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

Glossary
HP COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs—520347-003
Glossary-23
parameter
parameter. A name specified in a prepared command for which the user substitutes a value
when executing the command.
pathname. In the Open System Services (OSS) file system and Network File System
(NFS), the string of characters that uniquely identifies a file within its file system. A
pathname can be either relative or absolute. See also ISO/IEC IS 9945-1:1990
(ANSI/IEEE Std. 1003.1-1990 or POSIX.1), Clause 2.2.2.57.
Pathway/TS. An HP product that provides tools for developing and interpreting screen
programs to support online transaction processing (OLTP) applications in the Guardian
environment on NonStop systems. Pathway/TS screen programs communicate with
terminals and intelligent devices. Pathway/TS includes the TCP, the SCREEN COBOL
compiler and run-time environment, and the SCREEN COBOL Utility Program (SCUP).
It requires the services of the identifier product.
period separator. A sequence of two or more characters where the first one is a period,
and the remaining ones are spaces.
phrase. An ordered set of one or more consecutive COBOL character-strings that form a
portion of a COBOL procedural statement or of a COBOL clause.
physical record. See block.
PIC. See position-independent code (PIC).
PIN. See process identification number (PIN).
position-dependent code (non-PIC). Executable code that must be modified to run at
different virtual addresses. External reference addresses appear in non-PIC code.
Non-PIC is also called nonshared code.
position-independent code (PIC). Executable code that need not be modified to run at
different virtual addresses. External reference addresses appear only in a data area
that can be modified by the loader; they do not appear in PIC code. PIC is also called
shared code.
prime record key. A data item in the record description entry of an indexed file whose value
uniquely identifies the record; alternate record keys can be unique, but the prime
record key is the principal key by virtue of being explicitly declared the prime record
key in the RECORD KEY clause of the file-control entry for the file.