Glossary 

The Glossary includes a list of terms and definitions commonly encountered in the .NET Framework 3.0 programming model for Windows.

Term Definition

.NET Compact Framework

A hardware-independent environment for running programs on resource-constrained computing devices. It inherits the full .NET Framework architecture of the common language runtime, supports a subset of the .NET Framework class library, and contains classes designed exclusively for the .NET Compact Framework. Supported devices include personal data assistants (PDAs) (such as the Pocket PC), mobile phones, set-top boxes, automotive computing devices, and custom-designed embedded devices built with the Microsoft Windows CE.NET operating system.

.NET Framework

An integral Windows component that supports building, deploying, and running the next generation of applications and XML Web services. It provides a highly productive, standards-based, multilanguage environment for integrating existing investments with next generation applications and services, as well as the agility to solve the challenges of deployment and operation of Internet-scale applications. The .NET Framework consists of three main parts: the common language runtime, a hierarchical set of unified class libraries, and a componentized version of ASP called ASP.NET. See also: ASP.NET, common language runtime, .NET Framework class library.

.NET Framework class library

A library of classes, interfaces, and value types that are included in the .NET Framework SDK. This library provides access to system functionality and is designed to be the foundation on which .NET Framework applications, components, and controls are built. See also: class, CLS-compliant, Common Language Specification, interface, value type.

.NET Framework data provider

A component of ADO.NET that provides access to data from a relational data source. A .NET Framework data provider contains classes to connect to a data source, execute commands at the data source, and return query results from the data source, including the ability to execute commands within transactions. A .NET Framework data provider also contains classes to populate a DataSet with results from a data source and propagate changes in a DataSet back to the data source.

accelerator key

A key or combination of keys that, when pressed, quickly perform an action that would normally require multiple user actions such as menu selections.

access control list (ACL)

A list of security protections that applies to an object. (An object can be a file, process, event, or anything else having a security descriptor.) An entry in an access control list (ACL) is an access control entry (ACE). There are two types of access control list, discretionary and system.

access control list (ACL)

A list that specifies the rules for access to a particular resource. Microsoft Windows NT implements user-based ACLs, which specify the resources available to a particular user.

access key

A keyboard sequence, such as ALT+F, that corresponds to the underlined character on a menu, a menu command, or a control.

ACL

See Other Term: access control list (ACL)

active time

The entire duration of a timeline, including forward and backward progression. For example, a timeline programmed to go from a progress value of 0 to 1 and then back to zero is active for twice the specified duration--once for the forward part and once again for the backward part.

ADO.NET

The suite of data access technologies included in the .NET Framework class libraries that provide access to relational data and XML. ADO.NET consists of classes that make up the DataSet (such as tables, rows, columns, relations, and so on), .NET Framework data providers, and custom type definitions (such as SqlTypes for SQL Server).

affine matrix transformation

A transformation consisting of any combination of linear transformations (rotation, scaling, or skew) followed by a translation.

affine transformation

Linear transformation (multiplication by a 2x2 matrix) followed by a translation (addition of a 1x2 matrix).

alias

Indicates that the procedure being called has the same name as a public variable, constant, or another procedure in the same scope.

alpha

In computer graphics, the measure of a pixel's opacity. A pixel with the maximum alpha value is opaque, one with a value of zero is transparent, and one with an intermediate value is translucent.

alpha channel

The opacity of an image defined by an alpha value per pixel interleaved with the color components (for example, ARGB), an alpha value per pixel stored in a separate alpha surface, or a constant alpha value for the entire surface.

alternate

Potential word match for a segment of ink. Alternates are generated by a recognizer and are based on acceptable matches of the ink or audio input against a dictionary, grammar set, or factoid.

ancestor

Pertaining to or constituting a relationship between nodes in a tree data structure in which the ancestor is one or more steps closer to the root (that is, one or more levels higher) than the descendant.

anti aliasing

The smoothing of jagged edges in graphical elements and text. Anti-aliasing softens the roughness of jagged lines or curves by shading neighboring pixels.

application base

The directory where the .exe file that loads into the initial or default application domain is located. If you create your own application domain, the application base is the location you specify in the AppDomainSetup class. See also: application domain.

application dictionary

Customized list of words stored as a WordList object. These words are likely to be entered into an application as handwriting.

application domain (AppDomain)

A boundary that the common language runtime establishes around objects created within the same application scope (that is, anywhere along the sequence of object activations beginning with the application entry point). Application domains help isolate objects created in one application from those created in other applications so that run-time behavior is predictable. Multiple application domains can exist in a single process.

application gesture

Within the scope of an application, the laying down of ink (or movement of the pen) that commands or controls functionality, rather than the laying down of ink that is handwriting or drawing.

application object

The top-level object that represents the application to the system. The system calls methods on this object when the application is loaded, before it is shut down, and throughout the lifetime of the application to notify it of system-wide events. The application object contains application-wide code and maintains state that can be accessed from multiple views.

application state

In ASP.NET, a variable store that is created on the server for the current application and is shared by all users. Application state is typically used to store information that is used for all users, such as application-wide settings.

ascender

For Latin script, the portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the main body (the midline, or x-height) of that letter. For example, the vertical line of a "b" that extends above the highest point of the circle in that letter.

ASP.NET

A set of technologies in the Microsoft .NET Framework for building Web applications and XML Web services. ASP.NET pages execute on the server and generate markup (such as HTML, WML, or XML) that is sent to a desktop or mobile browser. ASP.NET pages use a compiled, event-driven programming model that improves performance and enables the separation of application logic and user interface. ASP.NET pages and XML Web services files created using ASP.NET contain server-side (rather than client-side) logic written in Visual Basic .NET, C# .NET, or any .NET-compatible language. Web applications and XML Web services take advantage of the features of the common language runtime, such as type safety, inheritance, language interoperability, versioning, and integrated security.

ASP.NET application services database

In ASP.NET, a database that stores the data for several ASP.NET application services, including membership, Web Parts personalization, roles, and profiles. The database can be a local database in the Web site's App_Data folder or a SQL Server or other database, depending on how the site is configured.

ASP.NET mobile controls

A set of ASP.NET controls designed for mobile Web applications. ASP.NET mobile controls extend their ASP.NET server control counterparts.

ASP.NET mobile Web Forms

Extensions to ASP.NET Web Forms that target mobile devices from cell phones to Pocket PCs.

ASP.NET page

A component of an ASP.NET application.

ASP.NET server control

A server-side component that encapsulates user-interface and related functionality. An ASP.NET server control derives directly or indirectly from the System.Web.UI.Control class. The superset of ASP.NET server controls includes Web server controls, HTML server controls, and ASP.NET mobile controls. The page syntax for an ASP.NET server control includes a runat="server" attribute on the control's tag. See also: HTML server control, validation server controls, Web server control.

ASP.NET Web application

An application that processes HTTP requests (Web requests) and executes on top ASP.NET. An ASP.NET Web application can include ASP.NET pages, XML Web services, HTTP handlers, and HTTP modules.

aspect ratio

The ratio of the width of an image to its height.

assembly

A collection of one or more files that are versioned and deployed as a unit. An assembly is the primary building block of a .NET Framework application. All managed types and resources are contained within an assembly and are marked either as accessible only within the assembly or as accessible from code in other assemblies. Assemblies also play a key role in security. The code access security system uses information about the assembly to determine the set of permissions that code in the assembly is granted. See also: private assembly, shared assembly.

assembly cache

A code cache used for side-by-side storage of assemblies. There are two parts to the cache: the global assembly cache contains assemblies that are explicitly installed to be shared among many applications on the computer; the download cache stores code downloaded from Internet or intranet sites, isolated to the application that caused the download so that code downloaded on behalf of one application or page does not impact other applications. See also: global assembly cache.

assembly manifest

An integral part of every assembly that renders the assembly self-describing. The assembly manifest contains the assembly's metadata. The manifest establishes the assembly identity, specifies the files that make up the assembly implementation, specifies the types and resources that make up the assembly, itemizes the compile-time dependencies on other assemblies, and specifies the set of permissions required for the assembly to run properly. This information is used at run time to resolve references, enforce version binding policy, and validate the integrity of loaded assemblies. The self-describing nature of assemblies also helps makes zero-impact install and XCOPY deployment feasible. See also: assembly, metadata.

assembly metadata

See definition for assembly manifest.

assertion (Assert)

In .NET Framework security, helps to make sure that a method has access to a particular resource even if the method's callers do not have the required permission. During a stack walk, if a stack frame asserting the required permission is encountered, a security check for that permission will succeed. Assertions can create security holes and should be used only with extreme caution.

asynchronous

Not dependent on timing. Each application or command runs in the specified order, but the specified item does not wait for any previously started processes to finish before an application or command runs.

attached event

A routed event that can be attached to any ContentElement or UIElement type and that is not limited to the type which defines it.

attached property

A property syntax that is defined by XAML. An attached property can be set on any object, not just the type that defines the property or its accessors. The attached property provider must provide static Get(PropertyName) and Set(PropertyName) methods as accessors for these attached properties.

attribute

A descriptive declaration that can be applied to programming elements such as types, fields, methods, and properties. Attributes are saved with the metadata of a .NET Framework file and can be used to describe code to the common language runtime or to affect application behavior at run time.

authentication

In .NET Framework security, the process of discovering and verifying the identity of a principal by examining the user's credentials against some authority. See also: principal.

authorization

In .NET Framework security, the process of limiting access rights by granting or denying specific permissions to an authenticated identity or principal. See also: authentication, principal.

autopostback

In ASP.NET server controls, a setting that causes the control to submit the page when the user interacts with the control. (By default, only button controls cause a postback.) For example, if a DropDownList control is set to perform autopostback, the page is submitted as soon as a user selects an item from the list. See also: ASP.NET server control.

baseline

Imaginary horizontal line with which the base of each character, excluding descenders, is aligned. The bottom of the x-height.

