Open System Services Installation Guide (H06.16+, J06.05+)

file An object to which data can be written or from which data can be read. A file has attributes
such as access permissions and a file type. In the OSS environment, file types include regular
file, character special file, block special file, FIFO, and directory. In the Guardian environment,
file types include disk files, processes, and subdevices.
file name A string of characters that uniquely identifies a file.
In the PC environment, file names for disk files normally have at least two parts (the disk name
and the file name); for example, B:MYFILE.
In the Guardian environment, disk file names include a node name, volume name, subvolume
name, and file identifier; for example, \NODE1.$DISK.SUBVOL.MYFILE.
In the OSS environment, a file is identified by a pathname; for example, /usr/john/workfile.
See also filename.
file system In the OSS environment, a collection of files and file attributes. A file system provides the
namespace for the file serial numbers that uniquely identify its files. OSS provides a file system
(see also ISO/IEC IS 9945-1:1990 [ANSI/IEEE Std. 1003.1-1990], Clause 2.2.2.38); the
Guardian application program interface (API) provides a file system; and OSS Network File
System (NFS) provides a file system. (OSS NFS filenames and pathnames are governed by slightly
different rules than OSS filenames and pathnames.) Within the OSS and OSS NFS file systems,
filesets exist as manageable objects.
On a NonStop system, the Guardian file system for a node is a subset of the OSS virtual file
system. Traditionally, the API for file access in the Guardian environment is called the Guardian
file system.
In some UNIX and NFS implementations, the term file system means the same thing as fileset.
That is, a file system is a logical grouping of files that, except for the root of the file system, can
be contained only by directories within the file system.
See also fileset.
filename In the OSS environment, a component of apathname containing any valid characters other than
slash (/) or null.
See also file name.
fileset In the OSS environment, a set of files with a common mount point within the file hierarchy. A
fileset can be part or all of a single virtual file system.
On a NonStop system, the Guardian file system for a node has a mount point and is a subset of
the OSS virtual file system. The entire Guardian file system therefore could be viewed as a single
fileset. However, each volume, and each process of subtype 30, within the Guardian file system
is actually a separate fileset.
The term file system is often used interchangeably with fileset in UNIX publications.
group ID The nonnegative integer that identifies a group of users of a NonStop network node. Each user
of that node is a member of at least one group. When the identity of a group is associated with
an OSS process, a group ID value is referred to as one of:
• Real group ID
• Effective group ID
• Supplementary group ID
• Saved-set group ID
Guardian An environment available for interactive or programmatic use with the operating system. Processes
that run in the Guardian environment usually use the Guardian system procedure calls as their
application program interface. Interactive users of the Guardian environment use the HP Tandem
Advanced Command Language (TACL) or another HP product’s command interpreter. Contrast
with Open System Services (OSS).
hard link The relationship between two directory entries for the same file. A hard link acts as an additional
pointer to a file. A hard link cannot be used to point to a file in another fileset. Contrast with
symbolic link.
HP NonStop Kernel
user ID
A user ID within a NonStop system. The Guardian environment normally uses the structured view
of this user ID, which consists of either the group-number, user-number pair of values or
54 Glossary