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The section headed "!" contains entries beginning with digits, punctuation marks, and other special characters. However, file-name extensions, although shown with their preceding periods (for example, .int), appear under their initial letters.
- Callable File Handler
- The Callable File Handler is a module in the
COBOL system that processes index, sequential and relative files. As a defined API is available to this module, it is called the Callable File Handler as it can be called directly from any program (not only those written in COBOL).
- CallBack
- An object of class CallBack stores a reference to an object and the name of a method implemented by that object. When the CallBack object is sent the "invoke" message, it executes the named method in the object it has stored.
- call prototype
- A definition of the syntax of a CALL statement using placeholders instead of real parameters. Call prototypes are used in header and copyfiles to enable the Compiler to check that CALL statements in your code conform to the specified syntax, and to raise
an error message if they do not.
- cascading style-sheet
- An addition the HTML standard which enables presentation information to be separated from structure in an HTML document. Styles can be
attached to HTML elements, through a STYLE attribute on an individual element, a <STYLE>...</STYLE> block which names element types in the head of an HTML document, or through separate .css files. Styles can also be defined as classes in a
.css file or <STYLE>...</STYLE> block, and attached to elements through the CLASS attribute.
Stylesheets cascade through a system of precedence, whereby styles in .css files have the lowest precedence, and those declared in a STYLE attribute have the highest.
- Cbllink
- A simplified linking utility with a command-line interface. You can use Cbllink to compile and link in one step.
- Cblnames
- A linking utility that you must run before you use the Linker. Cblnames extracts all public symbols from a list of
.obj files passed to it and creates another file (cbllds.obj) which must then be linked with your .obj files.
- CCITCP2
- The CCITCP2 process is a registration program which is needed in order to make CCITCP connections. The process runs in background mode. Only a single CCITCP2 process needs to be active on a network in order for CCITCP to work.
- character graphics
- When creating a topic in an on-line help file, pictures can be created from the standard characters
available. These are called character graphics. In order to maintain the vertical alignment of these graphics the lines are blocked together using the :cgraphic and :ecgraphic
tags. The access and display programs ensure that the vertical alignment is maintained when a character graphic block is displayed, by specifying a monospaced font for those lines.
- CharacterArray
- An instance of the class CharacterArray. A CharacterArray is an object which contains a string of any length. CharacterArrays are a convenient way of passing strings as parameters when sending messages or making CALLs.
See also messages.
- check box
- A square box with associated text that represents a choice. When selected, it is marked with a checkmark. You deselect it by repeating the action that selected it, for example, by clicking on it again. Check boxes are used for a set of choices that are
not mutually exclusive.
- check phase
- The first phase of compilation, which checks the syntax of your COBOL source program and produces intermediate code.
See also intermediate code.
- Checker
- The two phases of compilation are sometimes treated as if they were two separate compilers. The first phase of compilation is thus sometimes called the Checker.
See also check phase.
- checkmark
- A character used to indicate that a checkmark choice is turned on. Absence of the checkmark means the option is off.
See also toggle and checkmark choice.
- checkmark choice
- A choice in a menu which has two states, on or off. Clicking on the option turns the checkmark on and off, toggling between the two states.
- child
- A run unit created by another run unit.
- child window
- A window whose parent is another window, not the desktop. In Microsoft Windows, child windows are restricted in their properties and attributes.
- choice
- Graphics or text that a user can select to modify or manipulate an object. Choices appear on menus (also called menu items) and buttons.
- chord
- Pressing both mouse buttons simultaneously.
- class
-
An Object COBOL program which contains the code and data descriptions for a class object and its instance objects. It is also known as the class program. A class consists of nested COBOL programs, which correspond to class object and instance object
methods. Each class starts with an identifier naming the class and the class from which it inherits. When a class is loaded at run-time, the OO run-time system creates the class object.
- Class-Control paragraph
- Lists all the classes the program is going to use. The Class-Control paragraph is part of the Object Section, in the Environment Division. Each entry links a class name to the filename of the class executable file. The class-names are the object references which the
program uses for sending messages to the class object at run-time.
If the program itself is an Object COBOL class, the Class-Control paragraph also lists its superclass, and the class itself.
See also: class, class object, object reference, and superclass.
- class object
-
An object which is a template for the creation of instance objects of the same type. For example, the the OrderedCollection class object creates instances of OrderedCollection. The class object itself does not have the same behavior and methods as the
instance objects which it creates.
