F

far address:A memory location specified by using a segment (location of a 64K block) and an offset from the beginning of the segment. Far addresses require four bytes—two for the segment and two for the offset. Also called a segmented address. See also “address” and “near address.”

file handle:A value returned by the operating system when a file is opened and used by a program to refer to the file when communicating to the system.

filename:A string of characters identifying a file on disk, composed of a base name and optionally followed by a period (.) and an extension. A filename may be preceded by a path. For example, in the filename README.DOC, DOC is the extension and README is the base name.

formal parameters:Variables that receive values passed to a function when the function is called.

function:A collection of declarations and statements that has a unique name and can return a value.

function body:A statement block containing the local variable declarations and statements of a function.

function call:An expression that passes control and arguments (if any) to a function.

function declaration:A declaration that establishes the name, return type, and storage class of a function that is defined explicitly elsewhere in the program.

function definition:A definition that specifies a function's name, its formal parameters, the declarations and statements that define what it does, and (optionally) its return type and storage class.

function prototype:A function declaration that includes a list of the names and types of formal parameters in the parentheses following the function name.