Bezier curve

A curve that is calculated mathematically to connect separate points into smooth, free-form curves and surfaces of the type needed for illustration programs and CAD models. Bezier curves need only a few control points to define a large number of shapes--hence their usefulness over other mathematical methods for approximating a given shape. Also "Bezier spline."

Binary Application Markup Language (BAML)

A binary representation of the object hierarchy and properties defined in an “Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)” file.

binding source

In data binding, the object from which the value is obtained.

binding target

In data binding, the object that consumes the value of the binding. A target property must be a dependency property on a DependencyObject type.

bitmap

Representation of characters or graphics by individual pixels. The pixels can be arranged in rows (horizontal) and columns (vertical). Each pixel can be represented by 1 bit (simple black and white) to 32 bits (high-definition color) and beyond. Single plane, packed-pixel format bitmaps, where packed-pixel is the data for each pixel is stored in a contiguous manner.

blur

An effect applied to a graphical object that typically reduces the difference between the outline of the object and the graphical area next to it.

boxed guide

Set of boxes drawn on the screen as part of a form and that act as a recognition guide. Users must write only one character per box.

boxing

The conversion of a value type instance to an object, which implies that the instance will carry full type information at run time and will be allocated in the heap. The Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) instruction set's box instruction converts a value type to an object by making a copy of the value type and embedding it in a newly allocated object. See also: Microsoft intermediate language, unboxing, value type.

bubbling

An event routing strategy where the event instance moves up the element tree (starting with the source and ending at the root of the visual tree).

buffer

An area of memory reserved for temporarily holding data before that data is used by a receiving device or application. Buffering protects against the interruption of data flow.

bump mapping

Technique for simulating the appearance of rough surfaces in 3-D scenes. Variations in depth are stored in a texture and applied to a primitive, using standard texture-blending techniques.

C#

A programming language designed for building enterprise applications that run on the .NET Framework. C#, which is an evolution of C and C++, is type safe and object oriented. Because it is compiled as managed code, it benefits from the services of the common language runtime, such as language interoperability, security, and garbage collection.

candidate

Potential match returned by a recognizer.

card

A Web page in WML. WML devices can either display the contents of a card on a single screen or, when necessary, provide scroll bars so that the entire contents of the card can be viewed. Developers need not worry about manipulating cards or decks (groups of cards) because ASP.NET mobile controls handle formatting, including pagination, for targeted devices. See also: deck, WML.

caret unit

A sequence of one or more text symbols. A unit can consist of a single character or an embedded object and a sequence of closing block tags followed by opening block tags.

catalog

A list of Web Parts controls (or other Web server, custom server, or user controls), created by a System.Web.UI.WebControls.CatalogPart control, that users can add to a Web Parts page. See also: Web Parts controls, Web Parts page.

CCW

See definition for COM callable wrapper.

CDATA

A section in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document, bracketed by [!CDATA[[ and ]]] characters. All data in this section, including markup tags, is treated as normal characters by the XML parser.

certification authority

A trusted entity that makes a statement (represented by an X.509 certificate) about the authenticity of another certificate.

character Autocomplete

For East Asian characters, the recognizer's ability to suggest recognition results based on incomplete characters.

character lookup

East Asian input method that accepts partially finished characters and offers a list of completed characters that include the strokes the user has drawn. A Character Lookup tab is included on the Tablet PC Input Panel for input in any East Asian language.

child

Pertaining to or constituting a relationship between nodes in a tree data structure in which the parent is one step closer to the root (that is, one level higher) than the child.

chrome

The common user interface elements rendered around each Web Parts part control within a given zone. The chrome for a part control includes a border, a title bar, and the icons, title text, and verbs menu that appear within the title bar. The appearance of the chrome is set at the zone level and applies to all part controls in a zone. The rendering of chrome and of individual System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPart controls is handled by the System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPartChrome class. See also: part controls, Web Parts controls, zone.

cHTML

A markup language used on some cell phones. cHTML is a subset of HTML with additional tags to enhance mobile functionality.

class

A reference type that encapsulates data (constants and fields) and behavior (methods, properties, indexers, events, operators, instance constructors, static constructors, and destructors), and can contain nested types. Class types support inheritance, a mechanism whereby a derived class can extend and specialize a base class. See also: encapsulation, indexer, property, reference type.

closed generic type

A constructed generic type that has no unspecified generic type parameters, either of its own or of any enclosing types or methods. Closed generic types can be instantiated. See also: constructed type, generics, generic type, generic type argument, open generic type.

CLR

See definition for common language runtime.

CLS

See definition for Common Language Specification (CLS).

CLS-compliant

Code that publicly exposes only language features that are in the Common Language Specification. CLS compliance can apply to classes, interfaces, components, and tools. See also: Common Language Specification (CLS).

code access security

A mechanism provided by the common language runtime whereby managed code is granted permissions by security policy and these permissions are enforced, helping to limit the operations that the code will be allowed to perform. See also: assertion, denial.

code-behind class

A class that is accessed by an .aspx file, but resides in a separate file (such as a .dll or .cs file). For example, you can write a code-behind class that creates an ASP.NET custom server control, contains code that is called from an .aspx file, but does not reside within the .aspx file.

code-behind file

A code file containing the page class that implements the program logic of a Web Forms or ASP.NET mobile Web Forms application.

code-behind page

See definition for code-behind file.

codec

Hardware that can convert audio or video signals between analog and digital forms (coder/decoder); hardware or software that can compress and uncompress audio or video data (compression/decompression); or the combination of coder/decoder and compression/decompression. Generally, a codec compresses uncompressed digital data so that the data uses less memory.

coercion

Used as a part of factoids, a means of restricting the alternates returned by a recognizer.

COM callable wrapper (CCW)

A proxy object generated by the common language runtime so that existing COM applications can use managed classes, including .NET Framework classes, transparently.

COM interop

A service that enables .NET Framework objects to communicate with COM objects.

common language runtime

The engine at the core of managed code execution. The runtime supplies managed code with services such as cross-language integration, code access security, object lifetime management, and debugging and profiling support.

common language runtime host

An unmanaged application that uses a set of APIs, called the hosting interfaces, to integrate managed code into the application. Common language runtime hosts often require a high degree of customization over the runtime that is loaded into the process. The hosting interfaces allow common language runtime hosts to specify settings that configure the garbage collector, select the appropriate build for their environment (server versus workstation), and so on. Common language runtime hosts often support an extensibility model that allows the end user to dynamically add new pieces of functionality, such as a new control or a user-written function. These extensions are typically isolated from each other in the process using application domains and custom security settings. Examples of common language runtime hosts include ASP.NET, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and a host to run executables launched from the Windows Shell. See also: application domain, common language runtime, managed code.

Common Language Specification (CLS)

A subset of language features supported by the common language runtime, including features common to several object-oriented programming languages. CLS-compliant components and tools are guaranteed to interoperate with other CLS-compliant components and tools. See also: CLS-compliant.

common object file format (COFF)

A format in 32-bit programming for executable (image) and object files that is portable across platforms. The Microsoft implementation is called portable executable (PE) file format. See also: portable executable (PE) file.

common type system

The specification that determines how the common language runtime defines, uses, and manages types.

comparison evaluator

A filter that compares a device capability name to a value. See also: device capabilities.

composite control

A custom server control that consists of a custom collection of other server controls as child controls.

compound file directory

A structure used to contain per-stream information about the streams in a compound file.

configuration file

An XML file with the .config extension that contains option settings for an application or Web site. Common configuration files include Machine.config and Web.config.

connection

See Other Term: Web Parts connection

connection point

A System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.ConnectionPoint object associated with the provider and consumer controls that participate in Web Parts connections. A connection point manages the exchange of data between the controls. Providers and consumers each have their own connection points. See also: consumer, provider, Web Parts connection.

constraint

See Other Term: generic type parameter constraint

constructed generic type

A generic type whose generic type parameters have been specified. A constructed type or method can be an open generic type if some of its type arguments are type parameters of enclosing types or methods, or a closed generic type if all of its type arguments are real types. See also: closed generic type, generics, generic type, generic type parameter, open generic type, type argument.

constructed type

See Other Term: constructed generic type

consumer

In a Web Parts connection, a server control that receives data from a provider control and processes or displays it. A consumer can be any type of server control, but must be designed to function as a consumer. A consumer must have a special callback method marked with a ConnectionConsumerAttribute attribute in the source code. This method receives data from the provider in the form of an interface instance. See also: connection point, provider, Web Parts connection.

