The CDPD Public Domain Collection for CDTV 2/CDPD_II_2352.bin/ab20/ab20_archive/text/amiga-terms

Text File | 1992-10-13 | 13KB | 347 lines

Article 7422 of comp.sys.amiga:
Path: xanth!mcnc!rutgers!ucla-cs!zen!ucbvax!COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU!bryce
From: [e-mail] (Bryce Nesbitt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: A glossary of Amiga specific terms
Summary: Clip & save.  Show to your local neophyte.
Keywords: glossary, terms, terminology, help
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 30 Jul 87 01:59:17 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: Institute of Cognitive Studies, UC Berkeley
Lines: 331

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- An Amiga glossary.  Terms and definitions often used when discussing
----- the Amiga.  Copyright (C)1987 Bryce Nesbitt.  All rights reserved.
----- Please don't redistribute as of yet.  Please write to me if you have
----- gripes at a definition, or if you feel something should be added.
------ucbvax!cogsci!bryce -or- [e-mail]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

:-)
    A net smilely.  When sprinkled near a statement it indicates that it
    was was not meant seriously.  "The bombs drop in 5 minutes"  -Ronald
    Reagan :-)

()
    Used to signify a routine.    If I talk about Wait(), I am referring to
    the routine named "Wait".

$C00000 MEMORY
    Memory that sits at location $C00000.  Such memory is automatically
    added to the memory lists by the V1.2 operating system, yet does not
    take up normal auto-config space.

AGNUS
    One of the "big three" custom chips inside the Amiga.  Controls RAM
    addressing, DMA and other timing.

AmigaDOS
    Amiga Disk Operating System.  Strictly speaking, the part of the Amiga
    operating system that controls the file system.  Unlike MS-DOS, there
    is more to the Amiga operating system that just DOS.

     Workbench  CLI   Programs
          \      |        /
           \     |       /
        \    |      /
         \   |     /
          \  |    /
         AmigaDOS            ;DOS level
        /    |     \
          RAM:  DF0:  HD0:            ;FILE SYSTEM level
           |     |       |             ;(managed by handler processes)
      memory   disk    hard disk        ;DEVICE level
           drive   drive         ;(managed by device drivers)

    Programs may often bypass the DOS level by sending a packet directly to
    the proper handler process.

ARP
    AmigaDOS Replacement Project.  A holy crusade undertaken by Charlie
    Heath (of Microsmiths) to implement and distribute a free set of
    improved CLI commands, and programmer facilities.

ATOM
    A kludge to help developers tell their programs the differences between
    FAST and CHIP memory.  See FIXHUNK.

AUTO-CONFIG
    A system of automatically detecting and configuring memory and hardware
    without the need for millions of dip switches or direct user hassle.
    Basically, the software will tell the individual board's hardware what
    address ranges to respond to, and will resolve conflicts. Not actually
    implemented in the Amiga until operating system V1.2.

AUTODOC
    A brief, sometimes cryptic, summary of each Amiga library routine is
    kept in the actual original source code. These are extracted
    automatically by C-A and distributed on paper (in the RKM) or on disk
    to programmers.

BOOT
    From "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps".  To start or restart
    one's computer from scratch.  With the exception of recoverable RAM
    disks, this means loosing all data in memory.

BARREL SHIFTER
    The part of the blitter that can shift bit images to arbitrary
    boundaries nearly instantly.

BIMMER
BLITTER
    A graphics engine that is part of the custom chips.  It can do BLITs
    (Block Image Transfers) in hardware.  Sometimes called a BIMMER (Bitmap
    IMmage Manipulator) because it can also do logic operations during the
    transfer, line draws, hardware fills, and more.

C-A
    Shorthand for Commodore-Amiga, Inc.

CHIP MEMORY
    Memory accessible by the custom chips.  This contains the frame buffer,
    sprites, audio DMA buffers, etc.  This memory runs at twice the speed
    of the 68000, which normally allows the 68000 to run without delay.
    With a very busy display that has lots of extra colors, copper lists,
    or blitter moves, this memory can get bogged down with all the extra
    work. Fortunately there is an alternative, it's called FAST MEMORY.

