Power-Programmierung/CD2.mdf/doc/mir/1aglossa

Text File | 1992-06-29 | 20.4 KB | 615 lines

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                  10.   GLOSSARY AND INDEX

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            Each item is indexed by topic and section number.  The
first reference is to the topic and section in which the item is
explained or first discussed.  The index indicates other notable
places in which the item is mentioned.  For example, "accented
characters" below are discussed in some detail in topic 4, section
8.  Section 10 of topic 4 and four sections within topic 5 touch on
accented characters further.


≡≡≡≡->> QUESTION:
            What terms or expressions are used in Tutorial ONE that
            puzzle you or that should be included in this glossary
            and index?
                                                            <<-≡≡≡≡


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accented characters
          4.8   indicated in DOS with high-bit-set characters
          4.10  distribution frequencies
          5.1   displayed in MIR program HEAD
          5.3   displayed in MIR program F_PRINT
          5.4   displayed in MIR program DUMP
          5.5   displayed in MIR program FRAGMENT

ANSI C  (American National Standards Institute)
          2.3   The ANSI draft standard for the C programming
                language proposes a basic set of functions and
                characteristics; adhering to ANSI C is the best
                way to assure maximum portability of C programs

ASCII (The American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
          4.8   an agreed-upon assignment of bit patterns to
                letters, digits, punctuation, control characters
          etc.  Mentioned in 64 other sections.



ASCII text
          4.8   a file made up of the printable subset of ASCII,
                entered from a normal keyboard and displayable on
                terminals in ASCII-based operating systems such as
                DOS and UNIX
          4.10  byte distribution in example of ASCII text file
          5.1   MIR program HEAD reports if file not ASCII text
          5.3   MIR program F_PRINT extracts ASCII text
          6.1   programs for analyzing ASCII text
          7.1   fixed length ASCII text records
          9.2   MIR program F_TRAIL to remove trailing blanks

ASCII text, extended
          4.8   to the printable set of ASCII characters, the
                extended set adds accented characters commonly
                found in various European languages

A_BYTES
          4.7   MIR program to analyze the distribution of byte
                frequencies within any file
          4.8   and analysis of data types
          4.9   and analysis of data presentation
          4.10  worked example on extended ASCII with markup
          5.5   use locations to examine context
          7.1   recognizing printable subsets

A_LEN
          6.1   MIR program to analyze the distribution of line
                lengths up to 1024 bytes within any file.

A_OCCUR
          5.8   MIR program to count the frequency of occurrence
                of identical lines in ASCII text

A_OCCUR2
          5.8   MIR program to calculate cumulative frequency of
                merged A_OCCUR outputs

A_OCCUR3
          5.8   MIR program to reverse an A_OCCUR file back to
                repeated lines of ASCII text

A_PATTRN
          5.6   MIR program to list every occurrence of a key
                character or string in a file
          5.7   the power of sorting A_PATTRN outputs



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  B
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batch file
          4.5   a text file in DOS containing an orderly series of
                commands, each of which runs a program or process
                as part of a larger task

BCD (Binary Coded Decimal)
          4.8   a set of codes in which a combination of 4 bits is
                assigned each digit 0 through 9 (0000, 0001, ...
                1001); each 8 bit byte can hold two BCD digits
          7.4   used within EBCDIC COBOL records for packing

bit
          2.2   the smallest measure of computer memory; a single
                off/on characteristic that is interpreted as a
                zero or a one.  A series of bits can be mapped to
                binary arithmetic.  Example... 10110 =
                        1 X 2 to the fourth power (1 X 16) +
                        0 X 2 to the third power  (0 X 8)  +
                        1 X 2 squared             (1 X 4)  +
                        1 X 2 to the power 1      (1 X 2)  +
                        0 X 2 to the power zero   (0 X 1)
                which is decimal 22.

blocked records
          4.9   a method of data presentation in which successive
                records are grouped in a logical consistent manner
                for convenience of reading, writing or storage
          9.    topic on how to deblock records

BPI (bits per inch)
                a measure of the quantity of information held on
                magnetic tape; normal measures are 1600 and 6250
                BPI

byte
                8 bits; one byte can represent 256 different values

byte stream
          4.9   the crudest form of file; sequence of bytes which
                a program reads sequentially and manipulates
                according to content rather than according to
                position within the file
          6.4   contrast to hierarchical text


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  C
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C language
                "a general purpose programming language which
                features economy of expression, modern control
                flow and data structures, and a rich set of
                operators" (Kernighan and Ritchie, The C
                Programming Language, page ix), in which source
                code requires little or no adaptation to be used
                on a wide variety of computers

Canada
                the home of the GST (Grab and Squander Tax) and
                the place where cold weather comes from; a country
                in which natives huddle in their igloos and write
                superlative software in vain attempt to stay warm

CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory)
                a computer optical storage medium, closely related
                to the compact discs used for music, holding 660
                million bytes of data, with random access to any
                point on the disc in less than two seconds

COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language)
                a computer programming language favored in
                commercial applications in the 1960s and later,
                particularly in mainframe (large computer)
                installations

COLRM
          5.8   MIR program to remove a specified range of columns
                from each line of an ASCII text file.
          7.3   extracting a single field from a file consisting
                of fixed length ASCII records

compiler
          2.3   computer program used to translate source code
                into a machine language program, suitable for
                executing on compatible computers with the same
                operating system

CompuServe Information System
                an electronic information and communication system
                with over 900,000 subscribers, widely used for
                electronic mail; sometimes abbreviated CIS or CI$;
                CompuServe is a registered trademark of
                CompuServe, Inc.

concatenate
          4.7   to link together, as in a chain; to place several
                text files one after another within a combined
                file

copyleft
                refers to the Free Software Foundation GNU General
                Public License in which persons receiving source
                code can do almost anything with it except put in
                under copyright or patent

CPB
          4.6   MIR program to copy any portion of any file to a
                new file
          5.5   use to get a more detailed, but less convenient,
                display than that produced by FRAGMENT


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  D
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DEBLOC_A
          9.4   MIR program to remove blocking and insert line
                feeds in a variable length blocked ASCII text file

DEBLOC_B
          9.5   MIR program to deblock two level binary blocked
                files

DIR
                a DOS command to list files and their sizes within
                a directory

DOS (Disk Operating System)
                the most widely used operating system for IBM
                compatible personal computers; MS-DOS is a
                registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

DOS executable form
          2.3   selected for widest spectrum of potential users
          4.5   program in PC compatible machine language ready
                for use in a MS DOS or PC DOS environment

DOSIFY
          5.2   MIR program to replace a UNIX-style text file with
                a DOS version in which each line feed is preceded
                by one carriage return, and the file ends with one
                CTL-Z byte

DUMP
          5.4   MIR program to list the contents of a specified
                portion of any file, reporting 16 bytes per line
                in hexadecimal and (where feasible) printable form
          5.5   detailed way to display context at a location
          8.2   use to examine file signatures
          8.4   use to verify binary blocking


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EBCDIC  (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
          4.8   an agreed-upon assignment of bit patterns to
                letters, digits, punctuation, control characters;
                an alternate to ASCII, common on IBM mainframes
          7.4   may need to re-convert to identify packed values
          9.5   DEBLOC_B program

EBC_ASC
          4.8   MIR program to convert an EBCDIC file to ASCII
          9.5   distorts binary values when converting files


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  F
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field
          4.1   unit of data that takes on meaning according to
                location or an identifying code; examples...
                purchase order number, street address, quantity,
                cost per unit, etc.
          5.6, 5.7  recognizing field separators
          6.5   fielded variable length text
          6.6   sequence of data within a field as an analysis aid
          7.2   field layouts
          7.3   extracting a single field from fixed length data


fixed length records
          4.9   a file consists entirely of equal size segments,
                and within each segment, fields have specific byte
                range assignments which do not vary from one
                record to the next
          7.    topic on worked examples of fixed length records
          8.5   binary data within fixed length records
          9.3   deblocking fixed length records

FORtran  (FORmula TRANslation)
                a procedure oriented programming language
                developed in the 1950s for solving problems in
                mathematics, science and engineering; Fortran is
                still in use

FRAGMENT
          5.5   MIR program to display a five line fragment of a
                file in printable form, providing a quick view of
                context

F_PRINT
          5.3   MIR program to filter/reduce a file to printable
                characters only

F_TRAIL
          9.2   MIR program to remove trailing blanks from lines
                of ASCII text

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  G
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gigabyte
                1,073,742,824 characters of data

GNU  (GNU's Not UNIX)
                a recursive acronym for the Free Software
                Foundation's alternative to the UNIX operating
                system; a diabolical threat to mental health if
                one is asked too frequently: "What's GNU?"

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  H
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hard copy
          4.4, 7.4  data printed on paper an aid to analysis

hardware
          2.3   the physical components of a computer (case, disk
                drives, boards, chips, etc.) and its peripheral
                equipment (printer, external drives, terminal,
                cables, etc.); what you can see, feel, hear, and
                (when the terminal has been on too many hours)
                smell

HEAD
          5.1   MIR program to display lines at the beginning or
                end of a text file
          5.2   use to recognize non-DOS text

hexadecimal notation
          4.7   Arithmetic to the base 16; the rightmost digit in
                an octal number is a multiple of 16 to the power 0
                (i.e., 1), the next digit 16 to the power 1, the
                third digit from the right 16 to the power 2, etc.
                The hexadecimal digits are 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B
                C D E and F.  Example: hexadecimal 6D is 6 X 16
                plus 13 X 1 which in decimal arithmetic is 109 and
                in ASCII code is the letter 'm'.  The 256 possible
                values in one byte are hexadecimal 00 through FF.
                Note one hexadecimal digit represents 4 bits.
          5.4   output from DUMP program
          5.6   output from A_PATTRN program when /x argument used

