Glossary

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Absolute pathname
A pathname that starts with the root directory (/). An absolute pathname locates a file without regard to the working directory.

Alias
A mechanism in the C and Korn Shells that enables you to define new commands.

ASCII
This acronym stands for the American National Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Background process
A process that is not run in the foreground. Also called a detached process, a background process is initiated by a command line that ends with an ampersand (&), or put in the background with a <control> Z and then typing bg. You do not have to wait for a background process to run to completion before giving the shell additional commands.

C Shell
The C Shell is a UNIX command processor. It was originally developed by Bill Joy for Berkeley UNIX. It was named for the C programming language because its programming constructs are similar to those of C.

case sensitive
The description of the way that UNIX differentiates between lower and uppercase letters. Because UNIX is case sensitive, the commands mail and Mail are not the same.

.cshrc file
A file in your home directory that the C Shell executes each time you invoke a new C Shell. You can use this file to establish variables and aliases.

FTP
An acronym for File Transfer Protocol. This service is used to move file between machines both around the campus and around the world.

home directory
Each users' own private directory. Contains all their files.

.login file
a file the C Shell executes when you log in. You can use it to set environment variables and to run commands that you want executed at the beginning of each login session.

.logout file
A file the C Shell executes when you log out, assuming the C Shell is your login shell. You can put commands in the .logout file that you want run each time you log out.

Pipe
A connection between programs such that the standard output of one is connected to the standard input of the next. Symbolized by a vertical bar (|) in UNIX.

sh
This is the Bourne shell, the standard shell of UNIX System V.

Superuser
A privileged user who has access to anything any other system user has access to and more. The system administrator must be able to become a Superuser in order to establish new accounts, change passwords, and perform other administrative tasks. The login name of the Superuser is typically root.

vt100
A common type of terminal emulator used commonly on personal computers. When logging into machines, you will sometimes be prompted to enter your terminal type.

wildcards
An ability of UNIX to do pattern searching on filenames. Most UNIX commands allow you to use wildcards when referencing files. The wildcards are: ``?" which means to accept any single character in the place of the question mark. ``*" means to accept any character, group of characters, or nothing in the position of the asterisk. ``[ ]" means to accept any character within the brackets.