<World-Wide Web, database, tool> {Allaire Corporation}'s
	commercial {database} application development tool that allows
	{databases} to have a {World-Wide Web} {interface}, so a
	database can be queried and updated using a {web browser}.

	The ColdFusion Server application runs on the {web server} and
	has access to a {database}.  ColdFusion files on the web
	server are {HTML} pages with additional ColdFusion commands to
	{query} or {update} the database, written in {CFML}.  When the
	page is requested by the user, the {web server} passes the
	page to the Cold Fusion application, which executes the {CFML}
	commands, places the results of the {CFML} commands in the
	{HTML} file, and returns the page to the {web server}.  The
	page returned to the {web server} is now an ordinary {HTML}
	file, and it is sent to the user.

	Examples of ColdFusion applications include order entry, event
	registration, catalogue search, directories, calendars, and
	interactive training.  ColdFusion applications are robust
	because all database interactions are encapsulated in a single
	industrial-strength {CGI} script.  The formatting and
	presentation can be modified and revised at any time (as
	opposed to having to edit and recompile {source code}).

	ColdFusion Server can connect with any database that supports
	{ODBC} or {OLE DB} or one that has a native database driver.
	Native database drivers are available for {Oracle} and
	{Sybase} databases.

	ColdFusion is available for {Windows}, {Solaris}, and {HP-UX}.
	A {development environment} for creating ColdFusion files,
	called ColdFusion Studio, is also available for {Windows}.

	Current version: MX(6), as of 2003-07-11.

	The {filename extension} for ColdFusion files is .cfm

	{Home (http://www.coldfusion.com/)}.

	(2003-07-27)

<programming> (Or "released version", "baseline") A version of
	a piece of software which has been made public (as opposed to
	a version that is in development, or otherwise unreleased).

	A release is either a {major release}, a {revision}, or a
	{bugfix}.

	Pre-release versions may be called {alpha test}, or {beta
	test} versions.

	See {change management}.

	(1996-08-04)

<messaging> 1. {electronic mail}.

	2. The {Berkeley Unix} program for composing and reading
	{electronic mail}.  It normally uses {sendmail} to handle
	delivery.

	{Unix manual page}: mail(1)

	(1997-12-03)

1. A program which provides some service to other ({client})
	programs.  The connection between client and server is
	normally by means of {message passing}, often over a
	{network}, and uses some {protocol} to encode the client's
	requests and the server's responses.  The server may run
	continuously (as a {daemon}), waiting for requests to arrive
	or it may be invoked by some higher level daemon which
	controls a number of specific servers ({inetd} on {Unix}).

	There are many servers associated with the {Internet}, such as
	those for {HTTP}, {Network File System}, {Network Information
	Service} (NIS), {Domain Name System} (DNS), {FTP}, {news},
	{finger}, {Network Time Protocol}.  On Unix, a long list can
	be found in /etc/services or in the {NIS} database "services".
	See {client-server}.

	2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
	connected to it via a network.  The most common example is a
	{file server} which has a local disk and services requests
	from remote clients to read and write files on that disk,
	often using {Sun}'s {Network File System} (NFS) {protocol} or
	{Novell Netware} on {PCs}.  Another common example is a {web
	server}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(2003-12-29)

<computer> 1. A computer; especially in the construction "foo
	box" where foo is some functional qualifier, like "graphics",
	or the name of an {operating system} (thus, "{Unix} box",
	"{MS-DOS} box", etc.)  "We preprocess the data on Unix boxes
	before handing it up to the {mainframe}."  The plural
	"{boxen}" is sometimes seen.

	2. Without qualification in an {IBM} {SNA} site, "box" refers
	specifically to an {IBM} {front-end processor}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1994-11-29)

1. <application, algorithm> To arrange a collection of items
	in some specified order.  The items - {records} in a file or
	data structures in memory - consist of one or more {fields} or
	members.  One of these fields is designated as the "sort key"
	which means the records will be ordered according to the value
	of that field.  Sometimes a sequence of key fields is
	specified such that if all earlier keys are equal then the
	later keys will be compared.  Within each field some ordering
	is imposed, e.g. ascending or descending numerical, {lexical
	ordering}, or date.

	Sorting is the subject of a great deal of study since it is a
	common operation which can consume a lot of computer time.
	There are many well-known sorting {algorithms} with different
	time and space behaviour and programming {complexity}.

	Examples are {quicksort}, {insertion sort}, {bubble sort},
	{heap sort}, and {tree sort}.  These employ many different
	data structures to store sorted data, such as {arrays},
	{linked lists}, and {binary trees}.