container

See definition for naming container.

container control

A type of ASP.NET mobile control that contains other controls and provides visual groupings of controls and content.

content page

In ASP.NET, a Web page that is configured to be merged with a master page to create a complete page. See also: master page.

content view

A subset of the control view of the UI Automation tree. Items in this view meet one of the following conditions: can receive keyboard focus, is an image that requires a textual equivalent, is a control that is text that is not a static text label for a control. The content view includes all of the important UI information by excluding UI items in the tree that do not convey information to the user or that the user cannot interact with.

context

An ordered sequence of properties that define an environment for the objects resident inside it. Contexts are created during the activation process for objects that are configured to require certain automatic services such as synchronization, transactions, just-in-time activation, security, and so on. Multiple objects can live inside a context.

context

See Other Term: recognizer context

context property

The implicit state, and code to manage that state, held on behalf of an object instance. For example, the transaction context property holds the transaction identifier of the transaction that the object is participating in.

contract

The behavior and state that a class provides, which is matched with what a client of that class can expect to hold. A contract is expressed partly by the signatures for all public fields, methods, properties, and events of that class. This is augmented by a description (usually in simple descriptive text) of what each field or property represents, together with what each method does.

control

A component that provides or enables user-interface (UI) capabilities. A button is an example of a control.

control pattern

In UI Automation, a design implementation that describes a discrete piece of functionality for a control. This functionality can include the visual appearance of a control and the actions it can perform.

control state

A field in an ASP.NET Web page that stores the current property settings for server controls on the page. Control state is used to recreate the page and reestablish previous settings on each postback. See also: ASP.NET page, ASP.NET server control, postback, view state.

control type

In UI Automation, a set of conditions that a control must meet in order to use the ControlType property. The conditions include specific guidelines for UI Automation tree structure, UI Automation property values, and UI Automation control patterns.

control view

A subset of the raw view of the UI Automation tree. It includes all User Interface (UI) items from the raw view that meet one of the following conditions: can receive keyboard focus, can be clicked, is a control that is text, or is a control that is an image. The control view closely maps to the UI structure perceived by an end user and is the default view of the UI Automation tree.

correction

The process whereby a user selects a suggested alternate for written or spoken input.

co-sign

To digitally sign data along with one or more additional signatories. A cosignature does not imply that other signatures are valid.

countersignature

A signature of an existing signature and message or a signature of an existing signature. A countersignature is used to sign the encrypted hash of an existing signature or to time stamp a message.

crop

To trim the vertical or horizontal edges of an object. Pictures are often cropped to focus attention on a particular area.

cross-page posting

In ASP.NET Web pages, the process of submitting a page to a specified target page in contrast to submitting the page to itself. See also: postback.

cryptographic digest

The result of a one-way hash function that takes a variable-length input string and converts it to a fixed-length output string. This fixed-length output string is probabilistically unique for every different input string and thus can act as a fingerprint of a file. It can be used to determine whether a file was tampered with.

CTS

See Other Term: common type system

cubic Bezier curve

A curve described by two endpoints and two control points.

current time

The current position of a timeline, relative to the starting time.

cusp

Point on an ink stroke where the direction of writing changes in a discontinuous fashion.

custom attribute (Attribute)

A class used to represent custom metadata. See also: attribute.

custom control

A control authored by a user or a third-party software vendor that does not belong to the .NET Framework class library. This is a generic term that also includes user controls. Custom server controls are used in Web Forms (ASP.NET pages). Custom client controls are used in Windows Forms applications.

data binding

The process or method for configuring controls on a form or Web page to fetch data from or write data to a data source such as a database, XML file, and so on.

data space

A series of transforms that operate on data in a specific order.

data transfer

The movement of information from one location to another, either within a computer (as from a disk drive to memory), between a computer and an external device (as between a file server and a computer on a network), or between separate computers.

deadlock

In multithreading, a condition in which each of two threads holds a lock that the other thread needs in order to proceed. See also: synchronization.

deck

A group of one or more cards. See also: card.

declarative security check

Declarative security information in metadata. Developers can use such declarations, which are usually written as custom attributes, to invoke several kinds of security functionality: require permissions to bind reference to the code, require permissions to derive a type, demand that callers have certain permissions, and so on. See also: imperative security check.

deep copy

A copy of the contents of a data structure, including all its substructures.

default unit system

The process that determines when a Web page control should appear on a new page, based on a mobile device's characteristics. The default unit system is based on one line equaling 100 units, as indicated by the DefaultWeight field in the ControlPager class.

delegate

In the .NET Framework, a reference to a function. A delegate is equivalent to a function pointer. See also: reference type.

delegated evaluator

A filter that uses a custom method to evaluate the specified data.

denial

By denying a permission, a method can prevent its callers from exercising the privilege represented by that permission. If a method on the call stack denies permission A, a stack walk checking for permission A will fail unless a valid assertion is found on the stack between the method doing the denial and the method that initiated the check for permission A. See also: assertion.

denial of service attack

An attack on a server exposed to the Internet that consumes excessive time, memory, or other resources. The attack intends to prevent rightful access to resources.

dependency property

A property represented by a DependencyProperty identifier that is registered with the Windows Presentation Foundation property system. Dependency properties can be defined only by DependencyObject types, which typically expose the identifier as a public static field. Dependency properties inherit to derived classes and support value expressions, property invalidation, default values, per-type metadata, inheritance, animation, data binding, and styling. The property system determines their effective value based on a precedence evaluation of all possible value sources.

descendant

In a tree data structure, a node that is one or more steps farther from the root (one or more levels lower) than the ancestor node.

descender

For Latin script, the portion of a lower case letter that falls below the baseline. For example, the vertical line of a "p" that extends below the lowest point of the circle in that letter.

deserialize

The process of converting a series of bytes back into an object.

device adapter

An ASP.NET page framework class that adapts the behavior of mobile pages and controls based on the target device.

device capabilities

The set of device functionality available through the HasCapability method or the <Choice> element.

device definition

The characteristics of a device available through the MobileCapabilities class and the DeviceSpecific control.

device filter

A section of the Web.config file where you specify values for specific mobile devices. These values are used to create device-specific content.

device independent pixel

A unit of measure that equals 1/96 of an inch. Because device independent pixels are not physical pixels, they scale to the dots per inch (dpi) settings of the rendering device. The size of an inch depends on the resolution and dpi of the rendering device, and can therefore vary from device to device.

dictionary

Internal lexicon that is used by the recognizer for determining word matches.

Digital Rights Management

In a digital goods commerce system, a system that enforces content usage rules and protects the content from illegal use. A DRM system does not grant rights to the user of digital content; it only enforces the usage rules that the content owner has already established. Examples of usage rules are expiration date, play counts, and number of copies.

digitizer

Physical device providing the interface between the pen and the tablet. It is the high-resolution hardware that recognizes motions made with the pen and passes them to the tablet.

DIP

See Other Term: device independent pixel

direct access

A way of accessing properties and methods supplied by WMI in a script as if they were automation properties and methods of an object instance.

direct event handling

An event handling strategy that does not involve routing.

dirty range

An area in a markup container where changes have occurred.

discrete interpolation

One of three methods used to describe how an animation transitions between values over its duration. This method produces a jump from one value to the next, without generating in-between values.

display mode

The different display states that a Web Parts page can enter, which enable users to modify a page in specified ways. The states that ship with the Web Parts control set are: catalog, connect, design, edit, and browse. The default or normal mode for a Web page is browse. Developers can extend this display mode feature by adding custom display modes, which requires extending the WebPartManager class. See also: Web Parts control set, Web Parts page.

display pointer

A pointer that marks a position in the markup text of an HTML document during editing in relation to the onscreen position of the rendered page. A display pointer is controlled by an GetDisplayGravity interface. Display pointers work in conjunction with markup pointers.

document time

An implicit timeline that starts when the application is launched, or when a page or frame is navigated to.

download cache

See definition for assembly cache.

drawing

Ink that is neither handwriting nor gestures.

drop shadow

A shaded outline that appears behind an object and creates the illusion of depth.

duration

A value, in seconds, that indicates the amount of time an animated object remains active or displayed.

dynamic control

A Web Parts control that is persisted in a personalization store; it does not appear in the declarative markup of an .aspx page. After it has been added to a page, the WebPartManager control automatically creates an instance of the control from the personaization store on future requests. See also: Web Parts controls.

encapsulation

The ability of an object to hide its internal data and methods, making only the intended parts of the object programmatically accessible.

enum (enumeration)

A list of named constants.

event

An action or occurrence to which a program might respond. Examples include state changes, data transfers, key presses, and mouse movements.

event routing

The concept of an event moving in a tree of elements. There are three types of event routing: direct, bubbling, and tunneling. With direct routing, the event does not move in the tree. With bubbling, the event moves up to the top of the tree. With tunneling, the event starts at the top of the tree and moves down to the source of the event.

evidence

The properties of code, such as a digital signature or the zone or site of its origin, that are used by security policy to grant permissions to code. See also: security policy.

executable file

A file in portable executable (PE) file format that can be loaded into memory and executed by the operating system loader. It can be either an .exe or a .dll file. In the .NET context, a PE file must be translated by the common language runtime into native code before it can be executed by the operating system. See also: portable executable (PE) file.

explicit interface implementation

A class or structure member that is accessible only through the interface that the class or structure implements.

Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)

An XML-based language used to represent a tree of objects. Events generated by these objects can be handled using any .NET programming language. In Windows Presentation Foundation, XAML is typically used to describe user interfaces (UI), documents, and media experiences. Pronounced "zammel".

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

A subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that is optimized for delivery over the Web. XML provides a uniform method for describing and exchanging structured data that is independent of applications or vendors.

extent

For controls that display content, the extent size refers to the total width and height of the content. Content controls typically expose extent width and height as properties. Contrast with a viewport, which is a mechanism used to display a particular portion of content that may be too large to fit in the available display space.

external style

A style in an external style sheet. See also: external style sheet.

external style sheet

A style sheet defined in a user control in an .ascx file. See also: external style.

factoid

Context for ink recognition within a particular field.

factoid fingerprint

Concatenation of the factoid type.

field

A member that represents a variable associated with an object or class.

fingerprint

See Other Term: factoid fingerprint

fixed document

A document format that displays a page exactly as the author intended, independent of the viewer's screen size or window size, dots per inch (dpi), available fonts, or any other system-specific settings. The page renders the same on any compatible device, ensuring a consistent experience for all users.

flow document

A document designed to optimize viewing and readability. Flow documents dynamically adjust and reflow their content based on run-time variables such as the display area size, device resolution, and user preferences. A web page is a simple example of a flow document where the page content is dynamically formatted to fit the current window.

fragment

A subtree of UI Automation elements within a host framework such as a window; for example, a list box with a scroll bar and list items.

Framework

See definition for .NET Framework.

Full Trust

Installed applications are installed on the user's system and run with full trust. This means that they have complete access to the system resources, much like a traditional Microsoft Win32 application. They can be either a ClickOnce installed application or a traditional .exe, deployed with Microsoft Installer (MSI). With ClickOnce, when the user attempts to deploy an installed application, the system will display a dialog box and request permission for the deployment to continue. If the user does not grant permission, the deployment is canceled.

GAC

See definition for global assembly cache.

garbage collection (GC)

The process of transitively tracing through all pointers to actively used objects in order to locate all objects that can be referenced, and then arranging to reuse any heap memory that was not found during this trace. The common language runtime garbage collector also compacts the memory that is in use to reduce the working space needed for the heap. See also: heap.

GDI+

The portion of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system that provides two-dimensional vector graphics, imaging, and typography. GDI+ improves on GDI (the graphics device interface included with earlier versions of Windows) by adding new features and optimizing existing features. The GDI+ managed class interface (a set of wrappers) is part of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

generic class

See Other Term: generic type

generic interface

See Other Term: generic type

generic method

A method whose definition has placeholders, called generic type parameters, for one or more types used in the body of the method or as the types of the method's parameters. A user specifies real types (generic type arguments) for the type parameters when calling the generic method. Note that a method is not generic just because it is declared in a generic type. A method is generic only if it has type parameters of its own. See also: generics, generic type, type argument, type parameter.

generic type

A class, interface, or structure whose definition has placeholders, called generic type parameters, for one or more types used in its member definitions (for example, as method parameter types). A user specifies real types (generic type arguments) for the type parameters when creating an instance of the generic type. See also: constructed type, generics, generic type argument, generic type parameter.

generic type argument

The type or types that the user specifies when creating instances of a generic type or when calling a generic method. See also: generics, generic method, generic type.

generic type definition

The definition of a generic type, in which type parameters act as placeholders for types that the user supplies when creating instances to use. These instances are not instances of the generic type definition, but of the constructed type formed by specifying type arguments. See also: constructed type, generics, generic type, type argument, type parameter.

generic type parameter

In a generic type definition, a placeholder for a type that the user specifies (generic type argument) when creating instances of a generic type or when calling a generic method. See also: generics, generic method, generic type, generic type argument.

generic type parameter constraint

A way of limiting the types that can be specified for a generic type parameter. For example, types substituted for the type parameter can be constrained to inherit from a particular type, to implement a specific interface, to provide a parameterless constructor, and so on. See also: generics, parameterless constructor, type parameter.

generic type parameter list

The list of generic type parameters of a generic type or method, specified as part of the definition of the generic type or generic method. See also: generics, generic method, generic type, generic type parameter.

generics

A feature of the common language runtime, conceptually similar to C++ templates, that allows classes, structures, interfaces, and methods to have placeholders (generic type parameters) for the data types they store and manipulate. Generic types are a form of parameterized types. See also: generic type, parameterized type, type parameter.

gesture

Laying down of ink (or movement of the pen) that commands or controls functionality of the computer, rather than laying down of ink that is handwriting or drawing.

gesture recognizer

See Other Term: Microsoft gesture recognizer

gesture-only mode

Recognition mode that treats all incoming ink as a gesture.

global assembly cache (GAC)

A machine-wide code cache that stores assemblies specifically installed to be shared by many applications on the computer. Applications deployed in the global assembly cache must have a strong name. See also: assembly cache, strong name.

globalization

The process of designing and developing a software product to function in multiple locales. Globalization involves identifying the locales that must be supported, designing features that support those locales, and writing code that functions equally well in any of the supported locales. See also: locale, localization.

glyph

Series of ink segments used to symbolize a gesture.

grab-and-go docking

Docking and undocking of the computer without advanced notice. The ability of an operating system or application to operate continuously and without interruption when a computer is suddenly docked or undocked.

grammar set

Context for recognized ink not in a dictionary, such as numbers, currency, or dates.

granted permissions

The permissions, determined by security policy, that code will be given, allowing it access to resources and giving it identity. The granted permissions are determined by both the requested permissions and what is allowed by the security policy configuration. See also: security policy.

guide

See Other Term: recognition guide

guide box

See Other Term: recognition guide

handler (HTTP)

A component registered with ASP.NET (typically with an .axd extension) that produces Web output dynamically.

handwriting

Ink that represents characters, including written language.

hash code

A fixed-size result that is obtained by applying a one-way mathematical function (sometimes called a hash algorithm) to an arbitrary amount of data. If the input data changes, the hash changes. The hash can be used in many operations, including authentication and digital signing, and is commonly used to index data for quick retrieval.

heap

A portion of memory reserved for a program to use for the temporary storage of data structures whose existence or size cannot be determined until the program is running.

heuristic

An approach or algorithm that leads to a correct solution of a programming task by non-rigorous or self-learning means. One approach to programming is first to develop a heuristic and then improve upon it.

HID

See Other Term: human interface device (HID)

HIMETRIC

Metric mapping mode in which each logical unit is .01 mm.

hit test

A comparison of the mouse position with on-screen geometry. Commonly used to detect whether the mouse has been clicked over on-screen geometry.

HTML server control

An ASP.NET server control that belongs to the System.Web.UI.HtmlControls namespace. An HTML server control maps directly to an HTML element and is declared on an ASP.NET page as an HTML element marked by a runat="server" attribute, for example <button runat="server" />. In contrast to Web server controls, HTML server controls do not have an asp tag prefix. See also: ASP.NET server control, validation server controls, Web server control.

human interface device (HID)

A device that enables detailed button and control reporting resulting from human interaction (such as a keyboard, pen, game controller, and touch screen) using a bus-agnostic protocol originally developed by the Universal Serial Bus (USB) Device Working Group.

imperative security check

A security check that occurs when a security method is called within the code. This type of check can be data-driven and can be isolated to a single location within an object or method. For example, if the name of a file is known only at run time, an imperative security check can be invoked by passing the file name as a parameter to a security method. See also: declarative security check.

index

A zero-based number used to designate an item in a series of items. For example, some .NET Framework methods and properties use an index to designate a character in a string or an element in an array or collection.

indexer

A class member that permits instances of a class or structure to be accessed in the same way as arrays. Indexers are similar to properties, except that the get and set accessor methods of indexers take parameters, while property accessor methods do not. See also: class, property, structure.

ink

Data type representing pen strokes, including metadata about the strokes and contextual awareness of where the ink is used in an application.

ink collector

Programming object designed to capture ink input for a window from available tablet devices.

ink serialized format (ISF)

File format for an Ink object that saves the original device coordinates, is extensible through support for arbitrary properties and multiple packet formats, is forward compatible, and stores ink in a highly compressed binary format.

ink space

Virtual coordinate space to which the coordinates of the tablet context are mapped.

ink-enabled

Having the ability to recognize both ink and text.

ink-only mode

Recognition mode that treats all incoming ink as being inked content only.

Input Panel

See Other Term: Tablet PC Input Panel

interface

A reference type that defines a contract. Other types implement an interface to guarantee that they support certain operations. The interface specifies the members that must be supplied by classes or other interfaces that implement it. Like classes, interfaces can contain methods, properties, indexers, and events as members. See also: contract, indexer, property. reference type.

intermediate language

See definition for Microsoft intermediate language.

internal style

A style in an internal style sheet. See also: internal style sheet.

internal style sheet

A style sheet contained in an ASP.NET mobile Web Forms page.

interop assembly

An assembly containing definitions of COM types described in metadata. An interop assembly is typically produced by the Type Library Importer (Tlbimp.exe). See also: assembly, primary interop assembly.

