A method within an application that defines actions to perform in response
to an event. See also event handler.
cascaded messages
Multiple messages sent to the same receiver object. The messages
are separated by a semicolon (;).
category
On the VisualAge Composition Editor, a selectable grouping of parts
represented by an icon in the leftmost column of the parts palette.
Selecting a category displays the parts belonging to that category in the next
column over. See also parts palette.
A logical association of a group of methods within a class, with a name
assigned by the class developer.
CGI Link
A stand-alone executable program that receives incoming CGI requests and
routes them to the VisualAge application. CGI Link runs on the HTTP
server, which does not have to be the same as the machine running the
VisualAge application.
CGI Link Session Data
A Web Connection nonvisual part that holds a persistent data
object. You can use CGI Link Session Data to store an
application-specific object that remains valid from one CGI query to the next,
for the duration of a session.
CGI Link configuration file
A text file that defines the information CGI Link needs in order to route
incoming requests to the VisualAge application. The CGI Link
configuration file must be set up for your server.
CGI Link server
A Smalltalk process within the VisualAge image that receives requests from
the CGI Link program. The CGI Link server must be running in order for
a Web Connection application to work.
CGI query
A special kind of HTTP request from a client browser that requests that a
server-based program be run. A CGI query specifies the name of the
program to run, along with any input parameters. See also Common
Gateway Interface.
change-event symbol
In VisualAge, the code used to signal that an attribute has changed in
value.
character literal
A literal that is any single character preceded by a dollar sign
($).
CICS
Customer Information Control System.
class
The specification of an object, including its attributes and
behavior. Once defined, a class can be used as a template for the
creation of object instances. "Class," therefore, can also refer
to the collection of objects that share those specifications. A class
exists within a hierarchy of classes in which it inherits attributes and
behavior from its superclasses. See also inheritance,
metaclass, polymorphism, defined class,
extended class, private class, public class,
visible class.
class definition
The definition of a class, containing:
The class name
The type of class
The immediate superclass for the class
The variables: instance, class, and class instance
The pool dictionaries the class uses
class developer
A team member who develops and changes classes. The team member who
created an edition of a class is that edition's class developer.
Contrast with class owner.
class extension
An extension to the behavior of a class defined by another
application. The extension consists of one or more methods that define
the added behavior. These methods cannot modify the existing behavior
of the defined class; they can add only behavior specific to the
application that contains the extended class.
class hierarchy
A tree structure that defines the relationships between classes. A
class has subclasses down the hierarchy from itself and
superclasses up the hierarchy from itself. The methods and
variables of a class are inherited by its subclasses.
class instance variable
Private data that belongs to a class. The defining class and each
subclass maintain their own copy of the data. Only the class methods of
the class can reference the data directly. Changing the data in one
class does not change it for the other classes in the hierarchy.
Contrast with class variable.
class method
A method that provides behavior for a class. Class methods are
usually used to define ways to create instances of the class. Contrast
with instance method.
class owner
Team member responsible for the integrity of that class in an application
edition. The class owner is responsible for releasing class
versions. Contrast with class developer.
class variable
Data that is shared by the defining class and its subclasses. The
instance methods and class methods of the defining class and its subclasses
can directly reference this data. Changing the data in one class
changes it for all of the other classes. Contrast with class
instance variable.
client object
An object that requests services from other objects.
client/server
The model of interaction in distributed data processing in which a program
at one location sends a request to a program at another location and awaits a
response. The requesting program is called a client and the answering
program is called a server.
coldlink
In Dynamic Data Exchange, a request by a DDE client to a DDE server to
unlink an existing hotlink or warmlink to a particular
data item.
collaboration
Interaction between objects for the purposes of performing services
requested by client objects.
Common Gateway Interface
A standard protocol through which a Web server can execute programs
running on the server machine. CGI programs are executed in response to
requests from Web client browsers.
collection
A set of elements in which each element is an object.
comment
A set of characters enclosed in a pair of quotation marks ("").
Smalltalk ignores comments and does not execute them.
component
A functional grouping of classes and related files within a
product. See also system component.
composite part
A part that contains other parts; it can also contain data and
behavior of its own. For example, a user interface view is a composite
part composed of subparts such as entry fields, push buttons, and text.
See also primitive part.
composite widget
In the Common Widgets subsystem, a widget that is composed of other
widgets.
Composition Editor
In VisualAge, a tool that is used to build a graphical user interface and
to make connections between parts.
concrete class
A subclass of an abstract class that is a specialization of the abstract
class. For example, the concrete class OrderedCollection is
a subclass of the abstract class Collection.
configuration
A description of a group of components that identifies, for each
component, the component edition or version that is part of the group.
configuration map
A named group of application editions. A configuration map usually
represents a product or one of its major parts.
configuration map manager
A team member who maintains the integrity of a configuration map.
connection
In VisualAge, a formal, explicit relationship between parts.
Connections define the ways in which parts communicate with one
another. Making connections is the basic technique used for building
any VisualAge application. See also attribute-from-script,
attribute-to-attribute,
event-to-action,event-to-script,
parameter-from-action, parameter-from-attribute, and
parameter-from-script connection.
construction from parts
A software development technology in which applications are assembled from
reusable and existing software components known as parts.
controlling application
The application to which a class definition belongs. A class can be
defined in only one application in the image. Also referred to as the
defining application.
convenience method
In the Common Graphics subsystem, a method that sets instance variables
for an instance of a graphics context.
In the Common Widgets subsystem, a method that creates and sets instance
variables for a new widget instance.
CPU-bound
Having its (a process's) rate of progress limited by the speed of the
computer's central processing unit.
current working set
A set of editable database records, such as a query result table, or the
current row of a query result table, currently displayed in the user interface
of a database application. This term is used to distinguish the
representation of a database table currently being worked on by an
application's user from the corresponding data stored at the
database.
Customer Information Control System (CICS)
An IBM licensed program that enables transactions entered at remote
terminals to be processed by user-written applications. It includes
facilities for building, using, and maintaining databases.