Definitions - S to Z

Go To Definitions K to R

SAX

Simple API for XML: a mechanism to assist programmers process XML documents.

Search Engine

A search engine is a software tool that helps users find Web pages that relate to one or more key words that they have typed in.

A computer that provides a service to other computers on the network. For example a Web Server obtains web pages and other files as requested by a Web user and sends them to the browser. The term server is also applied to software packages that provide a service - so you also have Web Server software for example. The machines that connect to the Server and use the services it offers are known as Client machines.

See Also: Client

Software packages that you can use free of charge for a trial period. After the trial period you are asked to make a payment. Some packages operate on trust others have logic built into them to stop them working at the end of the trial period. A lot of internet software is available as shareware.

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language, the international standard for defining descriptions of the structure and content of different types of electronic document. HTML is an example of a description which is defined with SGML. XML is a subset of SGML.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transport Protocol. The protocol used to send electronic mail over the Internet.

Spam (or Spamming)

The Email equivalent of junk mail. The term is used in particular to describe the practice of sending the same message to a number of different Usenet groups or mailing lists. Some groups and mailing lists have rules against spamming, and offenders can get bombarded with flame mail.

An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn’t ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the word spam repeated over and over. The term may also have come from someone’s low opinion of the food product with the same name, which is generally perceived as a generic content-free waste of resources. (Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation, for its processed meat product.)

E.g. Mary spammed 50 USENET groups by posting the same message to each.

See Also: Mailing list , USENET

Spider

A Spider (or Web Crawler) is a piece of software that scans the World Wide Web finding pages to add to the index of a search engine.

See also: search engines.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer. A protocol that supports secure communication over the Internet. SSL supports authentication and encryption. Authentication provides via certificates a means for you to validate who you are in contact with. Encryption codes all the data before it is transmitted, making it impossible for anyone else on the Internet to intercept and read your communications. This is important for shopping on the Web. It allows you check that the Web site is in fact owned by Dell Computers, and you can send your credit card details without fear that someone else on the Internet will see them.

See Also: Certificate

Streaming

Streaming audio or video is an audio or video is a technique which allows an audio signal to be listened to and a video signal to viewed while it is being transmitted from a Web site. This contrasts with the technique of transfering the whole file before it starts playing back to you. Streaming requires that the signal is transmitted as fast as you view it. To achieve this the quality is sacrificed when a slow connection is being used.

Subscribe

Used with mailing lists and newsgroups. When you subscribe to a mailing list, your name is added to the list of recipients for any mailings to the list. To remove your name you unsubscribe. When you subscribe to a newsgroup you are simply adding the list the shortlist of groups that you are particularly interested. Most newsgroup leaders allow you to view the groups which you have subscribed to so that you can go to them quickly instead of having to search for them every time. So they work like favorites/bookmarks do on the web.

TCP

Part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols used to communicate between machines on the Internet. On the sending computer TCP splits the data up into manageable sized packets and attaches information such as the IP number of the target computer. At the receiving computer it checks all the packets have arrived and issues a request to resend a packet if necessary. When they have all arrived it extracts the data from each packet and assembles it in the correct sequence.

See also TCP/IP, IP Number

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of protocols that are used by computers on the Internet to communicate with each other. It is used by all computers on the Internet or any Intranet.

Telnet

An Internet service that allows you to log into a remote computer.

Terabyte

1000 gigabytes. The purists will tell you that it is actually the binary equivalent which is 1024 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024!

See Also: Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte

Thread

In a newsgroup, a thread is a set of messages on the same topic.

Trojan (Horse)

Trojans ( or Trojan Horses) are programs which perform a useful function which have malicious code hidden in them.

See Also: Virus

UDP

User Datagram Protocol. One of the protocols for data transfer that is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Unlike TCP, UDP does not check that all the data has been delivered. It is, for example, used for conversations over the Internet where

the human brain will cope with a certain amount of loss of speech
by the time it discovers that some data is lost it will be too late, and
the listener will ask the speaker to repeat if he she doesn't understand.

See Also: TCP/IP

URL

Uniform Resource Locator. The mechanism for addressing resources on the Internet. Uniform Resource Locator is invariably abbreviated to URL. The URL is best known for specifying Web addresses. For example the URL for this glossary is "http://www.nmib.com/glossary/index.htm". This is what you type into the address field in the browser.

