Quick Reference Guide

398 Glossary
API
Abbreviation for application program interface, which is a set of routines,
protocols, and tools for building software applications that act as an interface
between the operating system and application programs.
argument
The value supplied with an option, such as in the following command line
instance:
utilname --option=argument
ARP
Acronym for Address Resolution Protocol, which is a method for finding a host’s
Ethernet address from its Internet address.
ASCII
Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A text file
containing only characters from the ASCII character set (usually created with a
text editor, such as Notepad in Microsoft
®
Windows
®
), is called an ASCII file.
ASIC
Acronym for application-specific integrated circuit.
ASPI
Acronym for advanced SCSI programming interface.
asset tag code
An individual code assigned to a system, usually by a system administrator, for
security or tracking purposes.
attribute
As it relates to DMI, an attribute is a piece of information related to a component.
Attributes can be combined to form groups. If an attribute is defined as read-write,
it may be defined by a management application.
autoexec.bat file
The autoexec.bat file is executed when you boot your system (after executing any
commands in the
config.sys file). This start-up file contains commands that
define the characteristics of each device connected to your system, and it finds
and executes programs stored in locations other than the active directory.