Mac OS Web Server Cookbook: Glossary

Note: The definitions here relate to how the terms are used in this book and may differ slightly from the definitions used by others.

Anonymous ftp: A mechanism to get files from or put files to a remote computer when you do not have an account on that remote computer.
Applet: Code written in the Java language that is downloaded to the client via a Web browser and executed. Frequently used to support animation and continuous client-server interaction.
AppleScript: A scripting language that is part of the Mac OS, used most often for controlling applications and other elements of the system. It can be used to write CGI programs.
AppleTalk: A local area networking protocol for connecting Mac OS computers and printers.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A set of 8-bit binary numbers representing the alphabet, punctuation, numerals, and other characters used in text representation.
Attribute: A modifier, for example, WIDTH or ALIGN, to an HTML tag, such as <IMG>.
Binary file: Any file that is not a text file, that is, produces indecipherable output when forced to display as text.
Bit-mapped display: A display that supports addressing of pixels (points on the screen) rather than specific characters on a line of length 80 or 132 characters.
Byte code: Machine-independent code generated by the Java compiler.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): An emerging standard for specifying the presentation of an HTML document via style sheets, similar to those used to apply paragraph styles in word processing applications.
CERT Computer Emergency Response Team.: A government-funded group that, among other things, produces bulletins of known security problems on the more popular operating systems and issues patches (fixes) from the vendors and others. See ftp://-info.cert.org/pub/ for further details.
CGI Common Gateway Interface.: A means of passing information from a Web client browser to a CGI-compliant script residing on a Web server. The CGI script will invoke some action, such as the generation of HTML pages that are sent back to the client browser.
CGI program: Used interchangeably with CGI script. Strictly speaking, a CGI script uses an interpretive language and a CGI program uses a compiled program.
CGI script: A file containing an executable program written in an interpretable language, (for example, Perl) that is invoked by the Web client and executed on the Web server.
Character decimal reference: A way to refer to special characters in HTML documents. The format is "&#xxx;" where "xxx" is replaced by a three-digit decimal (base 10) number.
Clickable map: An image that has a series of URLs mapped to different regions of the drawing, thereby providing visual navigation.
Client: The user or application making a request of a service provider.
Client-server computing: A general type of computer interaction in which a requestor (client) sends a request to a service provider (server) and the server returns a response to the client.
Collaborative environment: A technology that tries to replicate a local meeting environment from a collection of remote groups and the Internet.
Common Gateway Interface: See CGI.
Common log file format: A standard file format produced by popular Web servers when logging access to the server.
Component model: Also component architecture. A definition of a set of interfaces for creating interoperable software "building blocks." JavaBeans is an example of a component model.
Content document: In an HTML frames context, the HTML documents that are used to fill each frame. See also Layout document.
Cookie: A small file with which server-side programs such as CGI scripts can store information about a client on the client’s machine. Cookies are used to overcome the Web’s stateless interaction.
CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture.: A middleware standard espoused by the Object Management Group for creating general and interoperable components of client-server applications.
Database: An electronic record-keeping system (also DBMS), or a set of records kept by such a system.
Database Management System (DBMS): An electronic record-keeping system that provides functions to add, update, remove, and search for records.
Dedicated connection: A connection to the Internet that is maintained at all times (barring technical difficulties). Dedicated connections are usually faster than nondedicated connections.
Document object model: A platform- and language-neutral way for a Web client to "see" a Web document. This affects how user interactions with the document are handled by JavaScript instructions. Netscape and Microsoft use incompatible document object models in their version 4.0 browsers.
Document root directory: The top-level directory recognized by the Web server that contains documents to be served. All documents served are found in this directory (folder) or below it in the folder hierarchy. Symbolic links (aliases) to files being served outside this tree may be allowed. Support for symbolic links is Web server dependent.
Domain Name Server (DNS): An Internet server that translates a text host name (your.host.com) into a unique IP address.
Dynamic HTML (DHTML): An emerging standard for Web documents that combines HTML, cascading style sheets, and standardized JavaScript to create animated pages. The standard depends on having a standardized document object model.
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions.: A useful means of quickly answering the most obvious questions on a particular subject by way of a list server, Web site, or news group.
File extension: Any characters following (and including) the last period in a file name.
Filter: Software that converts information in one format to the same information in another format.
Flat-file database: A database that stores its records one after the other, possibly but not necessarily in text files.
Frames: A way to separate a browser window into independently controllable subwindows. Introduced by Netscape, frames have become part of standard HTML. See also Layout document, Content document.
ftp - File transfer protocol.: Part of the TCP/IP stack of protocols controlling file transfer between two computers.
ftp archive: Files accessible by anonymous ftp, hopefully organized in a way to make it easy for a user to find information.
