ViewPoint Manual

Glossary
ViewPoint Manual—426801-001
Glossary-6
programmed operator
format, a set of message formats, or a set of procedures (such as the SPI procedures) to
build and decode messages; definitions of message elements (commands, data types,
objects, parameters, response data, errors, and so on); rules for communication between
the requester and the server; and software to receive and respond to messages defined
for the interface.
programmed operator. A management application that performs functions that might
otherwise be performed by a human operator.
reply, reply message. One message from a server to a requester, in reaction to a request.
request, request message. One message from a requester to a server.
response. The information or confirmation supplied by a subsystem in reaction to a
command. A response is typically conveyed as one or more interprocess messages
(reply messages) from a subsystem to an application.
server classes. One or more processes sharing the work load but having a single server class
name.
session. The period during which two entities can exchange data. In the context of a
management application, the period during which an application can issue commands to
a subsystem. In the context of a command interpreter, the period during which a user
can issue commands to the command interpreter. In the context of the ViewPoint
application, the period between the user's invoking ViewPoint and exiting.
SPI. See Subsystem Programmatic Interface.
SPI buffer. A sequence of memory locations containing a message produced by the SPI
procedures.
SPI message. A message specially formatted by the SPI procedures for communication
between a management application and a subsystem, or between one subsystem and
another. An SPI message consists of a collection of tokens. To retrieve a token from
the message, the application passes a token code to SPI, which scans for the appropriate
token and returns its value to the application. Note that an SPI message is a single block
of information sent at one time as a unit (sent with one file-system procedure call if the
file system is used). The complete transmittal of a command and the receipt of the
response to it can consist of several exchanges of command and response messages.
SPI procedures. The set of operating system procedures used to build and decode buffers for
use in system and network management and in certain other applications. These
procedures are SSINIT, SSNULL, SSPUT, SSPUTTKN, SSGET, SSGETTKN,
SSMOVE, and SSMOVETKN.
status collection server. See status server.
status configuration file. A file that contains the configuration information controlling what
ViewPoint displays on the Network Status Summary screen. There can be any number