ISF

See Other Term: ink serialized format (ISF)

JIT

An acronym for "just-in-time," a phrase that describes an action that is taken only when it becomes necessary, such as just-in-time compilation or just-in-time object activation.

JIT compilation

The compilation that converts Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) into machine code at the point when the code is required at run time. See also: Microsoft intermediate language.

lattice

Mapping of recognition alternates to strokes in the Ink object.

layout analysis

The classification and grouping of strokes into handwriting and drawing elements.

lifetime

The time period that begins when an object is allocated in memory and ends when the garbage collector deletes the object from memory.

linear interpolation

One of three methods used to describe how an animation transitions between values over its duration. This method produces a constant rate of change.

linear time

A function that has a run time of O(n); that is, if the function operates on a collection of n items, the function might have to examine each item in the collection, performing up to n comparisons.

lined guide

Ruled recognition guide. A lined guide minimally draws a suggested base line, but it can also include a midline, or even ascender or descender lines.

locale

A collection of rules and data specific to a language and a geographic area. Locales include information on sorting rules, date and time formatting, numeric and monetary conventions, and character classification. See also: globalization, localization.

localization

The process of customizing or translating the separated data and resources needed for a specific region or language. See also: globalization, locale.

logical tree

The tree containing all the elements and content that are directly created by an application and used for a user interface element. For the specified element, the logical tree is not a strict subset of its visual tree because elements derived from the Visual base class might contain non-Visual-derived elements. For example, the elements might contain a String, a TextElement, or any other Common Language Runtime object.

lossless compression

A process for compressing data in which information is arranged in a more concise form and restored to its original state upon decompression.

managed code

Code that is executed by the common language runtime environment rather than directly by the operating system. Managed code applications gain common language runtime services such as automatic garbage collection, runtime type checking and security support, and so on. These services help provide uniform platform- and language-independent behavior of managed-code applications. See also: unmanaged code.

managed data

Objects whose lifetimes are managed by the common language runtime. The runtime automatically handles object layout and manages references to these objects, releasing them when they are no longer being used. See also: common language runtime, garbage collection.

Managed Extensions for C++

A set of language extensions to C++ that help Visual C++ developers write .NET Framework applications. Managed Extensions allow you to mix unmanaged and managed C++ code within the same application.

manifest

See definition for assembly manifest.

mark up

The user action of applying ink as commentary to or highlighting of original content.

markup container

The staging area for editing an HTML document or HTML fragments.

markup pointer

Marks a position in the markup text of an HTML document when the document is being edited.

master element

An element in a parent document to which a child document is attached. Examples of master elements are input, frame, iframe, or elements created by an element behavior.

master page

In ASP.NET, a page that defines the layout for a set of pages. A master page can contain static text and controls that should appear on all pages. Master pages are merged at run time with content pages that define page-specific content. See also: content page.

membership

In ASP.NET, an application feature that manages a store of user credentials for a Web site. Membership can be integrated with login controls or other ASP.NET authentication features to provide login security for your site.

metadata

Data about data. Title, subject, author, and size are examples of a file's metadata.

metadata

Information that describes every element managed by the common language runtime: an assembly, loadable file, type, method, and so on. This can include information required for debugging and garbage collection, as well as security attributes, marshaling data, extended class and member definitions, version binding, and other information required by the runtime.

Microsoft gesture recognizer

Engine that specifically recognizes and processes ink input as either system or application commands.

Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL)

A language used as the output of a number of compilers and as the input to a just-in-time (JIT) compiler. The common language runtime includes a JIT compiler for converting MSIL to native code. See also: JIT compilation.

midline

Imaginary horizontal line with which the top of the main body of each character, excluding ascenders, is aligned. Corresponds to the top of the x-height.

mini stream

A virtual stream that efficiently stores data objects that are much smaller than the normal sector size. Sectors in this virtual stream are typically 64 bytes in length compared with 512 bytes for normal sectors.

mixed mode

Recognition mode that treats incoming ink selectively, based on its shape and what the recognizers indicate. Ink may be interpreted as a command or as content.

mobile code

Any code placed on a central server that is meant to be downloaded and run by multiple clients. Mobile code can be distributed using Web servers, FTP servers, file shares, and so on. Typically, users run mobile code from the intranet and Internet zones.

mobile user control

An ASP.NET mobile control derived from the System.Web.UI.MobileControls.MobileUserControl class. User controls provide containers for custom controls built from other ASP.NET mobile controls. See also: ASP.NET mobile controls.

modal dialog box

A modal dialog box requires the user to supply information or close the dialog box before allowing the application to continue.

module

A loadable unit, which can contain type declarations and type implementations. The module contains enough information to enable the common language runtime to locate all implementation bits when the module is loaded. The format for modules is an extension of the Windows portable executable (PE) file format. When deployed, a module is always contained in an assembly. See also: assembly, portable executable (PE) file.

module (HTTP)

A component that can be registered as part of the ASP.NET request lifecycle and that can read or change the request or response as it is processed. HttpModules are often used to perform special tasks that need to monitor each request, such as security or site statistics.

MSIL

See definition for Microsoft intermediate language.

namespace

A logical naming scheme for grouping related types. The .NET Framework uses a hierarchical naming scheme for grouping types into logical categories of related functionality, such as the ASP.NET technology or remoting functionality. Design tools can use namespaces to make it easier for developers to browse and reference types in their code. A single assembly can contain types whose hierarchical names have different namespace roots, and a logical namespace root can span multiple assemblies. In the .NET Framework, a namespace is a logical design-time naming convenience, whereas an assembly establishes the name scope for types at run time. See also: assembly.

naming container

Any ASP.NET control that implements the INamingContainer interface. This is a marker interface that enables a control to create a new naming scope under itself so that ID attributes assigned to its child controls are unique within the entire ASP.NET page that contains the control.

native code

Code that has been compiled to processor-specific machine code.

nested type

A type defined within the scope of another type. A nested type is typically used for encapsulating the implementation details of the top-level type.

O notation

An indication of the relative performance of an algorithm. An algorithm or the method that implements it is said to be O(1) if its execution is a constant, O(log n) if its execution is proportional to the natural log of n, or O(n) if its execution is proportional to n. O notation is frequently used as a way to compare the relative performance of operations on collections, in which case n is usually the number of elements in the collection.

object recognizer

Engine that recognizes general shapes according to their purpose. Object recognizers are used to recognize objects such as musical notes, geometric shapes, math equations, and flow chart elements.

offset

The horizontal and vertical offset represent the distance, in device independent pixels, that the viewport has been scrolled from its left or top side, respectively.

open generic type

A constructed generic type in which one or more of the generic type arguments substituted for its generic type parameters is a type parameter of an enclosing generic type or method. Open generic types cannot be instantiated. See also: constructed type, generics, generic type argument, generic type parameter.

origin

The zero points of the axes of any coordinate system used to draw graphical objects. In 2-D the origin is (0, 0).

pack URI

A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) based on the Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.0 "pack://" URI scheme and RFC2396 standard. Similar to an "http://" URI, a "pack://" URI identifies a .NET Framework System.IO.Packaging Package that contains a collection of PackagePart elements.

packet

Within a stroke, properties (such as the number of points in the stroke) and point data related to that stroke. The set of data sent by the tablet device at each sample point in a stroke.

pagination

A mechanism that automatically separates the content in ASP.NET mobile Web Forms into smaller groups of rendered pages that are targeted to fit a specific device. It also renders user interface elements that can be used to browse to other pages.

parameter constraint

See Other Term: generic type parameter constraint

parameterized type

A type whose definition has placeholders for actual types that the user specifies when creating and using instances of the type. C++ templates and common language runtime generics are examples of parameterized types. See also: generics.

parameterless constructor constraint

A restriction on a generic type parameter, such that types substituted for that type parameter must provide a parameterless or default constructor. See also: generics, generic parameter constraint, generic type parameter.

parent

In a tree data structure, a relationship between nodes in which the parent node is one step closer to the root (one level higher) than the child node.

part control

A control in the Web Parts control set that inherits directly or indirectly from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.Part class and is used to create the primary user interface of Web Parts applications. See also: Web Parts control set.

partial trust

XAML Browser Applications have partial trust, and run in the browser with Internet Zone permissions. This allows the application to run in the browser, but limits access to potentially risky system resources. All XAML Browser Applications run with partial trust, even if the server hosting the application is accessed through an intranet rather than the Internet. No user permission is required to run a XAML Browser Application, so no dialog box is displayed when the user attempts to deploy the application.