CHUNK
    See IFF.

CLI
    The AmigaDOS Command Line Interpreter.  A traditional line oriented DOS
    interface.    Can be though of as existing "under" the Workbench Tool.

COPPER
    Display co-processor.  Yet another microprocessor within the Amiga,
    this time specialized at for raster synchronization.  It only has three
    instructions, but since it can access any of the ~100 custom chip
    registers it's rather powerful.  Easy tricks include changing
    resolution on any line, reusing sprites later in a display, modifying
    the pallette on the fly, page flipping with no 68000 involvement, etc.

DEAMON
    The actual working part of a program that may do it's dirty work while
    hidden in the background.

DENISE
    One of the "big three" custom chips in the Amiga.  Contains the video
    output signals, mouse input and misc. timing.

DEVICE, EXEC
    Usually a task that that talks directly to some piece of hardware.    The
    "keyboard.device", for example, reads the keyboard then tells the rest
    of the world about it.  The "trackdisk.device" is an example of a
    device that can have multiple units.
    Programs communicate to devices with IO requests, a form of inter-task
    communication.
    The standard devices are: timer, trackdisk, keyboard, gameport, input,
    console, audio, narrator, serial, parallel, and printer.  With each
    hard drive, SCSI interface, or extra serial port, you will probably get
    another exec device.

DEVICE DRIVER
    The actual code that a device executes.

EHB
    Extra HalfBrite.  A video mode that allows 64 colors per line.
    Available on all A500s and A2000s, and roughly half of the A1000s.

EXEC
    The executive.  Master of the Amiga.  Controls task switching and low
    level system details.

EXECUTE
    To command a program or sequence of computer instructions to commence.
    Not "put to death".

FAST MEMORY
    Memory that is not accessible to the custom chips, and not subject to
    possible delay, either.  Most quality expansion memory fits in this
    category.  This is the preferred location for most program code and
    data.

FILE SYSTEM
    A place to store files.  DF0: is one, so is RAM:.

FIXHUNK
    A utility.    Some older programs for the Amiga where improperly written
    and will not work if non-CHIP memory is added.  Fixhunk can usually fix
    the problem.

GARY
    Stands for "Gate ARaY", cute eh?  A single custom chip used in the
    Amiga 500 that replaces a large number of individual chips from the
    original A1000.

GENLOCK
    The capability that allows synchronizing of the Amiga's video to an
    external source and the overlay of the two images.

GOLDFISH
    A intellectual possession of another that is not to be abused, stepped
    on, fried or otherwise compromised. :-)

HAM
    Hold And Modify.  A obscure, but powerful, Amiga video mode that
    expresses each pixel as a modification of the last.  Allows for some
    nice shading.

HANDLER
    On the Amiga, the code that manages a file system.    Handlers often live
    in the L: directory when not in use.

HEAP
    A place to toss all sorts of junk.

HUNK
    A subdivision of an AmigaDOS object file.  HUNKS come in several
    flavors including those that store CODE, DATA and BSS (uninitialized
    data).  If all the HUNKS in a file do not line up correctly, AmigaDOS
    will report error 121, "file not an object module".

HUNKPAD
    A utility that can fix files that have been damaged by XMODEM transfer.
    One symptom of a damaged file is error 121, "file is not an object
    module".  This utility also prevents future XMODEM damage.

HYBRID MEMORY
    Memory that can't be addressed by the custom chips, yet is still
    subject to the delays they can can cause.  Sometimes called SLOW FAST
    memory.

ICON
    A pictorial representation of a file.  Expressed as a file with the
    ".info" suffix.  These come in the DISK, DRAWER, TOOL, PROJECT,
    GARBAGE, DEVICE and KICK flavors.  The last is not used, and the second
    to last is used in conjunction with auto-config.

