TNSVU User's Guide

Glossary
TNSVU User’s Guide—528143-003
Glossary-11
library
library. A generic term for a collection of routines useful in many programs. An object code
library can take the form of a linkfile to be physically included into client programs, it
can be an OSS archive file containing several linkable modules, it can be a loadfile, or
it can be a system-managed collection of preloaded routines. Source-code libraries fall
outside the scope of this glossary. See also dynamic-link library (DLL) and shared run-
time library (SRL).
library client. A program or another library that uses routines or variables from that library.
library file. See library.
library import characterization (LIC). A list of the export digests and relocation offsets of
all the libraries used to resolve symbols in a loadfile. It allows the loader and operating
system to determine when a file is being loaded in an environment equivalent to that
found by the linker or to a previous load. (See fault domain.) A LIC is generated and
stored in the loadfile by the linker when a file is preset; it can be used in a subsequent
load step to determine whether the loadfile’s existing bindings can be reused. The
operating system can also retain the bindings as modified when a loadfile is loaded
and associate a LIC with those cached bindings, so that they can be reused when the
same file is again loaded in an equivalent environment.
LIC. See library import characterization (LIC).
linker. (1) The process or server that invokes the message system to deliver a message to
some other process or server. (2) A programming utility, which combines one or more
compilation units’ linkfiles to create an executable loadfile for a native program or
library.
linkfile. (1) For native C/C++ compilers in the Guardian environment, a command file for
input to the eld, ld, or nld utility. (2) A file containing object code that is not yet ready
to load and execute. Linkfiles are combined by means of a linker to make an
executable loadfile for a program or library. Compiling creates one linkfile per
independent source module. Contrast with loadfile.
linking. The operation of collecting, connecting, and relocating code and data blocks from
one or more separately compiled object files to produce a target object file.
load. (1) To transfer the HP NonStop™ operating system image or a program from disk into
a computer’s memory so that the operating system or program can run. (2) To insert a
tape into a tape drive, which prepares it for a tape operation (read or write).
loadable library. A loadfile that offers functions and data to other loadfiles. In this manual,
dynamic-link libraries and hybrid shared run-time libraries are libraries. A library cannot
normally be invoked externally; for example, by a RUN command. Instead, it is invoked
by calls or data references from client loadfiles.
loader. A programming utility that transfers a program into memory so it can run. The
mechanism that brings loadfiles into memory for execution, maps them into virtual
address space, and resolves symbol references among them. Synonyms include