PE file

See definition for portable executable (PE) file.

pen input panel

Software accessory that can be attached to a control on a form and that enables text input using a pen. The pen input panel opens near the control to which it is attached when the user taps the control with a Tablet PC pen.

pen-enabled

Ability of an application to responds to gestures. For system gestures a pen-enabled application responds to pen events.

permission class

A class that defines access to a resource or defines an identity by supporting authorization checks. See also: permission object.

permission object

An instance of a permission class that represents access rights to resources or identity. A permission object can be used to specify a request, a demand, or a grant of permission. See also: permission class.

personalization

A feature of the Web Parts control set that enables end users to personalize (modify) Web Parts controls and save the personalized settings. Personalization can apply to individual users (user scope) or to all users (shared scope). See also: Web Parts controls, Web Parts control set.

personalization scope

The state of a Web Parts page that determines the range of users to which personalization changes apply. The WebPartManager control determines the personalization scope for a Web Parts page. The PersonalizationScope enumeration provides two possible scopes (Shared and User) that a page can be in at any given time. In shared scope, personalization changes made to shared controls apply to all users. In user scope, personalization changes made to shared and per-user controls apply only to the specific user. See also: personalization, Web Parts page.

per-user control

A dynamic Web Parts control that can be personalized and permanently deleted from a page for an individual user only. A per-user control appears on the page only when the page is in user scope. Note that a per-user control can have properties that are both user-scope and shared-scope for personalization purposes. See also: personalization, Web Parts controls.

platform invoke

The functionality provided by the common language runtime to enable managed code to call unmanaged native DLL entry points.

point

Data describing the coordinates within a stroke.

portable executable (PE) file

The file format used for executable programs and for files to be linked together to form executable programs.

postback

The process in which a Web page sends data back to the same page on the server.

precompilation

In ASP.NET, the process of submitting an entire Web site to a compiler. The resulting Web site output runs without needing to be compiled on first request and does not require source code to be deployed to a production server.

preroll

To capture or play a number of video frames or a portion of audio data before encoding or rendering begins, in order to allow the source device to stabilize. Also used as a noun to describe the portion of the data to be prerolled.

primary interop assembly

An assembly containing definitions of COM types that is distributed and digitally signed by the author of the COM component. Visual Studio uses a registered primary interop assembly by default when a developer references a type in the corresponding type library. See also: assembly, interop assembly.

principal

In .NET Framework security, represents the identity and role of a user, and acts on a user's behalf. See also: role.

private assembly

An assembly that is available only to clients in the same directory structure as the assembly. See also: assembly, shared assembly.

private view state

State information that is written as a hidden field, such as the form that is currently active or the pagination information for a form.

profile property

In ASP.NET, a property that can store information for each unique user and that is managed automatically by ASP.NET. When users visit the site, ASP.NET associates each user with a unique ID and can then read and write profile property values for the user.

property

In the .NET Framework, a class member that is like a public field, but that includes features such as versioning, encapsulation, and the ability to execute additional logic through get and set accessor methods. See also: encapsulation, field, version policy.

provider

In a Web Parts connection, a server control that sends data to a consumer control. A provider can be a WebPart control or any type of server control, but must be designed to function as a provider. A provider must have a special callback method marked with a ConnectionProviderAttribute attribute in the source code. This method provides data to consumer controls in the form of an interface instance. See also: connection point, consumer, Web Parts connection.

quadratic Bezier curve

A curve described by two endpoints and one control point.

race condition

In multithreading, a condition in which two or more threads can reach and execute a block of code, and the program outcome changes radically depending on which thread reaches the code first. A race condition is benign if all outcomes are valid. However, frequently one outcome of a race condition leaves the program in an unstable or invalid state. See also: synchronization.

raw view

The full tree of AutomationElement objects in the UI Automation tree for which the desktop is the root. The raw view closely follows the native programmatic structure of an application and therefore is the most accurate view of the UI's structure available. It is also the base on which the other views of the tree are built.

RCW

See definition for runtime callable wrapper.

recognition context

See Other Term: recognizer context

recognition guide

Structure that specifies the boundaries of the ink to the recognizer, by using ink space coordinates. In general, a recognition guide indicates what marks are drawn on the screen to aid the user in isolating areas for input. Also see "boxed guide", "lined guide".

recognition segment

Basic ink fragment or unit used internally by a recognizer to produce a recognition result for a given ink object. For western languages this is usually a word; for East Asian languages, it is usually a character.

recognizer

Engine that recognizes and processes one language, a group of related languages, or a class of related objects such as musical notes, system gestures, or geometric shapes.

recognizer context

Relationship that enables the various recognizers installed on a system to process input appropriately by performing ink recognition (synchronously or asynchronously), retrieving the recognition result, and retrieving alternates.

red/black tree

A binary search tree which uses a one-bit flag on each node to identify the node by color: either red or black. A set of constraints on node color helps form an approximately balanced binary tree.

reference type

A data type that is represented by a reference (similar to a pointer) to the type's actual value. If a reference type is assigned to a variable, that variable references (or "points to") the original value. No copy is made. Reference types comprise classes, interfaces, delegates, and boxed value types. See also: value type.

reflection

The process of obtaining information about assemblies and the types defined within them, and creating, invoking, and accessing type instances at run time.

reflow

Application behavior in which ink is bound, in a logical way, with the underlying application tree.

regular expression

A concise and flexible notation for finding and replacing patterns of text. The notation comprises two basic character types: literal (normal) text characters, which indicate text that must exist in the target string, and metacharacters, which indicate the text that can vary in the target string. You can use regular expressions to quickly parse large amounts of text to find specific character patterns; extract, edit, replace, or delete text substrings; or to add the extracted strings to a collection in order to generate a report.

remoting

The process of communication between different operating system processes, regardless of whether they are on the same computer. The .NET Framework remoting system is an architecture designed to simplify communication between objects living in different application domains, whether on the same computer or not, and between different contexts, whether in the same application domain or not. See also: application domain, context.

rendering context

Context that enables real-time placement of ink. Used to draw strokes on the device context as the user is writing, as well as to specify the transform, background, drawing mode, and mapping for rendering ink.

requested permissions

Optionally specified permissions in an assembly that represent the minimum required, optionally desired, and always refused permissions for all code in the assembly. If there is no request, the code is granted the maximum that security policy allows. See also: security policy.

resource

Any nonexecutable data that is logically deployed with an application. A resource might be displayed in an application as error messages or as part of the user interface. Resources can contain data in a number of forms, including strings, images, and persisted objects.

role

A named set of principals that have the same privileges with respect to security. See also: principal.

role-based authorization

In .NET Framework security, the process of determining whether a principal is allowed to perform a requested action. Authorization occurs after authentication and uses information about the principal's identity and its associated role to determine the resources a principal can access. See also: authentication, authorization, principal, role.

round trip

A sequence of Web Forms stages that begins when a user action requires processing on the server. When this occurs, a form must be sent (posted) to the server, processed, and returned to the browser.

routed event

An event instance that propagates through a tree of related elements rather than just targeting to a single element. There are three types of routing: bubbling, tunneling, and direct. With bubbling, the event instance moves from the source of the event up to the top of the tree. With tunneling, the event instance starts at the top of the tree and moves down to the source of the event. With direct routing, the event instance does not move in the tree and behaves like a standard common language runtime event.

runtime

See definition for common language runtime.

runtime callable wrapper (RCW)

A .NET Framework object that acts as a proxy for a reference-counted COM object.

safe mode

A specific version policy that requests a given assembly be run with the exact version of its dependencies that it was compiled against.

SAPI

Microsoft Speech API.

satellite assembly

A .NET Framework assembly containing resources specific to a given language. Using satellite assemblies, you can place the resources for difference languages in different assemblies, and the correct assembly is loaded into memory only if the user elects to view that application in that language.

scRGB

A standard color space that enables various devices including cameras, scanners, displays, and printers to produce reasonably identical colors. scRGB is optimized for greater than 8 bits per channel with a gamma of 1.0, and white point and primaries identical to sRGB. The scRGB color space is based on sRGB but offers a larger color gamut and precision by encoding values over 1.0 (white) and under 0.0 (black) with more bits per channel.

SECT

The location of a sector within a virtual stream.

security hole

An unintentionally unprotected entry point into an otherwise restricted computer, component, application, or other online resource.

security policy

The active policy established by the administrator that programmatically generates granted permissions for all managed code based on the code's requested permissions. Code that requires more permissions than policy will grant is not allowed to run. See also: requested permissions.

security principal

An entity recognized by the security system. Principals can include human users as well as autonomous processes.

seek

An action, usually a method call, that moves the timeline of an individual time node to a new position.

seeking

The querying and modifying of the current read/write position within a stream.

segment

See Other Term: recognition segment

serialization

The process of converting an object's state information into a form that can be stored or transported. During serialization, an object writes its current state to temporary or persistent storage. Later, the object can be recreated by reading, or deserializing, the object's state from storage.

serialize

The process of converting data into a string of ones and zeros so that it can be transmitted serially. Encoding is part of this process.

server control

See definition for ASP.NET server control.

