Object Code Accelerator Manual

Glossary
Object Code Accelerator Manual—528144-003
Glossary-20
process control block (PCB)
The process access ID is usually the same as the creator access ID but it can be
different; the owner of the corresponding object file can set the object file security such
that it runs with a process access ID equal to the user ID of the file owner, rather than
the creator of the process. Contrast withcreator access ID (CAID).
process control block (PCB). An operating system data structure that contains information
about the resources and environment of a process.
process descriptor. A process name returned by a Guardian procedure call.
process environment. The state and contents of the code and data spaces, stacks, and
register values that exist when the processor module is executing instructions that are
part of a user or system process.
process file name. A file name that identifies a process.
process file segment (PFS). An extended data segment that is automatically allocated to
every process and contains operating system data structures, file-system data
structures, and memory-management pool data structures.
process handle. A D-series 20-byte data structure that identifies a named or unnamed
process in the network. A process handle identifies an individual process; thus, each
process of a process pair has a unique process handle.
process ID. In the Guardian environment, the content of a 4-integer array that uniquely
identifies a process during the lifetime of the process.
process identification number (PIN). A number that uniquely identifies a process running
in a processor. The same number can exist in other processors in the same system.
See also process ID.
process name. A name that can be assigned to a process when the process is created. A
process name uniquely identifies a process or process pair in a system.
process pair. Two processes created from the same object file running in a way that makes
one process a backup process of the other. Periodic checkpointing ensures that the
backup process is always ready to take over from the primary if the primary process
should fail. The process pair has one process name but each process has a different
process identification number (PIN).
process qualifier. A suffix to a process file name that gets passed to a process when the
process is opened. Its use is application-dependent.
process sequence number. A subpart of a process file name that allows the process to be
identified over time.
processor. (1) A functional unit of a computer that reads program instructions, moves data
between processor memory and the input/output controllers, and performs arithmetic
operations. Because a processor is composed of several hardware components that