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Zeus Lexicon

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A

A - 1. the first letter of the alphabet. 2. the drive letter usually used on a PC for the first floppy drive. The second floppy drive is ordinarily referred to as B and the hard drives start at C (at least in the U.S.). 3. n. a single hexadecimal digit used to represent the decimal number 10.

ABC - 1. American Broadcasting Company, a television network. See NBC, CBS. 2. the first three letters of the alphabet.

absolute path - a path specification that identifies the location of a file completely, such as c:\windows\readme.txt. Compare relative path. Refer to the TechNote, "Path and File Specifications"

Access - 1. (also Microsoft Access) a full function database which is part of the Microsoft Office suite of applications. See Word, Excel. 2. what you get in exchange for large political contributions.

Acrobat - 1. Acrobat Reader 2. a family of applications from Adobe Systems used to create and read documents in Portable Document Format. 3. Kerri Strug

Acrobat Exchange - an application for creating PDF documents. Acrobat Exchange can be used to create documents which can be read by Acrobat Reader.

Acrobat Reader - a freely distributable PDF reader from Adobe Systems, commonly called "Acrobat". See splash screen.

ACT! - contact management software from Symantec.

ActiveX - a set of libraries that enable Windows 95 applications to communicate with each other, largely replacing OLE and DDE. See DirectX.

ADAC - (pronounced "Ay-Dack") See Analog-to-Digital Converter. Also ADC. See DAC. .

Adobe Systems - software manufacturer. Makers of PostScript, Photoshop, Premiere, Acrobat, PageMill, SiteMill and others.

AFAIK - 1. As Far As I Know, a common e-mail abbreviation. 2. a phony.

AFK - Away From Keyboard, a common chat session abbreviation indicating a temporary absence. See BAK.

Afterburner - a compression program from Macromedia for creating Shockwave content. Afterburner compresses Director or Authorware files for playback via the web, or even from local drives. Afterburner is accessible under Director's Xtras menu.

AIF - the TLE for AIFF files.

AIFF - a popular audio file format supported by Director on both the Macintosh and PC. See AIF, WAV.

AJGW - 1. All Juicy Gossip Welcome, an e-mail abbreviation BAE made up. 2. Armand Just Got Windows - the beginning of the end.

aka - (pronounced "Ay-Kay-Ay", not "acka") Also Known As, see alias and fka.

Aladdin Systems - software company, makers of StuffIt!

Aldus - former makers of Freehand until being bought by Macromedia.

alias - 1. an alternate identity, such as a pseudonym used for an e-mail address. 2. a small Macintosh file which points to an original file or server elsewhere on the system, equivalent to a Windows shortcut. Refer to the Zeus TechNote, "Shortcuts, Icons, PIFs and Aliases".

All Our FAQs are FUQed™ - At Zeus Productions, we go beyond superficial FAQs to create information-laden FUQs which taste great and are more filling.

alpha - 1. n. the first milestone of software development, an alpha version includes most functionality, although there may be substantial bugs or unimplemented features remaining. See beta, gold master. 2. adj. characterized by an unreliable nature, as in, "Don't rely on alpha software." 3. n. a deadline, as in, "We'll never make alpha".

Alt, Carol - supermodel married to some hockey player. See Christie Brinkley.

Alt key - the Alternate key is used to modify other key commands. For example, Alt-M indicates that you should press the M key while holding down the Alt key, as you would the Shift key. Refer to the Lingo property the optionDown. See Option key, Command key.

aluminimum foil - (a Sniglet) the smallest piece of foil sufficient to wrap a sandwich or leftovers.

aluminium (al-loo-MIN-ee-um) - what is called "foil" or "aluminum" by everyone but the Australians.

Amelio, Gil - current CEO of Apple Computer.

America On-Line - world's largest subscription-based on-line service, commonly referred to as AOL. Subject of various litigation alleging an inability to fulfill obligations based on consumer demand for their advertised services. See Steve Case.

AMT - see Apple Media Tool.

analog - data that is continuously variable, as in the real world. A record album contains analog data, as does the human voice, whereas a CD contains digital or discrete data. See analog-to-digital converter.

analog-to-digital converter - a specialized chip that converts an analog signal to a digital signal for playback through a digital output device such as a PC sound card. Commonly called an "A-to-D" converter (see Beer Pong). See digitize, DAC, ADAC.

Anarchie - (pronounced "anarchy", not "an-archie") - an Archie/ftp client shareware utility.

ancestor - a parent script whose methods are accessible from one or more child objects (descendants). See inheritance.

and - a boolean operator that performs a logical comparison. If both operands are True, the result is True. For example, True AND False = False, False AND False = False, True AND True = True. See or, xor, not, and refer to the TechNote, "Understanding Boolean Operators".

Andreeson, Mark - (not "Anderson") original developer of NCSA Mosaic browser and co-founder of Netscape. See James Clark.

anomaly - see bug.

anonymous ftp - an ftp site that allows anyone to download information from it. Most anonymous ftp servers do not permit uploads. Your username is ordinarily used to log onto anonymous ftp sites.

anti-virus - software which protects against or eliminates viruses, such as Symantec Anti-Virus, McAfee and Disinfectant.

AOFAF - See All Our FAQs Are FUQed&#153.

AOL - (pronounced "Ay-Oh-Ell") 1. the on-line service company America On-Line. See SOL, CompuServe, MSN, Prodigy. 2. the software used to log on to AOL and/or browse the web via AOL. Version 3.0 for the Macintosh uses MIE or the browser of your choice. Version 4.0 is available for the PC. The Macromedia forum on AOL is accessible via Keyword: Macromedia. See message board.