IFF
    Interchange File Format.  A standard for creating file format
    standards.    Popular formats include ILBM (InterLeaved Bit-Map) for
    raster images, SVX8 (8 bit digital samples), and SMUS (Simple MUsical
    Score).
    ILBM, SVX8 and SMUS are all FORMs.    Each form is composed of one or
    more CHUNKS.  Each CHUNK holds a specific class of the file's data. For
    example in ILBM FORMs there are several possible CHUNKs including BHMD
    which holds the actual picture data, CMAP which holds the color map,
    and DEST which has to do with converting pictures with different
    depths.  Any writer that does not know about DEST won't write that. Any
    reader that does not care about DEST won't read it.  If a program wants
    a CMAP, but a file does not have it, it will use default values or make
    something up.  The beauty of this system is that new CHUNKS can be be
    added to an existing IFF file definition without affecting portability.

INPUT.DEVICE
    Where all the input from the keyboard, mouse and other user input
    devices flows.  Also a popular place for user interface modifying
    programs to hang out.

INTUITION
    "The Amiga user interface".  Intuition uses the low level layers and
    graphics libraries to build screens, windows, menus, gadgets and other
    user interaction mechanisms.

LIBRARY
    All Amiga system function calls are grouped into libraries.  Commonly
    used libraries include exec, intuition, dos and graphics.

LOCK
    An AmigaDOS structure that prevents multitasking programs from stomping
    on shared files.  Other Amiga subsystems use locks for other purposes.

MMU
    A device for arbitrating and protecting against a task damaging the
    memory of another task.  Also has lots of other uses that are beyond
    the scope of this discussion.  The current generation Amigas do not
    contain one.

MESSAGE
    A mechanism of inter-task communication.

NUKE
    To destroy, demolish, obliterate, wipe out, mung, hash into little
    bits, waste, screw up, or make FUBAR, by means of atomic weapons, or
    with a computer.

OVERLAY
    An AmigaDOS feature that allows part of a program to sit on disk, to be
    brought into memory only when needed.

OVERSCAN
    Any of the pixels beyond 640 (high res) or 320 (lo res) wide and 200 or
    400 high that are actually used in a display.  The Amiga system
    software will let you specify a display as wide as 704, and as high as
    464 pixels, but on most monitors some of that will be clipped by the
    borders of the display monitor used.  It is possible to adjust a
    monitor to show that space, however.  The "morerows" program can be
    used to add overscan pixels to the Workbench screen.  For broadcast TV
    use, overscan allows the picture to use the full width of the display.

PACKET, AmigaDOS
    An AmigaDOS specific message.  All DOS activity is actually carried out
    with a packet sent to the proper DOS HANDLER process.

PAULA
    Another of the "big three" custom chips.  Includes the audio DAC's,
    4703 custom interrupt chip, custom serial chip, and hyper-fancy custom
    disk controller.

PROCESS
    A task that has been taught how to talk to AmigaDOS.

PROJECT
    Workbenchism for the output of a tool.  A data file.

RKM
    The ROM Kernal Manual, the Amiga programmer's bible.  The other two
    essential books are the Intuition manual and the AmigaDOS manual(s).
    These books are *not* tutorial in nature.

PUBLIC
    A memory attribute that must be specified if a section of memory is to
    be shared between two processes.  This will become critical when a MMU
    is added to the Amiga.

TASK
    The system's idea of a running program.  Each task thinks that it has
    the main processor all to itself.  Each task is wrong.  It will
    actually be sharing it with many other tasks.  Tasks that have nothing
    to do will Wait().    Waiting tasks take virtually no processor time.

TOOL
    Workbenchism for "program"

UUDECODE
UUENCODE
    Encode and decode routines that allow the transmission of binary files
    over normal text based mail systems.

VULCAN NERVE PINCH
    The CTRL-AMIGA-AMIGA reboot sequence.

WCS
    Writable Control Store.  This is the 256K of extra memory on the Amiga
    1000 that is provided to hold the contents of the Kickstart disk. The
    V1.1 and V1.2 operating system updates where distributed on disk.

WORKBENCH SCREEN
    The default screen that appears when the machine first starts up.  It's
    titled "Workbench Screen" and may, or may not, contain the workbench
    tool.

WORKBENCH TOOL
    The icon oriented interface to AmigaDOS.  This is normally started up
    when the machine is booted via the "LoadWB" command.  "LoadWB -debug"
    can be used to start up with an invisible debug menu.

-----------------------------
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