COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.03+)

Glossary
HP COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs—520347-003
Glossary-14
HP Transaction Application Language (TAL)
HP Transaction Application Language (TAL). A systems programming language with
many features specific to stack-oriented TNS systems.
identifier. A data name followed, as required, by the combination of qualifiers, subscripts,
and indexes necessary to make a unique reference to a data item.
imperative statement. A statement that either begins with an imperative verb and specifies
an unconditional action for a process to take or is a delimited-scope statement. An
imperative statement can consist of a sequence of imperative statements.
implicit scope terminator. A period (.) that terminates the scope of any preceding
unterminated statement, or a phrase of a statement that by its occurrence indicates the
end of the scope of any statement contained within the preceding phrase.
import library. A file that represents a dynamic-link library (DLL) and can substitute for it as
input to the linker. Import libraries facilitate linking on auxiliary platforms (that is, PCs)
where it is inconvenient to store the actual DLLs.
index. A computer storage position containing a value that identifies a particular table
element; an index-name and an index data item both designate such a storage
position.
index data item. A data item described with a USAGE INDEX phrase that a process uses
to hold a value associated with an index-name.
index-name. A user-defined word specified in an INDEXED clause of a table description to
refer to an index associated with the table.
indexed file. A file that has indexed organization.
indexed organization. A permanent logical file structure in which a process can identify
each record by the value of one or more keys within the record.
IN file. The input file of a process, either specified explicitly at process start time or inherited
from the parent process.
initial program. A program that is placed into an initial state every time the program is
called in a run unit.
initial state. The state of a program when it is first called in a run unit.
input file. A file open in the INPUT mode.
INPUT mode. The state of a file after a process executes an OPEN statement including an
INPUT phrase for the file and before the process executes a CLOSE statement
(without the REEL or UNIT phrase for the file), allowing the process to read records
from the file.
input-output file. A file open in the I-O mode.