Session state

In ASP.NET, a variable store created on the server for the current user; each user maintains a separate Session state on the server. Session state is typically used to store user-specific information between postbacks.

shallow copy

A copy of the contents of a data structure that does not include all its substructures.

shared assembly

An assembly that can be referenced by more than one application. An assembly must be explicitly built to be shared by giving it a cryptographically strong name. See also: assembly, private assembly, strong name.

shared control

A Web Parts control that can appear on a Web page and be personalized when the page is in either shared or user-level personalization scope. Note that a shared control can have properties that are both user-scope and shared-scope for personalization purposes. See also: personalization, personalization scope, Web Parts controls.

shared name

See definition for strong name.

shortcut key

A function key or key combination, such as F5 or CTRL+A, that you use to carry out a menu command. In contrast, an access key is a key combination, such as ALT+F, that moves the focus to a menu, command, or control.

side-by-side execution

The ability to install and use multiple versions of an assembly in isolation at the same time. Side-by-side execution can apply to applications and components as well as to the .NET Framework. Allowing assemblies to coexist and to execute simultaneously on the same computer is essential to support robust versioning in the common language runtime.

signature

The list of types involved in the definition of a method, field, property, or local variable. For a method, the signature includes its name, number of parameters and their types, the type it returns (if any), and its calling convention (default or vararg). The signature for a property is similar to that of a method. The signature for fields and local variables is simply their type (for example, array [0..5] of int).

signature time

An indication of the time that data was digitally signed. This is not a guarantee of validity unless countersigned by a Time Stamp Authority (TSA).

simple time

The duration of a single section of forward progress for a given node.

sInk

See Other Term: sketch ink object (sInk)

site navigation

In ASP.NET Web sites, the process of displaying controls such as menus, a tree view, or SiteMapPath (breadcrumb) controls that assist users in finding pages of interest. Site navigation is typically driven from a sitemap. See also: sitemap.

sitemap

A file or other store that describes the logical layout of a Web site (as distinct from the physical layout of pages). Sitemaps are used by site navigation controls to display navigation using a menu, tree view, or SiteMapPath (breadcrumb) control. See also: site navigation.

sketch ink object (sInk)

Object containing ink input that is a drawing.

skew

A transformation that distorts a shape by a specified angle from an axis. The result is that a square is formed into a parallelogram. The skew can be applied in more than one direction at a time.

skin file

A file containing one or more control properties that define how the controls should look. Skin files are part of ASP.NET themes. See also: theme.

SOAP

A simple, XML-based protocol for exchanging structured and type information on the Web. The protocol contains no application or transport semantics, which makes it highly modular and extensible.

splined interpolation

One of three methods used to describe how an animation transitions between values over its duration. This method uses a Bezier curve to describe how the animation transitions between key frames. The Bezier curve starts at zero, which corresponds to the current key frame value, and ends at one (the next key frame's value). By altering the curve's two control points, you alter the animation's progress curve.

sRGB

A standard color space that enables various devices including cameras, scanners, displays, and printers to produce reasonably identical colors. Optimized for 8 bits per channel with a gamma of 2.2, white point of D65, and primaries identical to HDTV/ITU-R BT.709/5.

static control

A Web Parts control that is part of the declarative "page persistence" markup in an .aspx page; it exists only as part of the .aspx page, not in a personalization store like a dynamic Web Parts control. Unlike a dynamic control, a static control is added to an .aspx page on every request. A static Web Parts control is always a shared control, which means that although users can both personalize and "close" the control when the page is in either shared or user scope, the control can never be permanently deleted. See also: personalization, personalization scope, shared control, Web Parts control.

storage

A logical grouping of data or objects within a compound file that can contain streams or other storages. The relationship between storages and streams in a compound file is similar to that of folders and files.

stream

An abstraction of a sequence of bytes, such as a file, an I/O device, an inter-process communication pipe, a TCP/IP socket, or a spooled print job. The relationship between streams and storages in a compound file is similar to that of files and folders.

stride

The distance, in bytes, between an address that represents the beginning of a bitmap line and the beginning of the next line. Do not confuse memory pitch and memory width because not all display memory is laid out as one linear block. For example, with rectangular memory, the pitch of the display memory could include the width of the bitmap plus part of a cache.

stroke

A set of properties and point data captured by the digitizer that represent the coordinates and properties of a given ink mark. The set of data captured in a single pen down, pen move, pen up sequence.

stroke range

Inclusive set of values that describes a set of strokes. A Stroke range identifies a set of strokes from a piece of ink by using a set of index values.

strong name

A name that consists of an assembly's identity-its simple text name, version number, and culture information (if provided)-strengthened by a public key and a digital signature generated over the assembly. Because the assembly manifest contains file hashes for all the files that constitute the assembly implementation, it is sufficient to generate the digital signature over just the one file in the assembly that contains the assembly manifest. Assemblies with the same strong name are expected to be identical. See also: assembly, assembly manifest.

structure

A user-defined value type. Like a class, structures can contain constructors, constants, fields, methods, properties, indexers, operators, and nested types. Unlike classes, however, structures do not support inheritance. See also: class, field, indexer, nested type, property, value type.

synchronization

In multithreading, the coordination of the activities of multiple threads through locks and signaling mechanisms so that program data is protected from corruption, and deadlocks and race conditions do not occur. See also: deadlock, race condition.

synchronous

Each application or command runs in the order listed, and each item must finish before the next command is run.

system dictionary

Word list containing all of the commonly written words in a language.

system gesture

System-wide, a movement of the pen that commands or controls functionality. System gestures include the pen equivalents of traditional mouse messages.

tablet

Logical concept that represents the digitizer device in the Tablet PC platform APIs. Holds the permanent properties that describe a digitizer attached to the system, such as hardware capabilities and property metrics (for example its minimum and maximum values, unit of measurement, and resolution).

tablet context

On the tablet, the "pen input area." In the Tablet PC Platform APIs, represents the physical area of the tablet that will be used for inking and usually overlays the display context. Used to determine the current state and settings of the tablet and to process and manage the packet queue.

Tablet PC Input Panel

Software accessory that enables text and command input by using pen or speech. Input Panel enables text input on a Tablet PC that does not always have a physical keyboard attached.

template

In ASP.NET: A declarative page fragment that is used to provide a visual interface for a templated ASP.NET server control. A template contains presentation elements that include literal text, HTML, and data-binding expressions, as well as declarative syntax elements that represent ASP.NET server controls. A template can be persisted as a text file with an .ascx extension. See also: ASP.NET server control, templated control. In ASP.NET mobile controls: A markup language construct associated with controls and created with the <DeviceSpecific> and <Choice> tags. It is used to customize output for specific types of hardware devices. See also: templated control, template set.

template set

In ASP.NET mobile controls: A collection of templates associated with a templated control. See also: template, templated control.

templated control

In ASP.NET: An ASP.NET server control that does not itself provide a visual interface but allows its users (page developers) to supply templates that provide a visual interface. When the ASP.NET page parser encounters a templated control, it parses the control's template and dynamically creates child controls that supply the visual interface. The Repeater and DataList ASP.NET server controls are templated controls. The DataGrid control is not strictly a templated control, but uses templates to customize its user interface. See also: ASP.NET server control, template. In ASP.NET mobile controls: A control that supports one or more templates. A single templated control can refer to multiple sets of templates, where each template set is defined through device-specific criteria. See also: template, template set.

text

Unicode character output from a recognizer.

text ink object (tInk)

Object that contains ink that is handwriting.

text recognizer

Engine that divides an ink sample into segments and translates the ink segments into text.

Text Services Framework (TSF)

API that enables advanced text input, independent of any source. Microsoft Windows Text Services Framework (TSF) exposes its framework to applications and text services through a set of COM interfaces.

text writer

In ASP.NET mobile controls: A mechanism that allows device adapters to write their output through an object. A text writer object is created from the TextWriter base class. See also: device adapter.

theme

In ASP.NET, a collection of control properties, stylesheets, and images that can be applied as a unit to a page or Web site to define an overall appearance.

thumb

The part of a slider control that can be moved to set the slider position.

thumbnail

A reduced size representation of an item (for example, an image or page of content) obtained by scaling a snapshot of it. Thumbnails are typically used to provide a visual preview for a set of related items.

time stamp

A certification by a trusted third party specifying that a particular message existed at a specific time and date. In a digital context, trusted third parties generate a trusted time stamp for a given message by having a time stamping service append a time value to a message and then digitally signing the result.

Time Stamp Authority

A service acknowledging that the data existed before a particular time. The service is typically a trusted third party.

tInk

See Other Term: text ink object (tInk)

tracing

In ASP.NET, the process of capturing and displaying debugging information about a Web page as the page is running. Tracing information includes HTTP headers and control state. You can display trace output in the page or in a separate trace viewer.

transform (Media Integration Layer)

In mathematics and computer graphics, to alter the position, size, or nature of an object by moving it to another location (translation), making it larger or smaller (scaling), turning it (rotation), changing its description from one type of coordinate system to another, and so on.

transform (Rights Management)

An operation that changes the appearance or format of data without altering its content; that is, an encoding of information according to predefined rules.

tree

A data structure containing zero or more nodes that are linked together in a hierarchy. If any nodes are present, one node is the root; each node except the root is the child of one and only one other node, and each node has zero or more nodes as children.