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format, developed by CompuServe. A popular graphics format supported by Internet information servers.
Gopher: Text-based predecessor to the Web. Used a protocol different than http, but supported the idea of hyperlinks.
GUI - Graphical User Interface.: The hardware and software needed to address by way of a mouse or some other pointing device an individual point on the display device and solicit a particular response.
Helper applications: Applications configured and subsequently invoked from a Web browser to process a MIME type not recognized by the browser itself.
Hit: A single access to an information server, for example, the downloading of a single Web page or graphic image from a Web server; a single mail message sent to a list server; a single file transfer using ftp. The number of hits is an approximate measure of the amount of activity on a server.
Home page: A particular Web page that represents the starting point for viewing a specific body of information.
Host: A computer on the Internet with a unique name and/or IP address.
Hotlist: A list of URLs to which the user refers frequently and which are maintained by the client Web browser. Called "Bookmarks" in Netscape Navigator and "Favorites" in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http: HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol used by the World Wide Web.
Hyperlink (or hypertext link): A virtual connection between two pieces of information accessible via the Internet.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML): "The language of the Web" used to define Web pages.
Information service: A type of electronic mail service in which a user sends a message to a server, which sends the appropriate reply, possibly a canned response or a file, back to the user.
In-line image: A graphic that appears within a line (as if it were an ASCII character) of an HTML document.
Internet: Conglomeration of interconnected computer networks all using the TCP/IP protocol.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. ISPs may also provide various levels of Web-serving capabilities.
Intranet: Conglomeration of interconnected computer networks within a specific organization.
IP address: A number and associated name by which Internet hosts are recognized.
IP multicasting: An efficient Internet protocol for sending the same information signal to many clients.
ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network.: A fast, dedicated network connection available through many telecommunications companies.
Java: Object-oriented programming language designed by Sun Microsystems Inc. with network access and portability in mind.
Java servlet: An extension to a Web server that is written in Java. Servlets perform many of the same capabilities that CGI scripts and server plug-ins do.
JavaScript: Scripting language designed by Netscape Communications Inc., to enhance Web pages viewed with Web browsers.
JDBC Java Database Connectivity.: Methods that provide Java programs with a uniform interface to many different database programs.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group. A common Web graphics format supported by most browsers. It produces smaller files but its compression scheme can lose information.
Just-in-time compiler: A compiler that takes Java byte code and converts it to more efficient machine-specific code. This is done at run time.
Kernel: The lowest-level core of an operating system, through which higher-level components communicate with the hardware.
LaTeX: Word processing markup language derived from TeX.
Layout document: In the context of HTML frames, the document that tells the browser how to separate the browser window into frames. See also Content document.
Line interface: An interaction with the computer on a line-by-line basis. You enter a text string followed by <enter>. The <enter> signifies that the computer should process the line(s) and produce a response. Contrast this to a GUI.
Link: See Hyperlink.
List server: Software that distributes e-mail messages to lists of users. A user subscribes to the list and thereafter any e-mail postings sent to the list are forwarded to the user. This continues until the user unsubscribes from the list. Also called a list service.
List Service: See List server.
Markup: The act of adding information to a document to control how it will be formatted for a printer or display device.
Metacharacters: Characters that have a role is specifying HTML syntax, such as "<", ">", or "&".
Methods: Also called procedures. A term loosely taken from object-oriented programming and meant to imply a piece of reusable code for performing a specific task.
MIME type: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension. A standardized method of assigning types to documents. It was originally developed for use with mail messages, that is, mailers could recognize specific types of documents embedded in mail messages by their MIME types. This same mechanism has now been adopted as the mechanism for assigning and detecting the formats of Internet documents.
Mirror site: An information server that keeps a current copy of all or part of the information found on another information server. The prime purpose of a mirror site is to make the same information easily accessible from different global locations, thereby avoiding slow Internet connections.
Moderated list: A list available on a list server, where each incoming message to that list is examined by the person referred to as the list moderator, before being optionally broadcast to all subscribers to that list after possible modification.
MRJ - Macintosh Runtime for Java.: This addition to the Mac OS provides a Java virtual machine for the Mac, as well as a stand-alone applet viewer, the Apple Applet Runner, and example applets.
Name resolution: The process by which the Internet’s hierarchy of domain name servers translates domain names into IP addresses.
Netiquette: Undefined rules for how to behave when accessing the Internet. Common sense on the Internet.
Network computing: The ability for clients to perform computations using code or instructions received via the Internet (or a smaller network).
