SAA -

      Systems Application Architecture.
    SBCS -
      Single-byte character set.
    scheduler -
      A computer program designed to perform functions such as scheduling, initiation, and termination of jobs.
    screen -
      In SAA Basic Common User Access architecture, the physical surface of a display device upon which information is shown to a user.
    screen device context -
      A logical description of a data destination that is a particular window on the screen. See also device context.
    SCREEN$ -
      Character-device name reserved for the display screen.
    scroll bar -
      In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a part of a window, associated with a scrollable area, that a user interacts with to see information that is not currently allows visible.
    scrollable entry field -
      An entry field larger than the visible field.
    scrollable selection field -
      A selection field that contains more choices than are visible.
    scrolling -
      Moving a display image vertically or horizontally in a manner such that new data appears at one edge, as existing data disappears at the opposite edge.
    secondary window -
      A window that contains information that is dependent on information in a primary window and is used to supplement the interaction in the primary window.
    sector -
      On disk or diskette storage, an addressable subdivision of a track used to record one block of a program or data.
    segment -
      See graphics segment.
    segment attributes -
      Attributes that apply to the segment as an entity, as opposed to the individual primitives within the segment. For example, the visibility or detectability of a segment.
    segment chain -
      All segments in a graphics presentation space that are defined with the 'chained' attribute. Synonym for picture chain.
    segment priority -
      The order in which segments are drawn.
    segment store -
      An area in a normal graphics presentation space where retained graphics segments are stored.
    select -
      To mark or choose an item. Note that select means to mark or type in a choice on the screen; enter means to send all selected choices to the computer for processing.
    select button -
      The button on a pointing device, such as a mouse, that is pressed to select a menu choice. Also known as button 1.
    selection cursor -
      In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a visual indication that a user has selected a choice. It is represented by outlining the choice with a dotted box. See also text cursor.
    selection field -
      (1) In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a set of related choices. See also entry field. (2) In SAA Basic Common User Access architecture, an area of a panel that cannot be scrolled and contains a fixed number of choices.
    semantics -
      The relationships between symbols and their meanings.
    semaphore -
      An object used by applications for signalling purposes and for controlling access to serially reusable resources.
    separator -
      In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a line or color boundary that provides a visual distinction between two adjacent areas.
    serial dialog box -
      See modal dialog box.
    serialization -
      The consecutive ordering of items.
    serialize -
      To ensure that one or more events occur in a specified sequence.
    serially reusable resource (SRR) -
      A logical resource or object that can be accessed by only one task at a time.
    session -
      (1) A routing mechanism for user interaction via the console; a complete environment that determines how an application runs and how users interact with the application. OS/2 can manage more than one session at a time, and more than one process can run in a session. Each session has its own set of environment variables that determine where OS/2 looks for dynamic-link libraries and other important files. (2) (D of C) In the OS/2 operating system, one instance of a started program or command prompt. Each session is separate from all other sessions that might be running on the computer. The operating system is responsible for coordinating the resources that each session uses, such as computer memory, allocation of processor time, and windows on the screen.
    Settings Notebook -
      A control window that is used to display the settings for an object and to enable the user to change them.
    shadow -
      An object that refers to another object. A shadow is not a copy of another object, but is another representation of the object.
    shadow box -
      The area on the screen that follows mouse movements and shows what shape the window will take if the mouse button is released.
    shared data -
      Data that is used by two or more programs.
    shared memory -
      In the OS/2 operating system, a segment that can be used by more than one program.
    shear -
      In computer graphics, the forward or backward slant of a graphics symbol or string of such symbols relative to a line perpendicular to the baseline of the symbol.
    shell -
      (1) A software interface between a user and the operating system of a computer. Shell programs interpret commands and user interactions on devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, and touch-sensitive screens, and communicate them to the operating system. (2) Software that allows a kernel program to run under different operating-system environments.
    shutdown -
      The process of ending operation of a system or a subsystem, following a defined procedure.
    sibling processes -
      Child processes that have the same parent process.
    sibling windows -
      Child windows that have the same parent window.
    simple list -
      A list of like values; for example, a list of user names. Contrast with mixed list.
    single-byte character set (SBCS) -
      A character set in which each character is represented by a one-byte code. Contrast with double-byte character set.
    slider box -
      In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture: a part of the scroll bar that shows the position and size of the visible information in a window relative to the total amount of information available. Also known as thumb mark.
