Glossary of terms and abbreviations

This glossary defines technical terms and abbreviations used in Knowledge Center for z/OS® help information. The following cross-references are used in this glossary:

Contrast with: This refers to a term that has an opposed or substantively different meaning.
See: This refers the reader to (a) a related term, (b) a term that is the expanded form of an abbreviation or acronym, or (c) a synonym or more preferred term.
Synonym for: This indicates that the term has the same meaning as a preferred term, which is defined in its proper place in the glossary.
Synonymous with: This is a reference from a defined term to all other terms that have the same meaning.
Obsolete term for: This indicates that the term should not be used and refers the reader to the preferred term.

This glossary includes terms and definitions from American National Standard Dictionary for Information Systems, ANSI X3.172-1990, copyright 1990 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Copies may be purchased from the American National Standards Institute, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036. Definitions are identified by an asterisk (*) that appears between the term and the beginning of the definition; a single definition taken from ANSI is identified by an asterisk after the item number for that definition.

C

client: A system or process that is dependent on another system or process (usually called the server) to provide it with access to data, services, programs, or resources. Contrast with server.
component ID: Alphanumeric identifier that uniquely identifies the z/OS component.
content area: In a web page that is based on a page template, the editable region of the page.; Area of the Knowledge Center for z/OS browser interface (the central pane) in which data for the active task is displayed.
Custom-built Product Delivery Option (CBPDO): A software delivery package consisting of uninstalled products and unintegrated service. Installation requires the use of SMP/E. CBPDO is one of the two entitled methods for installing z/OS; the other method is ServerPac.

D

deploy: To install software into an operational environment.

I

IBM® Support Center: The IBM organization responsible for software service.
installation: A particular computing system, including the work it does and the people who manage it, operate it, apply it to problems, service it, and use the results it produces.

J

JCL: See job control language.
job control language (JCL): A command language that identifies a job to an operating system and describes the job's requirements.

P

plugin: In Knowledge Center for z/OS, a collection of a product's content. A plugin can be added or updated to Knowledge Center for z/OS.
PMR: See problem management record.
problem management record (PMR): The number in the IBM support mechanism that represents a service incident with a customer.; A record of the activities performed during the course of resolving a customer reported problem. Customers with access to IBMLink can view their PMRs.

R

RACF®: See Resource Access Control Facility.
Remote Technical Assistance and Information Network (RETAIN): Database used by IBM Support Centers to record all known problems with IBM licensed programs.
Resource Access Control Facility (RACF): A component of z/OS Security Server that provides access control by identifying and verifying the users to the system, authorizing access to protected resources, logging detected unauthorized attempts to enter the system, logging unauthorized attempts to enter the system, and logging detected accesses to protected resources.
RETAIN: See Remote Technical Assistance and Information Network.

S

server: In a network, hardware or software that provides facilities to clients. Examples of a server are a file server, a printer server, or a mail server.; A computer that contains programs, data, or provides the facilities that other computers on the network can access.; The party that receives remote procedure calls. Contrast with client.
ServerPac: A software-delivery package consisting of products and service for which IBM has performed the System Modification Program/Extended (SMP/E) installation steps and some of the post-SMP/E installation steps.
software deployment: Process of making software available to be used on a system by users and other programs.
software instance: For z/OS platform software, the SMP/E target and distribution zones associated with a product set and the target and distribution libraries described by those zones.; Collection of one or more SMP/E target and distribution zone pairs defined under a single global zone, the related libraries, and any additional data sets associated with a product set.; Deployable unit of SMP/E installed software.

Z

z/OS: An IBM mainframe operating system that uses 64-bit real storage.
z/OS host system: The system on which Knowledge Center for z/OS is running.