HP-UX Reference (11i v3 07/02) - 7 Device (Special) Files, 9 General Information, Index (vol 10)

n
glossary(9) glossary(9)
node name
A string of bytes which uniquely identifies the system in the local network. Unlike the host name, the
node name cannot include domain names. It can be viewed and/or set with the uname(1) command. The
node and host names are usually set to the same value as application programs sometimes use the node
and host names interchangeably.
nonspacing characters
Characters, such as a diacritical mark or accents, that are used in combination with other characters to
form composite graphic symbols commonly found in non-English languages.
open file
A file that is currently associated with a file descriptor.
open file description
A record of how a process or a group of processes is accessing a file. Each file descriptor refers to exactly
one open file description, but an open file description can be referred to by more than one file descrip-
tor. The file offset, file status flags, and file access modes are attributes of an open file description.
ordinary file
A type of HP-UX file containing ASCII text (for example, program source), binary data (for example, exe-
cutable code), etc. Ordinary files can be created by the user through I/O redirection, editors, or HP-UX
commands.
orphan process
A child process that is left behind when a parent process terminates for any reason. The
init process
(see init(1M)) inherits (that is, becomes the effective parent of) all orphan processes.
orphaned process group
A process group in which the parent of every member is either itself a member of the group or is not a
member of the group’s session.
owner
The owner of a file is usually the creator of that file. However, the ownership of a file can be changed by
the superuser or the current owner with the chown(1) command or the chown(2) system call. The file
owner is able to do whatever he wants with his files, including remove them, copy them, move them,
change their contents, etc. The owner can also change the files’ modes.
parent directory
The directory one level above a directory in the file hierarchy. All directories except the root directory
(
/) have one (and only one) parent directory. The root directory has no parent. See also dot and dot-
dot.
parent process
Whenever a new process is created by a currently-existing process (via fork(2)), the currently existing pro-
cess is said to be the parent process of the newly created process. Every process has exactly one parent
process (except the
init process, see init), but each process can create several new processes with the
fork(2) system call. The parent process ID of any process is the process ID of its creator.
parent process ID
A new process is created by a currently active process. The parent process ID of a process is the process
ID of its creator for the lifetime of the creator. After the creator’s lifetime has ended, the parent process
ID is the process ID of init.
password
A string of ASCII characters used to verify the identity of a user. Passwords can be associated with users
and groups. If a user has a password, it is automatically encrypted and entered in the second field of that
user’s line in the /etc/passwd file. A user can create or change his or her own password by using the
passwd(1) command.
path name
A sequence of directory names separated by slashes, and ending with any file name. All file names except
the last in the sequence must be directories. If a path name begins with a slash (/), it is an absolute
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