Software Internationalization Guide

Glossary
Software Internationalization Guide—526225-002
Glossary-3
encoding method
encoding method. A set of rules for combining two or more code sets into a single data
stream.
environment variable. A variable that is associated with a specific area of a user’s
environment. For example, the LC_TIME locale environment variable enables the
display of time formats according to local time conventions.
EUC. The Extended Unix Codes. EUC is an encoding method most commonly used on
Asian UNIX-based systems. Up to four code sets can be combined in a single data
stream using EUC.
file code. A bit pattern representing a character in a character set. A file code is an external
representation of data and is the format of data stored on disk.
function. A service called by an application program to communicate with other software
components. For example, the setlocale() function establishes the locale in which
an internationalized program is to work.
GB. Guo Biao, which means “national standard” in Chinese. This term is commonly used in
standards published in the People's Republic of China.
gencat. An XPG standard command that generates message catalogs from message
source files.
genxlt. A utility that generates code set conversion table objects from code set conversion
table source files.
Guardian. An environment available for interactive or programmatic use with the HP
NonStop Kernel 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 usually use the HP Tandem
Advanced Command Language (TACL) or another HP product’s command interpreter.
Contrast with Open System Services (OSS).
Han. The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ideographs.
Hangul. The Korean phonetic writing system.
Hanja. The Korean ideographic writing system.
Hanzi. The Traditional and Simplified Chinese ideographic writing systems.
Hiragana. One of two Japanese phonetic character sets (the other is Katakana). Hiragana
characters are mixed with Kanji characters to write all of or parts of Japanese words
phonetically.
iconv. An XPG standard utility that converts encoded characters from one code set to
another.