By analogy, a biscuit cutter is a template for creating biscuits; however, you can't
eat a biscuit cutter and you can't stamp a biscuit from another biscuit. In Object COBOL, all the methods and data for a class object and the instance objects which it creates are represented by a class program.
The class object is created at run-time when a class is loaded.
See also class.
- class library
- The set of classes supplied with Object COBOL. The root class of the Class Library, Base, implements basic behavior for all classes, and provides a
superclass for your own classes. There are also classes to implement collections, exception handlers, CallBacks, and GUI interfaces.
- class program
- See class.
- click
- To press and release a mouse button (from the noise that this action makes).
- click and drag
- To press and hold a mouse button and move the mouse pointer in the desired direction and then release the button.
- client area
- The part of a window that constitutes the available workspace for an application.
- client window
- A secondary window opened by an application.
- clipboard
- A storage area used to hold data (text or graphics) temporarily during cut and paste operations.
See cut and paste.
- cloning
-
The process of copying a project and its source files to a different directory (using a different name if required) whilst keeping all the dependencies and build settings intact. Useful for creating a working version of an existing project whilst keeping
the original intact.
- COBDIR
- An environment variable that contains a list of the paths of the COBOL system directories. Each path is separated from the next by a semicolon (;).
- COBOL system directories
- A set of directories which are automatically searched by the COBOL run-time system to locate programs. They are identified by the COBDIR environment variable. The files of the COBOL system should be kept in the COBOL system directories.
- collection
- A type of object used for storing a group of elements. Collections are analogous to tables in COBOL, but unlike a table, a collection is not necessarily fixed to an initial size, but can grow as more elements are added.
The elements in a collection are usually objects, although you can also store certain types of string and numeric data. The Object COBOL Class Library provides many different types of collection, which organize data in different ways.
- COM
- Component Object Model. An alternative name for Microsoft\rquote s OLE technology.
See OLE.
- combination box
- Also known as combo box or selection list box.
See selection list box.
- Common Communications Interface (CCI)
-
The Common Communications Interface (CCI) is an application programming interface (API) which enables application designers to build platform and protocol independent communications into their applications.
- Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
- Common Gateway Interface - a standard for external gateway programs to interface with information servers such as HTTP servers. CGI programs
are usually run when an end-user enters some information into an HTML or ActiveX layout form displayed on a Web browser, and clicks a
Submit button. The CGI program receives the information from the form, and sends back a result for display on the Web browser.
CGI and CGI program are terms often used to describe any kind of server-side program.
which runs on a Web server. NetExpress tools create CGI programs, which you can convert to other Web server APIs (ISAPI or NSAPI) by recompiling and rebuilding.
- Compiler
- The component that checks the syntax of your COBOL source program, and converts it to native code.
- Compiler phases
- The Compiler operates in two phases. The first phase is called the check phase; during this phase, the compiler checks the syntax, and creates intermediate code from your source code. The second phase is the generate phase; during this phase, the Compiler generates object code or
generated code as required.
- component
-
An object which can send and receive signals. Any object can be made into a component by sending it the "makeComponent" message. Components operate in a way analogous to microchips; they define a set of inputs and outputs. A component can send output
signals regardless of whether or not there is another component receiving those signals, without causing a run-time error.
See also object, signal.
- Component Object Model
- An alternative name for Microsoft\rquote s OLE technology.
See OLE..
- compression routine
- A routine that you call from your program to carry out data compression or key compression on a file. Micro Focus supplies a compression routine and you can provide your own compression routines.
See also Micro Focus compression routine and user-supplied compression routine.
- context menu
- See popup menu.
- context number
- Every topic in an on-line help file
has a unique context number that is used to reference that topic. The context number is used as an index into a look-up table held in the file which defines the address of each topic in the file.
You can choose the context number and define it using a .define tag.
The numbers are purely arbitrary and do not reflect the structure of the file. The sequence of the topics in the source files is the only structure recognized.
More than one context number can point to the same topic.
- control
- An object that enables you to select choices or type information. Examples are entry fields, list boxes, and buttons such as check boxes, pushbuttons, radio buttons and spin buttons.
See also button.
- cookie
- A token consisting of a name and value, passed to a Web browser by a
server-side programs. Cookies are used by server-side programs to maintain application state. For example, you could store a user id in a cookie, and use it to access an indexed file containing information about the selections
a user had made in an online shopping application.