    SOM -
      System Object Model.
    source file -
      A file that contains source statements for items such as high-level language programs and data description specifications.
    source statement -
      A statement written in a programming language.
    specific dynamic-link module -
      A dynamic-link module created for the exclusive use of an application.
    spin button -
      In SAA Advanced Common User Access architecture, a type of entry field that shows a scrollable ring of choices from which a user can select a choice. After the last choice is displayed, the first choice is displayed again. A user can also type a choice from the scrollable ring into the entry field without interacting with the spin button.
    spline -
      A sequence of one or more B‚zier curves.
    spooler -
      A program that intercepts the data going to printer devices and writes it to disk. The data is printed or plotted when it is complete and the required device is available. The spooler prevents output from different sources from being intermixed.
    stack -
      A list constructed and maintained so that the next data element to be retrieved is the most recently stored. This method is characterized as last-in-first-out (LIFO).
    standard window -
      A collection of window elements that form a panel. The standard window can include one or more of the following window elements: sizing borders, system menu icon, title bar, maximize/minimize/restore icons, action bar and pull-downs, scroll bars, and client area.
    static control -
      The means by which the application presents descriptive information (for example, headings and descriptors) to the user. The user cannot change this information.
    static storage -
      (1) A read/write storage unit in which data is retained in the absence of control signals. (A) Static storage may use dynamic addressing or sensing circuits. (2) Storage other than dynamic storage. (A)
    style -
      See window style.
    subclass -
      A class that inherits from another class. See also Inheritance.
    subdirectory -
      In an IBM personal computer, a file referred to in a root directory that contains the names of other files stored on the diskette or fixed disk.
    superclass -
      A class from which another class inherits. See also inheritance.
    swapping -
      (1) A process that interchanges the contents of an area of real storage with the contents of an area in auxiliary storage. (I) (A) (2) In a system with virtual storage, a paging technique that writes the active pages of a job to auxiliary storage and reads pages of another job from auxiliary storage into real storage. (3) The process of temporarily removing an active job from main storage, saving it on disk, and processing another job in the area of main storage formerly occupied by the first job.
    switch -
      (1) In SAA usage, to move the cursor from one point of interest to another; for example, to move from one screen or window to another or from a place within a displayed image to another place on the same displayed image. (2) In a computer program, a conditional instruction and an indicator to be interrogated by that instruction. (3) A device or programming technique for making a selection, for example, a toggle, a conditional jump.
    switch list -
      See Task List.
    symbolic identifier -
      A text string that equates to an integer value in an include file, which is used to identify a programming object.
    symbols -
      In Information Presentation Facility, a document element used to produce characters that cannot be entered from the keyboard.
    synchronous -
      Pertaining to two or more processes that depend upon the occurrence of specific events such as common timing signals. (T) See also asynchronous.
    System Menu -
      In the Presentation Manager, the pull-down in the top left corner of a window that allows it to be moved and sized with the keyboard.
    System Object Model (SOM) -
      A mechanism for language-neutral, object-oriented programming in the OS/2 environment.
    system queue -
      The master queue for all pointer device or keyboard events.
    system-defined messages -
      Messages that control the operations of applications and provides input an other information for applications to process.
    Systems Application Architecture (SAA) -
      A set of IBM software interfaces, conventions, and protocols that provide a framework for designing and developing applications that are consistent across systems.


    [Back] [Next]