Trifox, Inc. -- Database Access Experts

Trifox Glossary

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L,
M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

A, B, C, D

ANSI	American National Standards Institute. A private, non-governmental, non-profit institution that accredits other groups to develop standards.
ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Used to represent data in a computer and to transmit data between computers, this standard assigns a unique binary number to each text character and control character.
API	Application Programming Interface. A formally defined programming language interface that is between an appliation and the user of the application. They are typically source-level interfaces and embedded in a library.
Array	Multiple rows of data items, usually used in conjuction with database data input and output.
Asynchronous	A method of transmitting data in which transmissions can begin at any time with character bits having equal time duration.
BLOB	Binary Long OBject.
Buffer	A memory area used to hold data during input/output operations.
Car	Builds and maintains TRIMpl function libraries.
Case-sensitivity	A situation where upper and lower case characters describe different objects. In Sybase, the tablename 'Staff' is different from 'STAFF'.
Catalog	see System Catalog
Client	A computer that accesses shared resources on other computers running as servers on a network.
Client/server	In general, processing that is distributed between two computers in such a way that each computer works on the parts of the application that it is best at handling.
COBOL	Programming language popular for financial applications.
Concurrent connection	Simultaneous connection by more than one user or application to the same database.
Constructors	An object oriented programming concept, used to build an object.
Cursor (database)	represents an application's connection to a database.
Database	A collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval.
Database server	A database management system (DBMS).
Datatypes	Describes the type of data being manipulated, such as Character, Numeric, and Datetime.
DesignVision	Trifox's point and click application development environment.
Destructors	An object-oriented programming concept, used to destroy an object and any resources associated with it.
DLL	Dynamic Link Library. A program that contains related modules of compiled code. The members in a DLL are not read until runtime. (dynamic linking)
Drivers	Code used to attach to the database and manage the interactions.
DVrun	Executes compiled code using DV thin or fat client.

E, F, G, H

Embedded SQL	SQL statements that are embedded in a program and are prepared during precompilation and compilation before the program is executed. After a SQL statement is prepared, the statement itself does not change.
Environment variable	A variable with an assigned value maintained by the operating system and available to all programs.
FTP	file transfer protocol. Command to move files over the internet.
Functions (member functions)	An object oriented programming concept describing actions that can be performed on an object.
GENESISsql	group of drivers that make low-level data sources such as ISAM, SDMS, ADABAS, Micro Focus and makes the data accessible to VORTEX-supported clients.

I, J, K, L

Indicator variables	simplify NULL value handling by reporting the status of returned data and letting applications know if the database data has been truncated.
Initialization files	(".ini" files)
Instance (instantiation)	An object oriented programming concept describing an active object.
Internal format	VORTEX converts some datatypes into a more efficient internal representation.
Java	A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems that is object oriented, interpreted (rather than compiled) and purported to "code once, run anywhere". For more java definitions, see JavaSoft.
JDBC	Java Database Connectivity. A standard SQL database access interface that provides uniform access across a wide range of relational databases. It also provides a common base on which higher level tools and interfaces can be built.
Legacy	The applications and data assets of a company that are used by long-established systems, which are usually proprietary, non-client/server systems.
List	Unique datatype that is a dynamic mxn array of data. The data can be of any datatype, including triggers and lists.

M, N, O, P

method	An object oriented programming concept that describes a function that can be performed on an object.
MIR	TRIM or DesignVision files with the ".mir" extention, which signifies "machine-independent runfiles" that are converted to .run files with the utility TRIMmir.
ODBC	Open Database Connectivity. An interface that allows an application to access data stored in many different databases on different platforms through SQL.
ODBC-compliance (conformance)	A measure of how closely a driver follows the ODBC specification.
Perl	An interpreted programming language that is often used in Web programming.
Precompiler	A program that processes source code before you send it to a compiler.

Q, R, S, T

QBE	Query By Example. Nonprocedural language you can use to select and retrieve data in TRIMqmr.
record	row of data. "Row" is the term usually used in relational database management systems.
RDBMS	Relational Database Management System. A specific type of database that uses relationships between data as a method of interrelating the data in the database.
Remote procecure call	A mechanism that allows a program residing on one system to execute a task or access data on a remote system transparently, as if it resided on the same system. Different systems working on the same application collaborate using RPCs.
SQL	Structured Query Language. A standard set of verbs for defining and manipulating a relational database. Although the set is standard, dialects differ for a variety of environments, implementations, and vendors.
SQLCA	SQL Communication Area. A structure used to provide an application program with information about the execution of its SQL statements.
SQLDA	SQL Descriptor Area. A structure that describes input variables, output variables, or the columns of a result table used in the execution of manipulative SQL statements.
Synchronous processing	a method of processing function calls that does not return control to the client application until the function call finishes processing.
Trigger	Mechanisms that automatically set off a specified set of SQL statements when a predefined "trigger event" occurs in a table.
TRIMlis	Diagnostic and reporting tool for DesignVision applications. Shows triggers and breaks and other useful information.
TRIMlsr	Enhances the performance for production systems by loading all specified run files into shared memory.
TRIMgen	Compiles TRIM and DesignVision design files and TRIMpl standalone files and converts them to either binary files that run with TRIMrun or DVrun or to ASCII MIR files.
TRIMmap	Shows how DVreport reportblocks are connected.
TRIMmir	Converts the ASCII distribution .mir (machine-independent run files) to machine-dependent binary .run files for executing on specific hardware/software combination platforms.
TRIMrun	Executes compiled code. Also called the "runtime."
TRIMpl	Trifox's fourth generation language.
TRIMqmr	Trifox's ad hoc query manager and report writer.
TRIMreport	Trifox's report writer.
TRIMtools	The collection of Trifox client application programming and reporting products.
Thin client	A DesignVision configuration where the client system is used primarily for display and data entry.

U, V, W, X, Y, Z

VORTEX	provides transparent concurrent access to all major databases on nearly all deployed platforms.
VORTEXaccelerator	improves system performance by matching SQL statements that are syntactically identical. Provides transaction monitoring capabilities as well as connection pooling. Increases the number of client processes that can effectively work on a given hardware configuration.
VORTEXJava Edition	A Java API to VORTEXserver.
VORTEXjdbc	A type-3 JDBC driver that connects to VORTEXserver.
VORTEXperl	A Perl API to VORTEXserver.
VORTEXclient/server	lets your SQL applications access data on different platforms over one or more network configurations. Currently it supports TCP/IP, Decnet, X.25, and SPX/IPX.
VORTEXcli	VORTEX Call Level Interface. A thin layer that provides a structured method of accessing the VORTEX API.
VORTEXcobol	Precompiles existing COBOL programs that contain embedded SQL commands, which allow COBOL applications to be linked so they can connect to VORTEX database facilities.
VORTEXnet	The networking protocol used by VORTEX products when configured in client/server.
VORTEXc	Precompiles existing C programs that contain embedded SQL commands, which allow C applications to be linked so they can connect to VORTEX database facilities.
VORTEX_API_LOGFILE	Environment variable that helps you troubleshoot applications.
VORTEX_API_LOGOPTS	Environment variable that helps you troubleshoot applications.
VORTEX_HOME	An environment variable that points to various VORTEX configuration and message files.
VORTEX++	a thin class library that enables C++ applications to connect to relational databases or GENESISsql-supported databases through VORTEX.