This glossary includes terms and definitions from:

• The American National Standard Dictionary for Information Systems, ANSI X3.172-1990, copyright 1990 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Copies may be purchased from the American National Standards Institute, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036. Definitions are identified by the symbol (A) after the definition.

• The ANSI/EIA Standard-440-A, Fiber Optic Terminology. Copies may be purchased from the Electronic Industries Association, 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20006. Definitions are identified by the symbol (E) after the definition.

• The Information Technology Vocabulary, developed by Subcommittee 1, Joint Technical Committee 1, of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC1). Definitions of published parts of this vocabulary are identified by the symbol (I) after the definition; definitions taken from draft international standards, committee drafts, and working papers being developed by ISO/IEC JTC1/SC1 are identified by the symbol (T) after the definition, indicating that final agreement has not yet been reached among the participating National Bodies of SC1.

• The IBM Dictionary of Computing, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.

• Internet Request for Comments: 1208, Glossary of Networking Terms.

• Internet Request for Comments: 1392, Internet Users' Glossary.

• The Object-Oriented Interface Design: IBM Common User Access Guidelines, Carmel, Indiana: Que, 1992.

The following cross-references are used in this glossary:

Contrast with:

This refers to a term that has an opposed or substantively different meaning.

This indicates that the term has the same meaning as a preferred term, which is defined in its proper place in the glossary.

This is a backward reference from a defined term to all other terms that have the same meaning.

This refers the reader to multiple-word terms that have the same last word.

This refers the reader to terms that have a related, but not synonymous, meaning.

This indicates that the term should not be used. It refers to a preferred term, which is defined in its proper place in the glossary.