NNTP Network News Transport Protocol.: The protocol used to access Usenet newsgroups and associated articles.
Nondedicated connection: A network connection that is sometimes interrupted, as with a dial-up modem.
ODBC Open Database Connectivity.: Methods that allow programs to access many different database applications through a standard interface.
PC Personal Computer.: Usually used to refer to any computer using the Intel 386, 486, Pentium, or other Intel chip.
Plug-in: A Netscape term for an application that "plugs in" to the Netscape browser and extends the capabilities of the browser. For details, refer to
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol.: A protocol used to support asynchronous connections to the Internet, typically over telephone lines.
Procedures: See Methods.
RDBMS Relational DBMS.: A database system for storing a relational database.
README: The name of a file commonly found in ftp archives and software distributions. Usually contains information important to the installation or information that was written too late to be placed in the formal documentation.
Relational database: A database in which all data are organized in terms of tables and relationships between tables. See also RDBMS.
Relative anchor: A hyperlink reference within the current HTML document.
Rhapsody: The next-generation operating system from Apple, based on NeXT Computer’s NeXTStep operating system.
Rich Text Format (RTF): ASCII-based text interchange format developed by Microsoft Inc. Works well for exchanging text between word processing systems that read and write RTF but is not so good for exchanging graphics and mathematical equations.
Robot: See Web robot.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): A Netscape-defined protocol supported by high-end Web servers that allows the data exchanged between clients and the server to be encrypted. Often used in electronic commerce, to protect private information such as credit card numbers.
Server: A computer system or application that provides a service in response to requests from clients.
Server-Side Include (SSI): An instruction inside an HTML document that the Web server carries out before sending the document to the client.
SLIP Simple Line Interface Protocol.: A communication protocol with similar functionality to PPP.
SHTTP Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol.: Extension to e-mail that provides privacy and authentication over the World Wide Web.
SGML Standard Generalized Markup Language.: Used by the publishing industry to describe the final appearance of a document. HTML is a subset of SGML.
SMTP Simple Mail Transport Protocol.: The e-mail protocol used on the Internet.
Stateless interaction: When a server application does not "remember" information from past client requests, particularly which clients made which requests. The plain vanilla Web—without CGI scripts, cookies, and so forth—is an example of stateless interaction.
Style Guide: A reference document and possibly software templates that define common characteristics to be used in developing Web pages.
Swapping: In virtual memory, the moving of memory pages (i.e., 512-byte chunks of information) between physical memory and disk.
Tag: In HTML markup, an instruction embedded within a document that tells the browser how to display portions of the content. See also Attribute.
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.: The protocol suite that allows communication on the Internet. That is, all computers connected to the Internet support this protocol.
TCP/IP protocol stack: The specific protocols included in TCP/IP.
Text file: Any file that comprises characters from the ASCII character set. See also Binary file.
URL Uniform Resource Locator.: A global reference point to a piece of information. That information can exist in a variety of formats. All Web browsers recognize and display the contents of URLs.
Usenet newsgroups: Discussion groups on the Internet, each centered around a specific topic. There are currently about 15,000 Usenet newsgroups. Users post messages by e-mail to newsgroups and review newsgroups either via e-mail or special newsreader software.
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML): Can be thought of as a 3-D version of HTML. VRML defines 3-D worlds and behaviors through which the user navigates using a VRML browser.
Web: See World Wide Web.
Web browser: Client software capable of reading, interpreting, and displaying information in HyperText Markup Language (HTML).
Web client: Software resident on client hardware for interpreting Web pages downloaded from a Web server.
Web form: A particular type of Web page for sending information to the Web server for processing.
Webmaster: The generic name given to the person responsible for maintaining Web pages on a Web server.
Web page: A discrete piece of information read by a Web browser. That information resides between <HTML> and </HTML> tags and is usually contained in a single file.
Web robot: Software that moves around the Internet gathering and indexing Web pages. Most commonly used to support Internet search services like Yahoo!, Alta Vista, and Magellan.
Web server: Computer running software (or the software itself) capable of serving requests from Web clients for documents in HTML format.
Web site: Computer maintaining a set of Web pages with a related theme.
WYSIWYG: What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. Usually refers to an editor that allows you to work with the document in the form it will appear on the printed page.
World Wide Web: Computers attached to the Internet that support the http protocol used in global information exchange.
WWW: An acronym for World Wide Web.
XML eXtensible Markup Language.: An emerging standard for creating markup languages customized for marking up the structure of particular types of data to be served over the Internet. A subset of SGML.

Mac OS 8 Internet Glossary