 notation referring to a number system 5 (in C++ programming lan-

guage) a class from which other classescan be derived by inheritance 쐽 verb 1 tostart to calculate something from a posi-

tion 쑗 We based our calculations on the

basic keyboarding rate 2. to set up a

com-pany or a person in a place 쑗 The

Europe-an mEurope-anager is based in our London office.

( : bases – basing – based)