TAL Reference Manual

Glossary
Glossary—526371.001
Glossary-7
file system.
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File ID
file system. A set of operating system procedures and data structures that allows
communication between a process and a file, which can be a disk file, a device, or a
process.
filler bit. A declaration that allocates a bit place holder for data or unused space in a
structure.
filler byte. A declaration that allocates a byte place holder for data or unused space in a
structure.
FIXED. A data type that requires a quadrupleword of storage and that can represent a 64-
bit fixed-point number.
FOR statement. A statement that executes a pretest loop n times.
formal parameter. A specification, within a procedure or subprocedure, of an argument
that is provided by the calling procedure or subprocedure.
FORWARD procedure declaration. A procedure declaration that includes the FORWARD
keyword but no procedure body; a declaration that allows you to call a procedure
before you declare the procedure body.
fpoint. An integer in the range –19 through 19 that specifies the implied decimal point
position in a FIXED value. A positive fpoint denotes the number of decimal places to
the right of the decimal point. A negative fpoint denotes the number of integer places to
the left of the decimal point; that is, the number of integer digits to replace with zeros
leftward from the decimal point.
function. A procedure or subprocedure that returns a value to the calling procedure or
subprocedure.
global data. Data declarations that appear before the first procedure declaration; identifiers
that are accessible to all compilation units in a program, unless the data declarations
appear in a BLOCK declaration that includes the PRIVATE keyword.
GOTO statement. A statement that unconditionally branches to a label within a procedure
or subprocedure.
group comparison expression. An expression that compares a variable with another
variable or with a constant.
high PIN. A process identification number (PIN) that is greater than 255. Contrast with low
PIN
home terminal. Usually the terminal from which a process was started.
HP NonStop Series system. See TNS