An Internet service that provides support for newsgroups (or discussion groups) on a large variety of subjects. Each newsgroup consists of a collection of electronic mail messages on a particular subject.

See Also: Discussion Group Newsgroup

Vaporware/Vapourware

Software products that do not really exist in a usable form. The term was created as a result of the fact that some software companies market products prematurely.

Visual Basic Script. A language that is embedded in Web pages and is executed by the Browser as it displays the page. It can be used to make the Web page more dynamic and to validate the data that is typed into forms. It serves the same purpose as JavaScript. It is a subset of Visual Basic with one or two additions!

Veronica

A database used to search for particular gopher sites.If you are interested it stands for Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives.

Virus

A virus is computer code, that is hidden within a program, and copies itself to other programs. They are created by programmers who either want to see what they can achieve or who have a malicious intent. Usually the virus manifests itself at some stage, often triggered on a pre-specified date. Some manifest themselves simply by displaying a message on the screen, others corrupt the contents of the machine on which they are running.

VRML

Virtual Reality Mark-up Language. A language that is used to create 3D effects on a Web site.

W3C

Abbreviation for World Wide Web Consortium.

WAIS

Wide Area Information Server. A predecessor of the Internet search engines of today.

WebDAV

Distributed Authoring and Versioning on the Web. A proposal from an Internet Engineering Task Force workgroup for a mechanism to support collaborative development of Web pages.

WAN

Wide Area Network - A computer network that is spread over more than one location, e.g. linking offices of a company around the world.

See Also LAN

Wap

Wireless Application Protocol. The language used by Web Servers to receive requests from mobile phones and to send (simplified) web pages in response.

See also: WML

Web

Short for World Wide Web. Since the words "world wide" are omitted it is equally appropriate for an Intranet and the Internet.

See: World Wide Web

Webmaster

The person who is responsible for maintaining a Web site. The term webmaster may be used for both men and women.

Web Page

A document that is stored in HTML format. It can contain text, images and hyperlinks. Web pages are usually grouped with other pages on the same theme to form a Web site. See also Web site

A computer that manages a Web site. It passes Web pages to browsers when they request them. The Web pages are often stored on the Web server but could be on another computer on the same network as the Web Server.

Web Site

A collection of Web pages which represent an organisation, individual or subject area. Many companies have their own Web sites, typically containing information on how to contact them and products and services. Each web site has a home page which is the normal starting point for people visiting the site. More details

Web Space

The disk space on a Web Server that is set aside for a Web site.

Well-formed

In the context of XML a document that defines the XML construction rules.

WML

Wireless Mark-up Language. A simplified version on HTML which is used to web pages to be displayed on a mobile phone.

See also Wap

World Wide Web

A service that runs on the Internet that allows information to be stored in a great variety of formats (including text, pictures, sound and video). It also provides an easy way to link from one page of information to another simply by pointing with the mouse and clicking. The World Wide Web is often abbreviated to WWW or simply the Web. More details

World Wide Web Consortium

The organisation that is responsible for developing the standards (such as HTML, HTTP and XML) that are needed for the World Wide Web. Often abbreviated to W3C.

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. Used to describe editors (e.g. for web page creation) which display the elements in the format that they will finally be displayed in. The following table shows how the same text would appear in the two editors

HTML editor	<B>never</B>
WYSIWYG editor	never

WYSIWYG is pronounced as it is written - wizy-wig

XLink

A mechanism for constructing links in XML. W3C is developing a standard.

XML

Extensible Markup Language. A subset of SGML that has been developed for describing data. It is becoming the standard format for sending data over the Internet. More Details

XML Schemas

A mechanism for specifying the allowed content of any XML document. It fulfills the same purpose as DTDs with some additional capabilities. Unlike DTDs, XML Schemas are written in XML. W3C is developing a standard.

XPointer

A system for identifying a position in an XML document to allow other documents to link to it. W3C is developing a standard.

XSL

eXtensible Stylesheet Language. A language used for processing XML documents. Common uses are to change an XML file from one format to another, convert XML into HTML and to display the data in an XML file in a browser.

Yahoo

A popular Web directory. Its Web address is www.yahoo.com

Z

No terms beginning with Z

� New Media in Business Ltd 1997-2000
Last updated: 18 December 2000

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