	2. <tool> The {Unix} utility program for sorting lines of
	files.

	{Unix manual page}: sort(1).

	(1997-02-12)

<messaging> (SMTP) A {protocol} defined in {STD} 10, {RFC}
	821, used to transfer {electronic mail} between computers,
	usually over {Ethernet}.  It is a server to server protocol,
	so other protocols are used to access the messages.  The SMTP
	dialog usually happens in the background under the control of
	the {message transfer agent}, e.g. {sendmail} but it is
	possible to interact with an SMTP server using {telnet} to
	connect to the normal SMTP {port}, 25.  E.g.

		telnet mhs-relay.ac.uk 25

	You should normally start by identifying the local {host}:

		HELO wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk

	You can then issue commands to verify an address or expand an
	alias:

		VRFY fred@doc.ic.ac.uk
		VRFY postmaster

	or expand a {mailing list}:

		EXPN c-help

	You can even send a message:

		MAIL From:<fred@doc.ic.ac.uk>
		RCPT To:<fred@mailway.doc.ic.ac.uk>
		DATA
		What is the point?
		.
		QUIT

	This is useful if you want to find out exactly what is
	happening to your message at a certain point.

	See also {Post Office Protocol}, {RFC 822}, {sendmail}.

	(1995-10-17)

1. The {supervisor} program or {operating system} on a
	computer.

	2. The entire computer system, including input/output devices,
	the {supervisor} program or {operating system} and possibly
	other {software}.

	3. Any large program.

	4. Any method or {algorithm}.

	[{Jargon File}]

<operating system> (From {boot}) A {boot} with the implication
	that the computer has not been down for long, or that the
	{boot} is a {bounce} intended to clear some state of
	{wedgitude}.

	See {warm boot}.

	(1995-11-27)

<operating system> See {Microsoft Windows}, {Windows NT}.

	(1997-11-23)

1. {firewall code}.

	2. {firewall machine}.

1. <networking> A logical channel or channel endpoint in a
	communications system.  The {Transmission Control Protocol}
	and {User Datagram Protocol} {transport layer} protocols used
	on {Ethernet} use port numbers to distinguish between
	(demultiplex) different logical channels on the same {network
	interface} on a computer.

	Each {application program} has a unique port number associated
	with it, defined in /etc/services or the {Network Information
	Service} "services" database.  Some {protocols}, e.g. {telnet}
	and {HTTP} (which is actually a special form of telnet) have
	default ports specified as above but can use other ports as
	well.

	Some port numbers are defined in {RFC 3232} (which replaces
	RFC 1700).  Ports are now divided into: "Well Known" or
	"Privileged", and "Ephemeral" or "Unprivileged" (comprising
	"Registered", "Dynamic", "Private").

	(2004-12-30)

	2. <operating system, programming> To translate or modify
	{software} to run on a different {platform}, or the results of
	doing so.  The {portability} of the software determines how
	easy it is to port.

	3. <language> An {imperative} language descended from {Zed}
	from {Waterloo Microsystems} (now {Hayes} Canada) ca. 1979.

	["Port Language" document in the Waterloo Port Development
	System].

	(2002-06-19)

{system administration}

1. Not simulated.  Often used as a specific antonym to
	{virtual} in any of its jargon senses.

	2. <mathematics> {real number}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1997-03-12)

<software> (Or "option", "flag", "switch", "option switch") An
	argument to a command that modifies its function rather than
	providing data.  Options generally start with "-" in {Unix} or
	"/" in {MS-DOS}.  This is usually followed by a single letter
	or occasionally a digit.

	Some commands require each option to be a separate argument,
	introduced by a new "-" or "/", others allow multiple option
	letters to be concatenated into a single argument with a
	single "-" or "/", e.g. "ls -al".  A few Unix commands
	(e.g. {ar}, {tar}) allow the "-" to be omitted.  Some options
	may or must be followed by a value, e.g. "cc prog.c -o prog",
	sometimes with and sometimes without an intervening space.

	{getopt} and {getopts} are commands for parsing command line
	options.  There is also a {C} library routine called getopt
	for the same purpose.

	(1996-12-11)

1. <unit> A unit of data or memory, often, but not
	exclusively, on a {magnetic disk} or {magnetic tape}.

	Compare {record}, {sector}.

	(2000-07-17)

	2. <operating system> To delay or sit idle while waiting for
	something.

	Compare {busy-wait}.

	(2000-07-17)

	3. <programming> A delimited section of {source code} in a
	{block-structured} language.

