A unit of information sent from one computer in a
network to another.
A single
HTML document on the World Wide
Web. When you are looking at a
website, a page is generally what you see in a single
browser's
frame. If you
click on a
link it takes you to another page.
The
process of arranging text neatly in columns & rows on
pages for publishing. There are special
application programs for improving Page Layout.
PALette
File extension for files containing information on colours used by a particular
application program
To take a string of
data and break it up into smaller manageable pieces which an
application program can handle
A section of
memory or
hard disk for example that acts as if it is a single device in its own right. It is quite common for a hard drive to partitioned into C: & D: drives.
A secret code used by a person to access their computer account, and a form
input element. The PASSWORD attribute works like a text entry
field, except all characters entered are displayed as asterisks (*).
To insert text or
images or
files into the current document or
directory. Blocks of text or complete files can be pasted. If a paragraph is being pasted into the current document then it can be either copied from a different document or
cut from a different document. If like me you have young children then
cut and paste is a very popular activity
Any
program which a user tries to execute in
DOS without supplying a
directory causes DOS to have to find the Directory in which the Program resides. First it tries the Current Directory, If unsuccessful it then goes through in order all the Directories specified in the PATH. The PATH is defined in AUTOEXEC.BAT
Personal Computer
File type for an
image file. When photographs are scanned onto you PC they can be saved as PCX files & viewed or changed by a special
application program such as Photo Shop
Portable Document
Format - a
file type developed by Adobe systems. These files have the
file extension pdf.
Practical Extraction & Report Language originally developed by Larry Wall for his personal use. It is now one of the most popular
Internet tools. Perl is most often met in the context of the World Wide
Web where its
basic function is in the manipulating of
Files, text & producing Reports. The basic concepts of
Hypertext Markup Language are greatly extended by being able to run ancillary
programs achieved using the
Common Gateway Interface (
CGI). This allows programs to be called in response to actions by the Web Client user i.e. something done by use on your PC on a particular Web
Page. Almost any
Programming Language can be used with Perl being the most popular. The Perl program sits in between the Web
Server & other
software such as
Databases
What this Glossary is all about. Quite Simply a computer designed to be used by one person at a time.
Application programs designed to help you manage your day-to-day affairs - features included are: Diary; List of contacts; Notes; Reminders.
A popular web programming language. The acronym is now
recursive, for PHP:
Hypertext Preprocessor, originally stood for Personal Home Page. See
http://php.net/ for details
Program Information
Files
Personal Information Manager
Pixel stands for picture element. It is the smallest element of information that
programs can display or print. A picture or
image is made up of thousands of pixels. A pixel is sometimes called a pel
Your choice of computer and
operating system, such as
Windows 98, Macintosh, OS/2,
Unix or
Linux.
A
file containing
data used to alter, enhance, or extend the operation of a parent
application program. One of the first uses of this term was in Silicon Beach's SuperPaint application (late 1980s?) for the Macintosh. It had a Plug-ins folder containing different tools and effects. The
Netscape Navigator World-Wide
Web browser supports plug-ins which display or interpret a particular
file format or
protocol such as
Shockwave, RealAudio, Adobe
PDF, Corel CMX (vector
graphics). The file to be displayed is included in a web
page using an
HTML tag. Plug-ins, both commercially and indepently authored, can usually be downloaded for free and are stored locally. Plug-ins come in different versions specific to particular
operating systems (Microsoft
Windows 3.1, 3.2, and Macintosh are available).
Portable
Network Graphics
Standard for using a
modem & telephone line to connect to the
Internet using TCP/IP.
A Pointer contains the
location or address of some information required - most commonly used in programming.
Acronym for
Post Office Protocol
A
file type for graphical
images that uses
compression.
PNG files have a similar use to
GIF file. PNG files have a
file extension of PNG. Often used for photographs.
A portal is a
web site. The portal consists of a collection of
links to the most popular web services on the
Internet. A portal is a door into the Internet.
A single message posted to a newsgroup, bulletin board or
mailing list.
Which is commonly used on the
Internet to allow users to get their e-mail from an Internet account using a local PC.
Point-to-Point Protocol
Software that comes with the printer that enables
application programs to interact with the printer without the application programs having to concern themselves with the specific requirements of the printer.
A PC in a
network dedicated to managing the available printers.
Running an instance of a
program; what a program is called while it is being run
In the PC
field the Processor &
Microprocessor are synonymous. Basically it is the brain of the PC that carries out all of the low level "processing" that the PC needs to do - calculating the sum of 2 numbers is a simple example of something that the processor will do. Basically every single task that the PC performs is dependent on the processor doing its stuff.
A Program is basically a series of instructions that causes the PC to do something. The
Operating System such as
DOS is known as a Systems Program.
Application Programs such as a Word
Processor or
Spreadsheet perform the main tasks for which we use the PC i.e. a letter to Mum or managing the finances.
An artificial language through which a set of instructions can be performed by a PC. Examples are:
Basic; C, C++; Cobol;
Java;
JavaScript;
Perl; Visual Basic. People who use
programming languages to create a computer program are called programmers.
A
file type. When
DOS application programs are run under
windows, it is the
PIF file that contains the information that windows needs to be able to run the DOS application. PIF files have a
file extension of .PIF
A standard
process, a set of rules & conditions that perform a particular function. A word that is very common in PC &
Internet Terminology eg.
FTP -
File transmission Protocol;
IP Address -
Internet protocol address; TCP/IP -
Transmission control protocol internet Protocol; POP -
Post office protocol.
The beginning of a
URL. Most
protocol indicators you will encounter will be "http://" and will direct you to
HTML documents.
A
server that sits between the client & the server - it may perform some of the tasks of the server itself or filter invalid requests. Reasons for this may be for security or to speed up processes
Short for
Public.
It is a
directory on a computer, normally on the
Internet that can be accessed via
FTP. The public directory is accessible to anyone & contains
files that can be downloaded.
An
Internet Technology that sends information to users before they actually request it. The User sets up a profile specifying the type of information that they require