glossary.9 (2010 09)

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glossary(9) glossary(9)
file). Block special files can be mounted. A block special file provides access to the device where
hardware characteristics of the device are not visible.
boot, boot-up
The process of loading, initializing, and running an operating system.
boot area
A portion of a mass storage medium on which the volume header and a "bootstrap" program used in boot-
ing the operating system reside. The boot area is reserved exclusively for use by HP-UX.
boot ROM
A program residing in ROM (Read-Only Memory) that executes each time the computer is powered up
and is designed to bring the computer to a desired state by means of its own action. The first few instruc-
tions of a bootstrap program are sufficient to bring the remainder of the program into the computer from
an input device and initiate functions necessary for computation. The function of the boot ROM is to run
tests on the computer’s hardware, find all devices accessible through the computer, and then load either a
specified operating system or the first operating system found according to a specific search algorithm.
bus address
A number which makes up part of the address HP-UX uses to locate a particular device. The bus
address is determined by a switch setting on a peripheral device which allows the computer to distin-
guish between two devices connected to the same interface. A bus address is sometimes called a "device
address".
character
An element used for the organization, control, or representation of text. Characters include graphic
characters and control characters.
character set
A set of characters used to communicate in a native or computer language.
character special file
A special file associated with I/O devices that transfer data byte-by-byte. Other byte-mode I/O devices
include printers, nine-track magnetic tape drives, and disk drives when accessed in "raw" mode (see raw
disk). A character special file has no predefined structure.
child process
A new process created by a pre-existing process via the fork (2) system call. The new process is thereafter
known to the pre-existing process as its child process. The pre-existing process is the parent process
of the new process. See parent process and fork.
clock tick
A rate used within the system for scheduling and accounting. It consists of the number of intervals per
second as defined by
CLK_TCK that is used to express the value in type clock_t. CLK_TCK was previ-
ously known as the defined constant HZ.
coded character set
A set of unambiguous rules that establishes a character set and the one-to-one relationship between each
character of the set and its corresponding bit representation. ASCII is a coded character set.
collating element
The smallest entity used in collation to determine the logical ordering of strings (that is, the collation
sequence). To accommodate native languages, a collating element consists of either a single character,
or two or more characters collating as a single entity. The current value of the
LANG environment vari-
able determines the current set of collating elements.
collation
The logical ordering of strings in a predefined sequence according to rules established by precedence.
These rules identify a collation sequence among the collating elements and also govern the ordering of
strings consisting of multiple collating elements, to accommodate native languages.
HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 3 − Hewlett-Packard Company 3