I

IAS: See Information Access Service.
ICMP: See Internet Control Message Protocol.
icon: 1. A small image displayed on the screen to represent an object that can be manipulated by the user. By serving as visual mnemonics and allowing the user to control certain computer actions without having to remember commands or type them at the keyboard, icons are a significant factor in the user-friendliness of graphical user interfaces. 2. A special bitmap designed to visually represent an application or document. Usually the icon is assigned to a frame window so that the image appears in the window's title bar. When assigned to an application's main window, the icon resource is called the program icon or application icon.
IDE: See integrated development environment and Integrated Device Electronics.
idle priority: One of three thread priority groups. Idle priority indicates that a thread's processing can wait until all other threads have finished running. See also interrupt priority and main priority.
IEEE: See Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
IESample: A Platform Builder configuration that builds a demonstration system by using Microsoft Internet Explorer components.
IHV: See independent hardware vendor.
IIS: See Internet Information Server.
IM: See input method.
image: See operating system image, screen image.
image configuration file: A file that Makeimg.exe uses to create an operating system image. Image configuration files include .bib, .dat, .reg, .db and .str files. See also configuration file.
image file: A file that is generated by Romimage.exe that makes up the bits of the operating system image. An image file can be one of the following three formats: Windows CE binary image data format (.bin), Motorola 32-bit binary data format (.sre), or absolute binary data format (.abx). See .bin file, .sre file, .abx file.
image list: A collection of images that are all the same size, such as bitmaps or icons.
IME: See Input Method Editor.
.ime file: An Input Method Editor (IME) file.
IMM: See Input Method Manager.
implementation: In Platform Builder, an implementation contains the functionality necessary to implement the features contained in a type. There can be more than one implementation for a given type. You use the Platform Builder Catalog and Component view to view implementations and to add them to a platform.
Inbox: A client companion to Microsoft Outlook 97, a messaging and collaboration client. Inbox can be bundled with Windows CE–based platforms.
inclination: A measurement that describes the angle formed between the plane defined by the orbit of a satellite and the equatorial plane of the earth. The value of the inclination must be between 0 and pi radians.
independent hardware vendor (IHV): A company that manufactures devices that connect to Windows CE–based platforms, such as PC Card storage devices. IHVs must also produce stream interface device drivers for their devices. See also stream interface device driver.
.inf: A CAB Wizard input file that specifies information about the application.
inference rule: See description block.
Information Access Service (IAS): A part of an IrDA infrared communication protocol used so that devices can learn about the services offered by another device. See also Infrared Data Association.
infrared (IR): Of or relating to the range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 750 nanometers, just longer than red in the visible spectrum, to 1 millimeter, on the border of the microwave region.
Infrared Data Association (IrDA): The industry organization of computer, component, and telecommunications vendors who have established the standards for infrared communication between computers and peripheral devices such as printers. Windows CE supports the IrDA standard through the Winsock application programming interface (API). Windows CE–based applications that communicate over serial cables using the Winsock API communicate over IrDA-compliant IR links with only minimal reprogramming.
Infrared Link Access Protocol (IrLAP): A protocol, based on the High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocol, designed to control an infrared link. IrLAP provides for discovery of devices, their connection over an infrared link, and reliable data delivery between devices.
Infrared Link Management Protocol (IrLMP): A service multiplexing protocol that provides for multiple sessions over a single point-to-point link.
Infrared Sockets (IrSock): An implementation of the Winsock protocol.
.ini: An initialization file that registers an application with an application manager. It contains information such as the location of .cab files, icon files, and the installation directory.
initialization vector: A random number used as a starting point when encrypting data. Two identical packets of data encrypted with the same key can result in two different packets of ciphertext, if each packet of data is encrypted with different initialization vectors.
inline file: A file that contains text you specify in a makefile file. An inline file's name can be used in commands as input or it can pass commands to the operating system. An inline file is created when a command that creates the file is run. Inline files can be temporary or permanent.
input context: An internal structure, maintained by the IME, that contains information about the status of the IME and is used by IME windows. By default, the system creates and assigns an input context to each thread. Within the thread, this default input context is a shared resource and is associated with each newly created window.
input method (IM): A COM component that allows the user to input text using a touch screen. For example, a Palm-size PC supports input methods for a graphical representation of a keyboard and a character recognizer.
Input Method Editor (IME): An engine that converts keystrokes into phonetic and ideograph characters, along with a dictionary of ideograph words, for conversion of characters into non-Roman, particularly Asian, characters.
Input Method Manager (IMM): A component supported in Windows CE version 2.10 and later that handles communication between IMEs and applications.
input panel: A window control that supports various input methods, such as writing or drawing.
installable device driver: See stream interface device driver.
installable file system: A file system that is accessed through a file system driver (FSD) that is loaded onto a device by the user, rather than accessed by the built-in file system. An installable file system may be implemented differently from the built-in file system. For example, an installable file system may prevent a user from deleting files, provide automatic compression of files, or use a structure for internal information different from that used by the built-in file system. See also file system driver.
installable file system driver: See file system driver.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): An organization of professional electrical and electronics engineers that is notable for developing standards for hardware and software.
instrumented kernel profiling: Analyzes kernel calls by recording all call times, including minimum, maximum, and average times.
integrated development environment (IDE): In the Microsoft Developer Studio, an integrated set of Windows-based tools for building, testing, and refining an application. The IDE includes a variety of editors, project build facilities, compilers, an incremental linker (for C++), a class viewer, and an integrated debugger. The IDE enables you to create, test, and refine your applications and Web sites all in one place.
