IAC

Interapplication communication.

The IBM implementation of microkernel technology. It includes the microkernel and a set of Microkernel Services that can be used to create operating system personality and other services that execute on the microkernel.

A bit map that defines the shape of the icon to be used for a given application.

Interface definition language

Installable file systems.

A window that a user is not currently interacting with.

Bus architecture on Family 1 personal computers.

(1) In the OS/2 Presentation Manager interface, the technique of specifying the shape and behavior of one window (called a child window) as incremental differences from another window (called the parent window).(2) In System Object Model, implications of derivation of new classes from existing classes. Child classes inherit methods from parent and ancestor classes.

The internal structure that describes the individual files in the operating system; there is one i-node for each file. An i-node contains the node, type, owner, and location of a file. A table of i-nodes is stored near the beginning of a file system. Synonymous with file index. See also vnode.

IME is a program that generates a sequence of characters for applications. IME normally intercepts characters from an input stream and then returns converted characters back to the stream. IME usually generates characters not assigned on a keyboard or not recognized in other input, such as pen input. It may show the interim state of the conversion which often involves some user interface. That is why it is called an editor. Asian and Arabic countries require IME in order to support a large character set and the bidirectional input respectively.

A Workplace Shell object used to initialize install objects.

A Workplace Shell object that can be used to install software applications.

A template used to create new installable software objects.

A file containing entries about directories, files, links, permissions (attributes to DOS), owner, and group, where the file is to be copied, and where the file is to be copied from.

A framework for aiding developers in building installation packages. The installation frameworks program provides a consistent user interface for software installations.

A description of products and services installed on a computer, including licenses owned by the user and the level of software on the system. The installation is stored in a registry subsystem.

A core shared service that provides a common installation facility for OS/2 for PowerPC.

A control file on the startup installation diskette that describes the startup method (how to boot).

Shadows (that remember specific-settings data) that are separate and apart from the object that they are shadowing.

Information transfer between applications, such as DDE and OLE.

(Internationalization is referred to by an abbreviation I18N because there are eighteen letters between the first I and the last N.) See national language support.

In the Workplace architecture, the asynchronous messaging facility for cooperating subsystems to communicate through ports that provides the basis for the Workplace client-server system model. See also Message Interface Generator.

A Workplace Shell object that contains information about currently installed software.

To start a command, procedure, or program. To call a subroutine by means of a CALL statement or by a defined assignment. To call a function by a reference to it during the evaluation of an expression.

Interprocess communication

Industry Standard Architecture.