TSF

See Other Term: Text Services Framework (TSF)

TSF-aware application

Application that includes support for the Microsoft Windows Text Services Framework (TSF).

tunneling

An event routing strategy where the event instance moves down the element tree (starting at the root of the visual tree and ending with the source). In Windows Presentation Foundation, the names of events that use this routing strategy are prefixed with the word "Preview". These events have the same signature as their counterparts that use the bubbling event routing strategy.

type argument

See Other Term: generic type argument

type parameter

See Other Term: generic type parameter

type parameter list

See Other Term: generic type parameter list

type safe

The ability for languages and classes to exchange information through commonly agreed upon definitions and usage patterns for types.

type system

See definition for common type system.

UDDI

See definition for Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration.

UI Automation client

An assistive technology application, such as a screen reader, that uses UI Automation to obtain programmatic access to the UI elements in an application’s user interface. The client presents information about UI elements to the end user. Automated test scripts are also considered to be UI Automation clients.

UI Automation element

An object that represents a UI Automation client application's view of a Windows user interface item.

UI Automation provider

An implementation of UI Automation interfaces that exposes programmatic information about a UI element. The provider supplies this information to the UI Automation framework in response to UI Automation client requests.

unboxing

The conversion of an object instance to a value type. See also: boxing, value type.

Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

A number or name that uniquely identifies an element or attribute. URIs include both Uniform Resource Names (URNs) and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). URIs are a general scheme for locating resources on the Internet that focuses more on the resource and less on the location. In theory, a URI could find the closest copy of a mirrored document or locate a document moved from one site to another. Although it is expected that URNs will become more common in the future, when discussing XML today, URIs are URLs in nearly all cases.

unit vector

Vector with a magnitude (length) of 1.0.

Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)

A platform-independent framework functioning like a directory (similar to a telephone book) that provides a way to locate and register Web services on the Internet. The UDDI specification calls for three elements: white pages, which provide business contact information; yellow pages, which organize Web services into categories (for example, credit card authorization services); and green pages, which provide detailed technical information about individual services. The UDDI also contains an operational registry, which is available today.

unmanaged code

Code that is executed directly by the operating system, outside the common language runtime environment. Unmanaged code must provide its own garbage collection, type checking, security support, and so on, unlike managed code, which receives these services from the common language runtime. See also: managed code.

user control

In ASP.NET: A server control that is authored declaratively using the same syntax as an ASP.NET page and is saved as a text file with an .ascx extension. User controls allow page functionality to be partitioned and reused. Upon first request, the page framework parses a user control into a class that derives from System.Web.UI.UserControl and compiles that class into an assembly, which it reuses on subsequent requests. User controls are easy to develop due to their page-style authoring and deployment without prior compilation. In Windows Forms: A composite control that provides consistent behavior and user interface within or across applications. The user control can be local to one application or added to a library and compiled into a DLL for use by multiple applications.

user dictionary

Word list containing words that the user has added to the dictionary.

User Interface (UI) Automation

The accessibility model for Microsoft Windows that programmatically gathers information about an application's User Interface (UI) elements and exposes it to assistive technology products and automated test scripts.

validation server controls

A set of server controls, included with ASP.NET, that verify user input. The input is checked as it comes from HTML server controls and Web server controls (for example, a Web page form) against programmer-defined requirements. Validation controls perform input checking in server code. If the user is working with a browser that supports DHTML, the validation controls can also perform validation using client script. See also ASP.NET server control, HTML server control, Web server control.

validator

See definition for validation server controls.

value type

A data type that is represented by the type's actual value. If a value type is assigned to a variable, that variable is given a fresh copy of the value. (This is in contrast to a reference type, where assignment does not create a copy.) Value types are usually created on a method's stack frame, rather than in the garbage-collected heap. A value type can be boxed, which is a process that creates a corresponding reference type. See also: boxing, reference type, unboxing.

verb

A user interface element in a Web Parts application that an end user can click to perform actions such as closing, minimizing, restoring, editing, or deleting a Web Parts control. Developers can also add custom verbs to controls. Web Parts verbs are based on the System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPartVerb class. See Web Parts controls.

verbs menu

A menu in the title bar of a part control that contains various verbs (UI actions that apply to an individual control) such as Close, Minimize, Restore, Delete, Export, Edit, Help, and others, as well as custom verbs implemented by developers. See part control, verb.

verification

A part of the compilation process in which code is checked for conformance to a specific set of rules defined to allow proof of certain security requirements. The common language runtime can verify Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL). See also: Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL).

version policy

The rules that specify which version of dependent assemblies to bind to. Version polices are expressed using configuration files.

view state

A field in an ASP.NET Web page where you can store settings that need to be preserved between postbacks. Also used to mean control state. See also: control state, postback.

viewport

For controls that display content, the viewport is a virtual window through which all or part of the content is visible. A viewport is typically used to display a particular portion of content when all of the content will not fit in the available display space. Compare to the extent size, which is the total width and height of the content.

virtual key code

A symbolic constant name, hexadecimal value, or mouse or keyboard equivalent that provides a hardware and language-independent method of identifying keyboard keys. Each virtual key code represents a unique keyboard key and also identifies the purpose of that key. The keyboard driver must provide one or more keyboard layouts that maps keyboard scan codes to the appropriate virtual key codes.

visual tree

The element tree containing all visual elements (elements that derive from the type System.Windows.Media.Visual) used for a piece of user interface. This tree is the accumulation of all visual elements created directly by the application (whether in code or in markup) and all visual elements created by the template expansion of elements such as controls and data objects.

WAP

Wireless Application Protocol. A standard protocol for providing Internet communications and advanced telephony services on phones, pagers, PDAs, and other wireless terminals.

Web Forms

The ASP.NET page framework, which consists of programmable Web pages (called Web Forms pages) that contain reusable server controls. See also ASP.NET server control.

Web Parts

The total ASP.NET Web Parts feature set.

Web Parts connection

An association between two server controls residing in a WebPartZoneBase zone that enables them to share data, with one control acting as the provider of data and the other control acting as the consumer. A connection is encapsulated within a System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPartConnection object. See also: consumer, provider, zone.

Web Parts control set

The integrated set of ASP.NET software components that provide personalization, structural components such as zones and the WebPartManager control, Web Parts UI controls, and other components for building Web Parts controls and applications. See also: personalization, Web Parts controls, zone.

Web Parts controls

A way of referring generally to any of the various types of controls in the Web Parts control set. See also: Web Parts control set.

Web Parts page

A normal .aspx page that includes the Web Parts controls that are necessary to personalize the page. A Web Parts page minimally requires a WebPartManager control, one or more zones, and one or more Web Parts controls. See also: personalization, Web Parts controls, zone.

Web server control

An ASP.NET server control that belongs to the System.Web.UI.WebControls namespace. Web server controls are richer and more abstract than HTML server controls. A Web server control has an asp tag prefix on an ASP.NET page, such as <asp:Button runat="server" />. See also: ASP.NET server control, HTML server control, validation server controls.

Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

An XML-based contract language for describing network services offered by a server. See also: Extensible Markup Language (XML).

well-formed

An Extensible Markup Language (XML) document that is syntactically correct.

Windows Forms

A rich Windows client library.

WML

An XML-based markup language used to specify content and the user interface for narrowband devices, including cellular phones and pagers. WML is part of WAP. See also: WAP.

WPF core-level

A subset of programming features available in Windows Presentation Foundation. Architecturally, the APIs that provide this core-level feature set are packaged in the PresentationCore.DLL library (WindowsBase.DLL implements a base level also). For their own architecture reasons, application developers might choose to deliberately implement at this core level, and to not use APIs from the PresentationFramework.DLL library.

WPF framework-level

The complete set of all programming features available in Windows Presentation Foundation. Architecturally, the APIs that complete this framework-level feature set are packaged in the PresentationFramework.DLL library.

WSDL

See definition for Web Services Description Language.

X.509 certificate

A cryptographic certificate that contains a vendor's unique name and the public key.

x-height

The height of a lowercase letter x. The x-height is therefore representative only of lowercase letters and excludes uppercase letters, ascenders, and descenders.

XML

See definition for Extensible Markup Language (XML).

XML Schema (XSD)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard language used for creating XML Schema documents. The XML Schema contains two parts: a set of predefined types (for example, string, dateTime, decimal), and an XML language for defining new types (for example, complexType, minOccurs, element).

XML Schema Document

A specification that describes the complex types used in a Web method and thereby enables interoperability between clients and Web services built on different platforms by adhering to a common type system, as defined by the W3C.

XML Web services

Units of application logic providing data and services to other applications. Applications access XML Web services using standard Web protocols and data formats such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP, independent of how each XML Web service is implemented. XML Web services combine the best aspects of both component-based development and the Web, and they are a cornerstone of the Microsoft .NET programming model.

XPS story

A structural element of an XPS document that consists of a passage of text and graphic content, usually about a single topic. It can be shorter than a page or span multiple pages. It can also be discontinuous like a front page newspaper story that is continued on a later page.

zone

A region that contains Web Parts controls on a page, and provides layout management and a consistent UI for the contained controls. A zone in the Web Parts control set is a composite control that contains other controls and is rendered as an HTML table. All Web Parts zones inherit from System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebZone. See also: Web Parts controls, Web Parts control set.

z-order

The visual layering of windows or controls on a form along the z-axis (depth). The z-order determines which controls are in front of other controls. Each window or control has a unique position in the z-order.