API - Application Programmer's Interface, the library of routines that give a programmer access to an operating system's or other program's internal features. The Windows API gives programmers access to standard Windows libraries that handle many of the low-level tasks, like creating and managing windows. See IDE, SDK, XDK.

APPL - the special Macintosh File Type used to indicate that a file is an APPLication., which is analagous to the EXE TLE under DOS. See Creator Code. Refer to the TechNote, "File Types, Creator Codes and Extensions".

apple - a McIntosh.

Apple - 1. Apple Computer, Inc., hardware and software vendor, makers of the Macintosh, based in Cupertino California.. See NeXT, Gil Amelio, John Sculley, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, LaserWriter, Lisa. 2. The Beatles' record label.

Apple, the Big - See NYC. See Big Blue.

Apple II (or "Apple ][") - the first commercially popular personal computer, based on the 6502 chip. The Apple I was a kit for hobbyists, and not very numerous. Apple II's were wildly successful, but led to the less successful Apple III. An entire line of Apple IIs were created, including the Apple II+, IIc, IIe, and IIGS, before being supplanted by the Macintosh. See IWM.

Apple II+ - early enhanced version of the Apple II.

Apple IIc - slimmed down, practically portable version of the Apple II.

Apple IIe - workhorse of the Apple II line.

Apple IIGS - late version of the Apple II, featuring enhanced Graphics and Sound.

Apple III - the short-lived successor to the Apple II. Following the failure of the Apple III, Apple went back to making variations of the Apple II.

Apple Script Editor - a utility included with the Mac OS that allows you to test and compile Apple Scripts. Useful for debugging when using zScript, Zeus's AppleScript Xtra. See AppleEvent Dictionary, AppleEvent.

AppleEvent - a command or event sent via AppleScript. Not all applications support all events. See AppleEvent Dictionary, Apple Script Editor.

AppleEvent Dictionary- a list of the AppleEvents which an application understands. You can examine an application's AppleEvent Dictionary using the Apple Script Editor. See AppleScript.

Apple Media Tool - a multimedia authoring tool from Apple. See AMT. Refer to the TechNote "Choosing a Multimedia Authoring Tool"

AppleScript - a scripting language feature of the Mac OS that allows applications to communicate with each other. Director is not AppleScriptable, which is why Zeus Productions created zScript, an Xtra that adds the ability to send and receive AppleEvents to or from other applications. See AppleEvent Dictionary, AppleEvent, Apple Script Editor. Refer to the TechNote, "Using AppleScript with Director".

AppleScriptable - an application that supports a core suite of AppleEvents is said to be AppleScriptable. See AppleEvent Dictionary, Apple Script Editor, AppleScript.

applet - a small application, most commonly a Java applet, often downloaded from the internet (no specific relation to Apple or Macintosh computers).

application - 1. n. an executable program that performs a particular task. See document, File Type, APPL, Creator Code. 2. n. a use or requirement, as in "What is required for your application?".

application-centric - adj. something with an application as its central focus. zLaunch for Mac and Windows is application-centric, as it is primarily designed to launch external applications, such as software demos, whereas zOpen for Windows is document-centric. See user-centric.

application-dependent - adj. depending on an individual application and the way it deals with the rest of the universe. For example, the types of documents that an application can read, and how many documents may be open simultaneously is application-dependent. In the case of zOpen, zScript and zLaunch, their interaction and ability to work with other applications is application-dependent. Also application-specific.

application-specific - See application-dependent.

Archie - an internet service for retrieving material. See Anarchie, Betty, Gopher, Jughead, Veronica.

ARPAnet - the government-sponsored precursor to the internet.

array - a data structure for holding mutliple pieces of data, called a list in Lingo. See integer, variable, string, list, float.

ASAP - 1. As Soon As Possible (also a.s.a.p.) (pronounced "Ay-Ess-Ay-Pee", or sometimes "AY-sap). 2. a dupe (pronounced "a-SAP).

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange (pronounced ASS-kee), a binary code for describing text. For example, the capital letter A is represented by the number 65. 2. the text itself or a text file format. See EBCDIC, byte, hexadecimal, decimal, CR, LF, EOL.

Astarte - maker of Toast.

association - 1. a group of condo homeowners whose goal it to suppress any visible differences between adjacent units. 2. In DOS and Windows, a particular file extension can by associated with an application. For example, the .htm extension is usually associated with a web browser, such as Netscape Navigator .

AT - An IBM computer using the 80286 chip. See PC, PC/XT.

Audio Video Interleaved - see AVI. See QuickTime.

authoring tool - a software program which facilitates the creation of interactive multimedia applications, such as Authorware, Director, mTropolis, Hypercard, and Apple Media Tool. Refer to the TechNote "Choosing a Multimedia Authoring Tool".

Authorware - a multimedia authoring tool from Macromedia. Authorware files are called libraries. Refer to the TechNote "Choosing a Multimedia Authoring Tool".

AUTOEXEC.BAT - a special DOS batch file which is run when a PC boots. See CONFIG.SYS, SysEdit.

AVI - Audio Video Interleaved, the file format for Video for Windows digital videos. See QuickTime.

AWOL - (pronounced "Ay-Wall") Absent WithOut Leave 1. a military acronym indicating that a soldier has left without authorization. 2. euphemism for failing to complete a job properly, as in, "They were totally AWOL on that project".

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