OSI/FTAM Programming Guide

Glossary
HP NonStop OSI/FTAM Programming Guide—528612-001
Glossary-20
presentation context.
presentation context. The combination of an abstract syntax and a transfer syntax on a
Presentation Layer connection. In NonStop FTAM, you have programmatic control over
the choice of presentation context related to document types, but not over the required
abstract syntaxes associated with the protocol control information (PCI) for FTAM,
ACSE, and the Presentation Layer.
Presentation Layer. Layer 6 in the OSI Reference Model. This layer provides a means to
resolve the differences of varying data formats between systems of different vendors. It
transfers data in a system-independent manner, performing appropriate conversions at
each system as necessary.
presentation selector. See PSEL (presentation selector).
presentation service access point. See PSAP (presentation service access point).
primary process. The currently operating process of a process pair on a NonStop system.
See backup process.
primitive. An abstract, implementation-dependent representation of an interaction between
a user of OSI services and a service provider. Examples of FTAM primitives are an F-
OPEN request, an F-P-ABORT indication, an F-CREATE response, and an F-READ-
ATTRIB confirm.
PrintableString. The character-string type of strings containing only printable characters
and the space character, as defined in ISO 8824. These strings do not contain format
effectors.
printing distributor. An EMS process that obtains formatted text for selected event
messages and distributes it to a file, a printer, or another display device.
priority. See execution priority.
private group. A free-standing group of FTAM attributes that are outside the scope of OSI
standardization.
process. A running entity, managed by the operating system, that is created by taking a
program from a file on a disk and running it in a processor.
process pair. A primary process and its backup process, created as a pair to provide fault
tolerance on a NonStop system. The backup process takes over if the primary process
fails.