HEX_BIN
          8.4   MIR program to create test files with any
                combination of printable and binary characters

high-bit-set
          4.8   the first of eight bits in a byte is turned on
          4.9   bytes show up in binary length blocked records
          4.10  used in DOS for accented characters

homonyms
                words of different meaning which share the same
                spelling (a significant problem in indexing)

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  I
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IBM
                registered trademark of International Business
                Machines Corporation

ISO 9660
                Standard controlling the headers and file
                references on CD-ROM that permits any computer
                program written to standard to access files in
                conforming CD-ROM readers of any manufacturer; ISO
                = International Standards Organization


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line records
          4.9   segments of text padded to a fixed length
          9.2   reducing line records

LINES
          6.1   MIR program to provide a quick count of the number
                of lines in each of one or more text files

LINE_NUM
          6.1   MIR program to assign a sequence number to each
                line in a text file

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  M
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markup codes
          4.8   embedded signals which direct how data should be
                displayed
          3.6   and standards; and SGML
          6.2   ASCII markup patterns
          6.3   Standard Generalized Markup Language
          8.1   binary markup

media
                alternate methods of storing data so that it may
                be entered readily into computer memory; examples
                are hard disk, floppy diskette, optical disk,
                magnetic tape, laser card, punched card, punched
                tape

media independent
                describes a technique in which the selection of
                data storage technology has no bearing



MIR  (Mass Indexing and Retrieval)
                project whose output is a set of tutorials, plus
                extensive C language source code under copyleft
                rules, aimed at enabling technical people to write
                or adapt software leading to high speed retrieval
                in any size database

mouse
          2.1   a hand operated device to point to objects or text
                on a computer screen; a mouse-click on an object
                or piece of text acts as a command to a program

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NEWLINES
          7.1   MIR program to insert carriage returns and line
                feeds at regular intervals, to deblock data
                received in line blocks
          7.3   use to extract a field from a fixed length ASCII
                text file
          9.2   use to deblock line records

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  O
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octal notation
          4.7   Arithmetic to the base 8; the rightmost digit in
                an octal number is a multiple of 8 to the power 0
                (i.e., 1), the next digit 8 to the power 1, the
                third digit from the right 8 to the power 2, etc.
                Example: octal 376 is 3 X 64 plus 7 X 8 plus 6 X 1
                which in decimal arithmetic is 254.  The 256
                possible values in one byte are octal 000 through
                377.  Note one octal represents 3 bits.
          7.3   used by the UNIX utility TR

OCR  (Optical Character Recognition)
          3.5   computer software and a scanning device interact
                to convert text on paper into machine-readable
                form
          3.7   human checking for validity

open architecture
                describes hardware and software in which the
                technical detail is made generally available

operating system
          2.3   the software and data that initiates, coordinates
                and directs the components of a computer; serves
                as an intermediary between the user's programs and
                the computer hardware

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  P
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preprocessing
                the use of a wide variety of techniques to bring
                data into a standardized form; used in MIR in
                preparation for automated indexing

P_FIXED
          9.3   MIR program to convert a fixed record length file
                to ASCII with field numbers

P_MARC
          9.5   Program source code, untested, to deblock MARC
                library records

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RAM  (Random Access Memory)
          2.2   making do with little high speed memory
          8.6   use of RAM in decompression

reboot
          2.1   restart a computer by pressing a reset button or
                (on a PC compatible) by pressing the three keys
                CTL-ALT-DEL at the same time; an inelegant way to
                escape from a badly written computer program

REPLACE1
          7.3   table-driven MIR program to replace every byte in
                an input file with exactly one alternate byte
                (passing reference; full write-up in Tutorial TWO)


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SFQL  (Structured Full text Query Language)
                proposed standard to enable "interoperability" of
                CD-ROMs and software interfaces by different
                vendors

SGML  (Standard Generalized Markup Language)
          6.3   introduction to SGML
          3.6   user control over format

SORT2
          5.8   MIR program to sort large text files using the
                memory-bound DOS SORT routine in multiple passes

source code
          2.    the form in which computer programs are normally
                written and changed, in a "language" which a
                compiler program can translate into machine
                language for high speed use; without access to
                source code it is very difficult to make changes
                to a program to accommodate it to new needs

stdin  (standard input)
                instead of taking data from a named file, a
                program receives data directly from another
                program or from a terminal;  risky in DOS for non-
                text files

stdout  (standard output)
                the result of a program is sent to another program
                or to a terminal;  risky in DOS for non-text files

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UNIX
                a computer operating system and trademark of Bell
                Laboratories
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WordPerfect
                the word processor used to create the topics on
                the MIR diskettes; WordPerfect is a registered
                trademark of WordPerfect Corporation
          8.3   converting a file to ASCII

WYSIWYG  (What You See Is What You Get)
          6.2   the simplest form of text file
          6.3   untagged SGML
          8.3   WordPerfect ASCII conversion

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