- copyfile
- A file containing text, which the Compiler inserts into the main body of a COBOL program when it processes a COPY statement in that program.
- CORBA
- Common Object Request Broker Architecture: a standard specified by the Object Management Group (OMG) that defines an
open, interoperable middleware standard. It specifies how an Object Request Broker (ORB) is used to establish client/server relationships between components written in different languages in a language transparent manner. CORBA is part of the
OMG\rquotes Object Management Architecture (OMA).
- coru
- A set of run units consisting of a parent run unit and all the run units created from it.
- critical section
- An area of code in a multi-threading program that accesses shared data. Critical sections can be protected by various synchronization primitives.
- cross-reference list
- A special sort of fixed-lines topic in an on-line help file
where each line contains a cross-reference to another topic. Such a topic is defined using the .list tag.
It must not contain any formatting tags. When displayed, a full width cursor appears. This can be used to select a line to which you want to refer.
The first word on the line is used as the cross-reference name unless it is defined as a hotspot, in which case the hotspot cross-reference is used.
- CSS
- See cascading style-sheet.
- current directory
- The directory that the operating system, when looking for a file, will search first if no path is specified.
- current record pointer
- The current record pointer (CRP) is used to determine which record will be returned by a sequential read operation. The CRP is set by OPEN, READ and START.
- current statement
- When debugging, the statement currently being executed or, if none is currently being executed, the statement to be executed next.
- cursor
- A graphical image that shows you where text will appear on the screen when you press keys, or where you can make a selection.
- cut
- An editing operation to delete text from a file and move it to the clipboard, prior to pasting it back in a different location.
See also paste.
- icon
- A small picture representing an object or a selection choice (for example a window, project, tool, program, document, set of data, container). Windows can be minimized (reduced to icons) to save space on the desktop.
- identifier
- See resource identifier.
- IDL
- Interface Definition Language: part of the CORBA standard specified by the Object Management Group (OMG). It is used to define an abstract definition of an interface to a distributed server component. An IDL compiler is used to generate specific
language bindings for the language that a component (client or server) is written in. IDL is a key component within CORBA and enables it to be a language transparent standard. This means that each individual component within a distributed application can be
written without any knowledge of the language that any other component is written in.
- .idy file
- See dictionary file.
- implicit call
- A call made from a program in which only the basename (that is the, filename without the file extension) of the called program is specified; for example:
call "myprog"
For implicit calls, the run-time system searches for files in a particular order (for example, first by seing if there is a file of filename.gnt, then filename.int, and so on).
Compare with explicit call.
- implicit filename
- A filename called from a program in which only the basename, (that is the, filename without the file extension) is specified; for example:
call "myprog"
The run-time system searches for implicit filenames in a particular order (for example, first by seeing if there is a file of filename.gnt, then filename.int, and so on).
Compare with explicit filename.
- in-place activation
- An OLE server started inside the OLE container window. When in-place activation occurs, the server can add its own menus and toolbars to the container.
See also OLE container, OLE server.
- inactive window
- An open window that is not receiving input from the keyboard. Distinguished from the active window by a dimmed border.
- includefile
- A file containing text, which the Compiler inserts into the main body of a COBOL program when it processes an INCLUDE statement in that program.
See also copyfile.
- inheritance
- The mechanism by which a subclass has access to the functionality in its superclass. A subclass always inherits all the methods of its superclass, which it can override if necessary. A subclass can also inherit the data of its superclass,
although this depends on the settings in the CLASS-ID header of both the subclass and the superclass. By identifying different types of objects which have common functionality, you can implement the common methods for that functionality in a single class and inherit it in any number of subclasses.
Each class inherits all the methods of its superclass, so a class ultimately inherits all methods all the way up to a root class. A class object inherits the class methods of its superclass, and an instance object inherits the instance methods of its
superclass. In this Object COBOL implementation, a class has only one immediate superclass. The superclass is named in the INHERITS clause of the CLASS-ID header.
See also subclass, superclass.
- input focus
- A state of the system that indicates which window receives keyboard events. A window has the focus if keyboard and mouse events are sent to it.
- input socket
- Defines a set of signals which a component can receive. A single component can have many input sockets, and use each each socket to connect to a different component.
See also component, signal .
- instance
- The instructions and data that result from a single call of a recursive routine.
- instance
- See Instance Object.
