alphanumeric: A set of letters, numbers and other symbols, such as punctuation marks or mathematical symbols. Refers to the keyboard characters and character set available for the various data transfer operations of the computer.
alternating current (AC): Electric current that reverses its direction of flow at regular intervals. This type of power is usually supplied to residential and commercial wall outlets.
analog signal: A signal whose characteristics such as amplitude and frequency vary in proportion to (are an analog of) the value to be transmitted. Voice communications are analog signals.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute. An organization established to adopt and define standards for a variety of technical disciplines. For example, ANSI defined the ASCII standard and other information processing requirements.
antistatic: A material used to prevent the
application: A group of programs that together are used for a specific task such as accounting, financial planning, spreadsheets, word processing, and games, etc.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII code is a set of 256 binary codes that represent the most commonly used letters, numbers, and symbols.
async: Short for asynchronous.
asynchronous: Lacking regular time relationship. As applied to computer communications, asynchronous refers to the method of transmitting data that does not require a steady stream of bits to be transmitted at regular time intervals.
asynchronous communications parameters: Values that determine how a character is encoded for transmission. These parameters include baud rate, parity, number of data bits, and the number of stop bits.
AUTOEXEC.BAT: A batch file that executes a series of
AutoResume: A special feature that lets you turn off the power without first exiting a program and retain your data in RAM. When you turn on the computer, the screen appears the same as when you turned it off.
B
backup: A duplicate copy of files kept as a spare in case the original is destroyed.
base memory: See conventional memory.
batch file: A file that can be executed from the system prompt containing a sequence of operating system commands or executable files. See also
AUTOEXEC.BAT.
baud (baud rate): Rate of character transmission over communication devices