	(2004-09-29)

<networking, tool> (ping, originally contrived to match
	submariners' term for the sound of a returned sonar pulse) A
	program written in 1983 by Mike Muuss (who also wrote {TTCP})
	used to test reachability of destinations by sending them one,
	or repeated, {ICMP} echo requests and waiting for replies.
	Since ping works at the {IP} level its server-side is often
	implemented entirely within the {operating system} {kernel}
	and is thus the lowest level test of whether a remote host is
	alive.  Ping will often respond even when higher level,
	{TCP}-based services cannot.

	Sadly, Mike Muuss was killed in a road accident on 2000-11-20.

	The term is also used as a verb: "Ping host X to see if it is
	up."

	The {Unix} command "ping" can be used to do this and to
	measure round-trip delays.

	The funniest use of "ping" was described in January 1991 by
	Steve Hayman on the {Usenet} group comp.sys.next.  He was
	trying to isolate a faulty cable segment on a {TCP/IP}
	{Ethernet} hooked up to a {NeXT} machine.  Using the sound
	recording feature on the NeXT, he wrote a {script} that
	repeatedly invoked ping, listened for an echo, and played back
	the recording on each returned {packet}.  This caused the
	machine to repeat, over and over, "Ping ... ping ... ping ..."
	as long as the network was up.  He turned the volume to
	maximum, ferreted through the building with one ear cocked,
	and found a faulty tee connector in no time.

	Ping did not stand for "Packet InterNet Groper", Dave Mills
	offered this {backronym} expansion some time later.

	See also {ACK}, {ENQ}, {traceroute}, {spray}.

	{The Story of the Ping Program
	(http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ping.html)}.

	{Unix manual page}: ping(8).

	(2005-06-22)

<character> (Or "ctrl", "^") One (or a pair) of {modifier
	keys} found on all modern {keyboards}.  If the control key is
	held down while pressing and releasing certain other keys then
	a "{control character}" is generated, e.g. holding control and
	hitting "A" generates control-A ({ASCII} code 1).  The ASCII
	code for the control character is generally 64 less than that
	for the unmodified character.

	The control key does not generate any character on its own but
	most modern keyboards and {operating systems} allow a program
	to tell whether each of the individual keys on the keyboard
	(including modifier keys) is pressed at any time.

	Control characters mostly have some kind of "non-printing"
	effect on the output such as ringing the bell (Control-G) or
	advancing to the next line (Control-J).  Most have alternative
	names suggesting these functions (Bell, Line Feed, etc.).

	See {ASCII character table}.

	(1997-07-10)

1. To prepare to read or write a file.  This usually involves
	checking whether the file already exists and that the user has
	the necessary authorisation to read or write it.  The result
	of a successful open is usually some kind of {capability}
	(e.g. a {Unix} {file descriptor}) - a token that the user
	passes back to the system in order to access the file without
	further checks and finally to close the file.

	2. Abbreviation for "open (or left) parenthesis" - used when
	necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity.  To read aloud the LISP
	form (DEFUN FOO (X) (PLUS X 1)) one might say: "Open defun
	foo, open eks close, open, plus eks one, close close."

	3. Non-proprietary.  An open {standard} is one which can be
	used without payment.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-01-31)

1. A discrepancy between a computed, observed, or measured
	value or condition and the true, specified, or theoretically
	correct value or condition.

	2. <programming> A mental mistake made by a programmer that
	may result in a program {fault}.

	3. (verb) What a program does when it stops as result of a
	programming error.

	(2000-03-28)

<operating system> A character string which tells a program to
	perform a specific action.  Most commands take {arguments}
	which either modify the action performed or supply it with
	input.  Commands may be typed by the user or read from a file
	by a {command interpreter}.  It is also common to refer to
	menu items as commands.

	(1997-06-21)

1. <operating system> One of {Unix}'s buffers which can be
	written to by one {asynchronous} process and read by another,
	with the {kernel} suspending and waking up the sender and
	receiver according to how full the pipe is.  In later versions
	of Unix, rather than using an anonymous kernel-managed
	temporary file to implement a pipe, it can be named and is
	implemented as a local {socket} pair.

	2. <character> "|" {ASCII} character 124.  Used to represent a
	pipe between two processes in a {shell} command line.  E.g.

		grep foo log | more

	which feeds the output of grep into the input of more without
	requiring a named temporary file and without waiting for the
	first process to finish.

	3. <jargon, networking> A connection to a {network}.

	See also {light pipe}.

	(1996-09-24)