- instance object
- A single occurrence of an object of a particular class. Instance objects are created by sending an appropriate message (usually "new") to a class object. For example, to create a window for display on the desktop, you send the "new" message to the Window
class object. The methods and data for instance objects are defined in the object program, which is nested within the class program. The object program starts with the header OBJECT and finishes with END OBJECT.
- instantiate
- To run a program by making a single call to the program. The instructions that are executed together with the set of data produced by the unique call to the program are called an instance of the program.
- intermediate code
- Code produced when a source program is syntax-checked. Intermediate code is executable code in a Micro Focus proprietary format.
- intermediate code file
- An executable file containing intermediate code. An intermediate code file has the filename extension .int, and is often referred to an .int file.
- .int file
- See intermediate code file.
- intrinsic class
- A class corresponding to a COBOL intrinsic data type. These classes are used as templates so that you can send messages to COBOL intrinsic data using the INVOKE ... AS... construct.
- introspection
- The process by which a Java Bean class is read in order to create a representation of the Java Bean's API. It is carried out by the Introspector class, which is part of the Java Core Reflection API.
- invoke
- Send a message to an object. Object COBOL defines a new verb, INVOKE, to enable you to send messages.
- sample programs
- The programs supplied with the COBOL system as examples to demonstrate use of the system. Some are referred to by tutorials in the help.
- scroll bar
- A graphical device used to change your view of the contents of a window. A scroll bar contains a scroll area, a slider and scroll arrows. The position of the slider in the scroll bar indicates approximately the position in the file containing the data.
The window contents can be moved by:
- clicking on an arrow to move one line at a time in the indicated direction.
- clicking above or below the slider (on a vertical scroll bar) or to the left or right of the slider (on a horizontal scroll bar) to move a window of data (a page) in the indicated direction.
- dragging the slider in the required direction to move to the required position in the data.
- secondary window
- A window that is not directly on the desktop, that is, that is the child of another window.
See also primary window.
- selection list box
- A text box combining an entry field and a simple list box.
- selection cursor
- A dotted-outline box that moves as you indicate your choice. It identifies the object that you can select.
- SELF
- Reserved variable which contains the object handle of the object in which it occurs. Used to enable objects to send messages to themselves.
If you send a message to SELF from object A, object A is the receiver of the message; if you send a message to self from object C, object C is the receiver of the message. SELF always refers to the object currently executing, even if the method is one whi
ch is being inherited.
For example, imagine two objects, A' and B', instances of classes A and B where B inherits from A. A implements instance method, "calculateValue". The "calculateValue" method sends the message "getObjectConstant" to self. If B' gets
sent the "calculateValue" message, the method is inherited from class A. When "calculateValue" sends a message "getObjectConstant", the message actually gets sent to B'. If A' were to be sent the "calculateValue" message, then the send to SELF would send
the message to A'.
You can use SELF exactly like any data item of type Object Reference, so you can also pass it as a parameter to other methods.
See also Inheritance, message, Object Reference, SELFCLASS, SUPER.
- SELFCLASS
- Reserved variable which contains an object handle for the class object for this current object. Enables an instance to send a message to the class object which created it.
You can use SELF exactly like any data item of type Object Reference, so you can also pass it as a parameter to other methods.
See also Inheritance, message, Object Reference, SELF, SUPER.
- semaphore
- A synchronization primitive that is used to lock critical sections
so that the section is used exclusively by the thread that locked it.
- server-side program
- The part of an application which runs on a server machine. For Internet applications, this is the program which runs on a Web server and processes end-user input from a form. The terms
CGI and CGI program are often used synonymously with the term server-side program. Although CGI is only one of several APIs for creating server-side programs for Web servers, it is the most widely used.
- Setup
- The installation program supplied with this COBOL system.
- shared run-time system
- Applications linked to use the shared run-time system do not have the run-time support code contained in the executable files. Instead, code is included to call the run-time modules contained in the shared run-time system.
See also static linked run-time system.
- shortcut key
- A keystroke (such as Ctrl+F4) which you can use to perform a specified function.
- signal
- The way components communicate. When a component sends a signal, it is received by all components connected to the sender. The receiving component only acts on the signal if it has an input socket and method defined for that signal. A component which
sends a signal event when there are no components connected does not cause a run-time error.
Contrast with a message, which is sent to a single specific object. if the object does not understand the message it raises a run-time exception.
See also component, message, input socket.
- simple list box
- A text box that contains a list of objects or settings from which you make selections.
