HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
GLOSSARY
absolute pathname
A pathname that begins with the root directory, such as /SYS/PUB/TDP. See
also pathname and relative pathname.
access control definition (ACD)
Security feature that controls access to files and directories. Consists
of a list of access permissions and user specifications. (For example,
R,W,X:@.PAYROLL gives all users in the PAYROLL account read, write, and
execute access to the file or directory that is assigned this ACD.) ACDs
are applied to files or directories by using the ALTSEC command. By
default, all files existing outside the traditional MPE account/group
structure and all directories are assigned ACDs when they are created.
access mode
A type of access permitted to a file, such as write, read, or execute
access.
appropriate privilege
Having sufficient capabilities to perform an operation on MPE/iX.
SM capability always provides appropriate privilege to system
administrators.
byte-stream file
A type of file that does not have a system-defined record structure.
Information in a byte-stream file is stored as a stream of bytes.
case sensitivity
HFS file names can be saved in uppercase or lowercase letters. The file
named ./FILE1 does not refer to the same file as ./file1 or ./File1.
current working directory
The directory in which you are working and from which relative pathnames
are resolved. See also directory and relative pathname.
directory
A special kind of file that contains entries that point to other files.
It acts like a container for files and other directories. On MPE/iX,
root, accounts, and groups are special types of directories.
dot (.)
The identity function of a directory. The dot (.) entry of any
directory refers to the directory itself.
dot-dot (..)
Convention that signifies the parent directory in HFS syntax. See also
current working directory and HFS syntax.
file
An object that can be written to, read from, or both. A file has certain
attributes including access permissions and file type.
file owner
The person whose user identity matches that of the file. The $OWNER ACD
entry can restrict the file access of the file owner. The file owner is
similar to the file creator. The command bLISTFILE filename -3 displays
the fully qualified user ID (user.account) of the file owner.
file name
A name of a file that can be in MPE syntax (FILE.GRP.ACCT) or HFS syntax
(/ACCT/GRP/FILE1). Each syntax has different restrictions on file name
length and the characters that can compose the name. See also MPE syntax
and HFS syntax.
group
For POSIX compatibility, refers to a group of related users. This is
distinct from MPE groups, which are special types of directories existing
directly below accounts.
group ID database
A system database that contains the group name, group ID, and user names
for all groups.
group ID (GID)
A number that determines group access privileges. (On MPE/iX, the string
representation of the GID is an account name, e.g. it is equivalent to
the string @.account).
HFS syntax
Expanded MPE/iX syntax that is case sensitive and allows users to address
multiple levels in the hierarchical file system. An MPE-escaped syntax
name beginning with . or / automatically signifies HFS syntax to MPE/iX.
Some additional rules are as follows:
* Names of directories directly under root, a group, or an account
may have up to 16 characters.
* Names of directories or files not directly under the root, group,
or an account can be up to 255 characters.
* / separated path to file
* 1024 total character limit
* Names of directories and files can contain the following special
characters: hyphen (-), dot (.), or slash (/), but may not have a
leading hyphen (-).
hierarchical file system (HFS)
A file system that is tree structured and can contain files at many
different levels. This file organization is obtained through the use of
directories, which can contain files and other directories.
MPE/iX Developer's Kit
An MPE/iX product that supports programmers who want to port
POSIX-compliant applications to MPE/iX. It emulates a UNIX-like
environment by providing the MPE/iX shell and utilities, HP C compiler,
HP C library functions, and POSIX.1 library functions.
MPE/iX shell
A command interpreter that provides a set of commands and utilities in a
UNIX-like environment on MPE/iX. The MPE/iX shell is a POSIX.2-compliant
shell that is similar to the UNIX Korn shell. It is invoked from the MPE
CI.
MPE syntax
Rules that determine the file name length, special characters, and
conditions for files, groups, and accounts. Account, group, and file
names can be up to 8 characters. Characters are always converted to
uppercase. Characters must be alphanumeric. This is the syntax current
MPE/iX users are used to using (for example, LEDGER.PUB.SYS).
parent directory
The directory which contains the current object.
pathname
A way of identifying the path to any MPE/iX file. For example, you can
refer to FILE1.PUB.SYS using the pathname /SYS/PUB/FILE1. Notice that
pathnames are top- down rather than bottom-up as MPE syntax.
POSIX
Portable Operating System Interface. A set of standards that address
various areas of operating system technology. The POSIX standards
describe functions of an operating system interface that applications use
to become "POSIX-compliant." The main point of POSIX is to facilitate
software portability and minimize porting costs.
process
A program currently being executed.
PXUTIL utility
A utility designed to support the POSIX-required user and group
databases. It allows you to backdate all user information while
backdating a system.
relative pathname
A pathname that is interpreted from the current working directory. For
example, ./dir1/longfilename refers to the file longfilename in directory
dir1 in the current working directory.
root directory
Also called (and designated by) a slash or /. It is a system directory;
all files, accounts, groups, and directories connect back to the root
directory. All accounts on MPE/iX are direct descendants of the root
directory.
shell
A command interpreter similar to the MPE CI. See also MPE/iX shell.
signal
The notification of an event occurring on the system.
slash (/)
Another name for the root directory. See also root directory.
subdirectory
A directory that is contained within another directory is sometimes
referred to as a subdirectory.
system-provided UDCs
Several UDCs have been added to the system to simplify using the new
features of MPE/iX. The UDCs are DISCUSE,FINDDIR, FINDFILE, LISTDIR,
PLISTF, LISTFTEMP and SH. They are located in the file HPPXUDC.PUB.SYS.
The system manager must activate these UDCs in order for the UDCs to be
available to users.
user ID database
A system database that contains the user name, user ID, and group ID for
each user on the system.
user ID (UID)
A user ID determines owner access privileges to files and directories.
Its string representation is in the form of user.account.