TAL Reference Manual

Glossary
Glossary—526371.001
Glossary-15
system.
system. The processors, memory, controllers, peripheral devices, and related components
that are directly connected together by buses and interfaces to form an entity that is
operated as one computer.
system procedure. A procedure provided by the operating system for your use. System
procedures, for example, manage files, activate and terminate programs, and monitor
the operations of processes.
TAL. Transaction Application Language. A high-level, block-structured language that works
efficiently with the system hardware to provide optimal object program performance.
TALDECS. A file, provided by the TAL compiler, that contains external declarations for
TALLIB functions. See also TALLIB
TALLIB. A library file, provided by the TAL compiler, that contains procedures for initializing
the CRE and for preparing a program for SQL statements.
template structure. A declaration that describes a structure layout but allocates no storage
for the structure. Contrast with definition structure
and referral structure
TNS. HP computers that support the NonStop Kernel operating system and that are based
on complex instruction-set computing (CISC) technology. TNS processors implement
the TNS instruction set. Contrast with TNS/R
TNS/R. HP computers that support the NonStop Kernel operating system and that are
based on reduced instruction-set computing (RISC) technology. TNS/R
processors implement the RISC instruction set and are upwardly compatible
with the TNS system-level architecture. Systems with these processors include
most of the NonStop servers. Contrast with TNS
Transaction Application Language. See TAL
type transfer. The conversion of a variable from one data type to another data type.
unblocked global data. Global data you declare before any BLOCK declarations.
Identifiers of such data are accessible to all compilation units in a program.
UNSIGNED. A data type that allocates storage for:
•
Simple variable bit fields that are 1 to 31 bits wide
•
Array element bit fields that are 1, 2, 4, or 8 bits wide
unsigned arithmetic operators. The following operators—'+' (unsigned addition) '-',
(unsigned subtraction) '*' (unsigned multiplication), '/' (unsigned division), and '\'
(unsigned modulo division).
upper 32K-word area. The upper half of the user data segment. You can use pointers to
allocate this area for your data; however, if you use the CRE, the upper 32K-word area
is not available for your data.