HP-UX Reference (11i v2 03/08) - 5 Miscellaneous Topics, 7 Device (Special) Files, 9 General Information, Index (vol 9)

s
glossary(9) glossary(9)
solidus See slash.
source code The fundamental high-level information (program) written in the syntax of a specified
computer language. Object (machine-language) code is derived from source code. When
dealing with an HP-UX shell command language, source code is input to the command
language interpreter. The term shell script is synonymous with this meaning. When
dealing with the C Language, source code is input to the cc(1) command. Source code
can also refer to a collection of sources meeting any of the above conditions.
special file A file associated with an I/O device. Often called a device file. Special files are read
and written the same as ordinary files, but requests to read or write result in activation
of the associated device. Due to convention and consistency, these files should always
reside in the
/dev directory. See also file.
special processes
Processes with certain (small) process IDs are special. On a typical system, the IDs of 0,
1, and 2 are assigned as follows: Process 0 is the scheduler. Process 1 is the initializa-
tion process
init, and is the ancestor of every other process in the system. It is used to
control the process structure. On paging systems with virtual memory, process 2 is the
paging daemon.
SS/80 See CS/80.
standard error
The destination of error and special messages from a program, intended to be used for
diagnostic messages. The standard error output is often called stderr, and is automati-
cally opened for writing on file descriptor 2 for every command invoked. By default, the
user’s terminal is the destination of all data written to stderr, but it can be redirected
elsewhere. Unlike standard input and standard output, which are never used for data
transfer in the ‘‘wrong’’ direction, standard error is occasionally read. This is not recom-
mended practice, since I/O redirection is likely to break a program doing this.
standard input
The source of input data for a program. The standard input file is often called stdin, and
is automatically opened for reading on file descriptor 0 for every command invoked. By
default, the user’s terminal is the source of all data read from stdin, but it can be
redirected from another source.
standard output
The destination of output data from a program. The standard output file is often called
stdout, and is automatically opened for writing on file descriptor 1 for every command
invoked. By default, the user’s terminal is the destination of all data written to stdout,
but it can be redirected elsewhere.
stderr See standard error.
stdin See standard input.
stdout See standard output.
stream A term most often used in conjunction with the standard I/O library routines documented
in Section 3 of this manual. A stream is simply a file pointer (declared as
FILE
*stream) returned by the fopen(3S) library routines. It may or may not have buffering
associated with it (by default, buffering is assigned, but this can be modified with
setbuf(3S)).
sticky bit A single bit in the mode of every file in the file system. If set on a regular file, the con-
tents of the file stay permanently in memory instead of being swapped back out to disk
when the file has finished executing. Only superuser can set the sticky bit on a regular
file. The sticky bit is read each time the file is executed (via exec(2)).
If set on a directory, the files in that directory can be removed or renamed only by the
owner of the file, the owner of the directory containing the file, or superuser. See also
chmod(2), rename(2), rmdir(2), and unlink(2).
subdirectory A directory that is one or more levels lower in the file system hierarchy than a given
directory. Sometimes called a subordinate directory.
subordinate directory
See subdirectory.
Section 9−−22 Hewlett-Packard Company − 21 − HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003