MPE/iX Glossary of Terms and Acronyms (32650-90887)

Chapter 1 51
Glossary of Terms
positional parameter is omitted, the user must supply a comma in its
place.
power down To turn the system power off.
power up To turn the system power on.
Precision Architecture Refer to Hewlett-Packard Precision Architecture.
preprocessor A component of the ALLBASE/SQL relational interface that converts code
containing SQL commands into code compatible with the source code
language.
presentation layer Layer six of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) network model.
Presentation layer tasks include manipulation of user data such as text
compression and encryptions.
preventive maintenance (PM) The regular housecleaning chores performed to keep
the system from suffering performance degradation and to prevent
problems from developing on the system.
primary boot path The primary boot path is used to boot the system from disk resident
software. See boot path.
printed circuit assembly (PCA) An I/O interface card. Refer to device adapter.
priority request The use of the optional parameter ;HIPRI in the HELLO and JOB
commands. This capability, granted to system supervisors and system
managers, allows a job to be dispatched or a session to be initiated,
overriding the current jobfence or execution limit.
private branch exchange (PBX) An installed telephone exchange at a given site. A
PBX may be upgraded to handle computer data traffic.
private volumes See removable packs (MPE V/E only).
privileged mode capability (PM capability) A capability assigned to accounts,
groups, or users allowing unrestricted memory access, access to privileged
CPU instructions, and the ability to call privileged procedures. This
capability overrides MPE/iX safeguards.
process The unique execution of a program or procedure by a particular user at a
particular time. If several users execute the same program, each is a
separate process. Similarly, if the same user runs several programs, each
execution is also considered a distinct process.
process control block (PCB) A main-memory resident table containing status
information for each process running on the system such as monitor
memory management, dispatching, the stack number, what extra
segments a process is using and their location, whether the process is
waiting for a resource or waiting for a response from another process, and
other information.
process group A collection of processsing its name, the operating system returns a
unique number for your use. This number is the file identifier.
process handling capability (PH capability) A capability optionally assigned to
accounts, groups, and users, allowing a currently executing process to