Integrated Device Electronics (IDE): A type of disk-drive interface in which the controller electronics reside on the drive itself, eliminating the need for a separate adapter card.
IntelliSense: A Microsoft technology that allows you to analyze your source code by showing class definitions and comments when you move your cursor over a function. IntelliSense also completes function names for you when you type them.
interface: 1. The point at which a connection is made between two elements so that they can work with one another. 2. Software that enables an application to work with the user (the user interface, which can be a command-line interface, menu-driven, or a graphical user interface), with another application, such as the operating system, or with the computer's hardware. 3. A card, plug, or other device that connects pieces of hardware with the computer so that information can be moved from place to place. 4. A networking or communications standard that defines ways for different systems to connect and communicate.
International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT): An organization whose functions are now part of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which recommends use of communications standards.
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP): A network-layer Internet protocol that provides error correction and other information relevant to Internet Protocol (IP) packet processing, such as testing whether a particular computer is connected to the Internet (pinging) by sending a packet to its IP address and waiting for a response. For example, it can let the IP software on one machine inform another machine about an unreachable destination. See also ping.
Internet Information Server (IIS): Microsoft's brand of Web server software, using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to deliver World Wide Web documents. It incorporates various functions for security, allows for CGI applications, and also provides for Gopher and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers.
Internet Protocol (IP): Provides the protocol for connecting hosts over a network, breaking messages into packets, addressing the packets, routing them from the sender to the destination network, and reassembling the packets into the original message at the destination. IP corresponds to the network layer in the International Organization for Standardization Open Systems Interconnection (ISO/OSI) model. See also ISO/OSI model.
Internet Protocol (IP) address: A 32-bit (4-byte) binary number that uniquely identifies a host computer connected to the Internet to other Internet hosts, for the purposes of communication through the transfer of packets. An IP address is expressed in "dotted quad" format, consisting of the decimal values of its four bytes, separated with periods; for example, 127.0.0.1. The first one, two, or three bytes of the IP address, assigned by InterNIC Registration Services, identify the network the host is connected to; the remaining bits identify the host itself.
internetwork: Of or pertaining to communications between connected networks. Often used to refer to communication between one local area network and another over the Internet or another wide-area network.
interrupt: A request for attention from the processor. When the processor receives an interrupt, it suspends its current operations, saves the status of its work, and transfers control to a special routine known as an interrupt handler, which contains the instructions for dealing with the particular situation that caused the interrupt. Interrupts can be generated by various hardware devices to request service or report problems, or by the processor itself in response to application errors or requests for operating-system services. Interrupts are the processor's way of communicating with the other elements that make up a computer system. A hierarchy of interrupt priorities determines which interrupt request will be handled first if more than one request is made. An application can temporarily disable some interrupts if it needs the full attention of the processor to complete a particular task.
interrupt identifier (interrupt ID): A unique value used by the kernel to identify the device that raised the interrupt and that requires more processing. The kernel then uses the interrupt identifier to indicate whether all handling is complete, or whether to launch an interrupt service thread that handles further processing by the device driver.
interrupt priority: One of three thread priority groups. Interrupt priority is reserved for operating system threads. See also idle priority and main priority.
interrupt request (IRQ) line: A hardware line over which a device, such as an I/O port, keyboard, or disk drive, can send interrupt requests to the CPU. Interrupt request lines are built into the computer's internal hardware and are assigned different levels of priority so that the CPU can determine the sources and relative importance of incoming service requests.
interrupt service routine (ISR): A small subroutine that resides in the OEM adaptation layer (OAL). The ISR executes in kernel mode and has direct access to the hardware registers. Its sole job is to determine what interrupt identifier to return to the interrupt support handler. Essentially, ISRs map physical interrupts onto logical interrupts.
interrupt service thread (IST): A thread created by a device driver to wait on an event.
interrupt support handler: A routine that registers a driver so that it can handle a particular interrupt and deregister it later. It also enables communication between the interrupt service routine, the interrupt service thread, and subroutines within the OEM adaptation layer (OAL).
I/O: Input/output.
IP: See Internet Protocol.
IR: See infrared.
IrCOMM: An infrared implementation of the serial line communication driver. IrCOMM is supported by Windows CE.
IrDA: See Infrared Data Association.
IrLAP: See Infrared Link Access Protocol.
IrLMP: See Infrared Link Management Protocol.
IrLPT: A protocol for printing through a serial infrared connection.
IRQ: See interrupt request line.
IrSock: See Infrared Sockets.
ISO/OSI model: A layered architecture that standardizes levels of service and types of interaction for computers exchanging data through a communications network. The ISO/OSI model separates computer-to-computer communications into seven layers.
ISR: See interrupt service routine.
IST: See interrupt service thread.
ISV: Independent software vendor.
item script: An application written in HTML and Visual Basic Script, JScript, Java Script, or other scripting languages that specifies the behavior of an item within a channel.