See also selection list box.
- single-click
- See click.
- sizable border
- The border surrounding a window that can be used to change the height or width of a window.
- slider
- The part of the scroll bar that shows the position of the contents of the current window in the file. Moving the slider changes the content of the current window.
- socket
- See input socket.
- source code
- The COBOL code that makes up the program. This can consist of one or more text files.
- special operation code
- An operation code identified by the hexadecimal code x"00" in the most significant byte, followed by two characters which specify the exact operation.
See operation code.
- spin button
- An object used to display a sequence of mutually exclusive choices. You change the value by spinning through the range of choices.
- standalone executable
- An executable file that can be shipped and run without any additional files, such subprograms or run-time support modules. It is a statically linked executable that uses the static-linked run-time; therefore all the subprograms and run-time support modules are actually contained within the executable file.
- standard operating code
- An operation code identified by the hexadecimal code x"FA" in the most significant byte, followed by two characters which specify the exact operation.
See operation code.
- static linking
- Linking a subprogram so that it is loaded into memory at the same time as the program that calls it. Usually, this means that all programs needed by the application are included in one executable file.
See also dynamic linking.
- static linked run-time system
- The run-time system that, when used for creating applications, produces executable files containing all the run-time support they need without the need for other files.
See also shared run-time system.
- status bar
- A control consisting of a number of recessed static text fields that are used to display status information, such as whether the Caps Lock key is pressed, or the current position of the cursor in a file. The status bar is usually displayed along the
bottom of a window or dialog box.
- stride
- The length of a single element in a table or array.
- subclass
- A class descended from another one, inheriting its methods and data. In the Class Library supplied with Object COBOL all class are ultimately subclasses of Base.
- substitution marker
- A text literal which is replaced by the contents of a data item at run-time. For example, EHTML uses substitution markers in the format dataname
to insert data into HTML pages output by COBOL programs.
- SUPER
- Reserved word which behaves like an object reference when used in an INVOKE statement. Like SELF, it enables an object to send a message to itself, but the search for a matching method starts in the code of the method's superclass.
If used from an instance, the OO RTS searches for a method beginning with the instance code of the superclass, and works its way up through the instance methods of all the superclasses until it finds a method matching the message. If used from a class
method, the OO RTS searches for a class method beginning with the class object code of the superclass and works its way up through the class methods of all the superclasses until it finds a method matching the message.
Unlike SELF, and SELFCLASS, SUPER is not a data item containing an object handle; you can't pass SUPER as a parameter to a method.
See also Inheritance, message, Object Reference, SELF, SELFCLASS.
- superclass
- The parent of a class. Every class has a single superclass immediately above it in the inheritance hierarchy, with the exception of those at the top of the hierarchy. In the supplied Class Library there is only one root class, Base, from which all
other classes are descended.
- switch
- A parameter you can pass to the run-time system to control the behavior of your program at run time. There are two types of switch: run-time and programmable.
- symbolic name
-
An identifier that you can use in your code as a label to enable the development system to identify a specific data item, graphical object, or entry point. Symbolic names are cross-referenced to numbers; it is the number that is actually used by the
development system. The name exists solely for the programmer's convenience. Symbolic names are sometimes referred to as symbols.
- synchronization primitives
- Methods by which the threads in a multi-threaded application can be synchronized. You can synchronize threads using a mutex,
monitor, semaphore or event.
- SymbolTable
- An object which enables you to store objects against symbols. Used for sending data with signals
as a SymbolTable enables the sender of a signal to package up several different data items into one object, which can then be unpackaged by the receivers of the signal. For example, the sender of an "open-file" signal could include the name of the file,
and the filepath in a SymbolTable, against symbols z"filename" and z"filepath". Symbols are null-terminated strings, up to 32 characters long.
- system executable code
- Executable code in an industry standard native code format. It is used for the main or trigger program of an application. You create it by linking an
.obj file. System executable code is stored in a system executable file.
- system executable file
- A file containing system executable code. You create it by linking an .obj file.
A system executable file has the extension .exe, and is often referred to as an .exe file.
- system menu
- The operating system menu, which appears on a primary window when you push the system menu button in the top left corner of the Title bar. Typically contains choices for restoring, moving, sizing, minimizing, maximizing and closing the window.
- system menu button
- A button labeled with a bitmap, appearing at the top left corner of the window. Pushing the button drops down the system menu.