Open System Services Porting Guide (G06.29+, H06.06+, J06.03+)
other processes. A process can block some deferrable signals but not others. A signal is
nondeferrable by the nature of its generation, not its identity; thus kill(pid, SIGSEGV) sends
a deferrable signal to the target pid. Signals are used in all native and all OSS processes, but
not in Guardian TNS processes (which use traps instead).
signal delivery The action taken in or upon the target process because of the signal. Delivery may entail invoking
a designated signal handler function, entering DEBUG, stopping (suspending) or terminating the
process. Deferrable signals are not delivered while the process is executing in kernel (privileged)
code.
signal generation The process of initiating a signal. Signals can be generated by a process invoking the raise()
or kill() function, or by the system, as in the case of a process attempting some impossible
action.
signal handler A function that is executed when a specific signal is delivered to a specific process.
signal mask The set of signals that are currently blocked from delivery to a specific process.
small OSS file A regular file that is smaller than approximately 2 gigabytes. Contrast with large OSS file.
snapshot file See process snapshot file. .
socket An end-point for stream-oriented communication. A socket has a file descriptor.
special character A character entered from a terminal that has an effect other than being part of the input stream
from that terminal.
special file A file associated with an I/O device. Often called a device file. Special files are read and written
the same as ordinary files, but requests to read or write result in activation of the associated
device. Due to convention and consistency, these files should always reside in the /dev directory.
See also file.
static server In the Guardian environment, a process that runs continuously and provides a specific service to
other processes. A static server differs from a traditional UNIX demon in that a demon actively
looks for tasks to perform, while a static server performs only tasks brought to its attention by a
client (requester) process.
See also demon.
static window A window, or virtual terminal, that is opened with the Subsystem Control Facility (SCF). You do
not need to establish a Telserv connection before opening a static window.
storage pool A set of physical disk volumes administered as a set of logical disk volumes. A logical disk volume
can span multiple physical disk volumes. When a logical disk volume becomes full, more physical
disk volumes can be added.
strictly conforming
POSIX.1
application
An application that requires only the facilities described in ISO/IEC IS 9945-1: 1990 and the
applicable computer language standards. Such an application must accept any behavior or value
described in ISO/IEC IS 9945-1: 1990 as unspecified or implementation-defined and, for symbolic
constants, accept any value permitted by ISO/IEC IS 9945-1: 1990.
super ID On HP NonStop systems, a privileged user who can read, write, execute, and purge all files on
the system. The super ID is usually a member of a system-supervisor group.
The super ID has the set of special permissions called appropriate privileges. In the Guardian
environment, the structured view of the super ID, which is (255, 255), is most commonly used;
in the OSS environment, the scalar view of the super ID, which is 65535, is most commonly used.
SVID The System V Interface Definition for UNIX, published by AT&T.
SVR4 System V Release 4, a specific implementation of UNIX.
See also System V.
symbolic link A type of special file that acts as a name pointer to another file. A symbolic link contains a
pathname and can be used to point to a file in another fileset. Symbolic links are not included
in ISO/IEC IS 9945-1: 1990. Compare to hard linkhard link.
system A single copy of the HP NonStop operating system, also called a node.1.
2. The entire set of computational resources involved in hosting and running a process.
system library The set of functions available to all processes in the system. There are separate libraries of TNS
functions and native functions. On TNS/E systems, the native library is a set of implicit DLLs.
228 Glossary