Glossary - A

4 B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W X 

Alias Parameter:  A numbered variable (e.g. %2) included in an alias 
definition, allowing a different value to be used in the alias each time 
it is executed. 

Alias:  A shorthand name for a command or series of commands. 

AND:  A logical combination of two true or false conditions.  If both 
conditions are true, the result is true; if either condition is false, the 
result is false. 

ANSI:  Usually a reference to ANSI control sequences, standardized 
sequences of text characters which control colors on the screen, 
manipulate the cursor, and redefine keys.  OS2 includes support for ANSI 
screen and cursor control sequences.  The abbreviation ANSI is for 
American National Standards Institute, an organization whch sets standards 
for computer-related systems, including "ANSI" screen control sequences. 

Append:  Concatenation of one file or string onto the end of another (this 
use is not related to the DOS and OS/2 external command named APPEND). 

Application:  A program run from the command prompt or a batch file.  Used 
broadly to mean any program other than the command processor; and more 
narrowly to mean a program with a specific purpose such as a spreadsheet 
or word processing program, as opposed to a utility. 

Archive:  A file attribute indicating that the file has been modified 
since the last backup (most backup programs clear this attribute).  Also 
sometimes refers to a single file (such as a .ZIP file) which contains a 
number of other files in compressed form. 

Argument:  See Parameter. 

ASCII File:  A file containing ASCII text, as opposed to a binary file 
which may contain numbers, or other information that cannot be sensibly 
interpreted as text. 

ASCII:  The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, which 
defines numeric values for 128 different characters comprising the English 
alphabet, numbers, punctuation, and some control characters. 

Attribute:  A characteristic of a file which can be set or cleared.  The 
standard attributes are Read-Only, Hidden, System, and Archive; other 
attributes include Directory and Volume Label. 

Automatic Batch Files:  See 4START and 4EXIT. 

Automatic Directory Change:  A CMD.EXE feature which allows you to change 
directories by typing the directory name and a backslash [\] at the 
prompt.