1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

access control list (ACL): A list of access control entries (ACEs) that collectively describe the security rules for authorizing access to some resource; for example, an object or set of objects.

base64 encoding: A binary-to-text encoding scheme whereby an arbitrary sequence of bytes is converted to a sequence of printable ASCII characters, as described in [RFC4648].

cabinet (.cab) file: A single file that stores multiple compressed files to facilitate storage or transmission.

child: An object that is immediately below the current object in a hierarchy.

content database: A database that is stored on a back-end database server and contains stored procedures, site collections, and the contents of those site collections.

content type: A named and uniquely identifiable collection of settings and fields that store metadata for individual items in a SharePoint list. One or more content types can be associated with a list, which restricts the contents to items of those types.

content type identifier: A unique identifier that is assigned to a content type.

content type package: A file that contains the definition of and related objects for a content type.

content type subscriber: A site collection that is connected to a shared service application that provides content types.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): A high-precision atomic time standard that approximately tracks Universal Time (UT). It is the basis for legal, civil time all over the Earth. Time zones around the world are expressed as positive and negative offsets from UTC. In this role, it is also referred to as Zulu time (Z) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). In these specifications, all references to UTC refer to the time at UTC-0 (or GMT).

deployment package: A collection of files that represent a serialized snapshot of data. A deployment package is stored as XML files that describe the deployment objects and their relationships, and a binary file for each object. Optionally, the resulting set of files can be compressed into one or more files in the compressed PRIME data format (CMP).

descendant: A member that is below the current member in a hierarchy.

endpoint: A communication port that is exposed by an application server for a specific shared service and to which messages can be addressed.

field: A container for metadata within a SharePoint list and associated list items.

folder: A file system construct. File systems organize a volume's data by providing a hierarchy of objects, which are referred to as folders or directories, that contain files and can also contain other folders.

globally unique identifier (GUID): A term used interchangeably with universally unique identifier (UUID) in Microsoft protocol technical documents (TDs). Interchanging the usage of these terms does not imply or require a specific algorithm or mechanism to generate the value. Specifically, the use of this term does not imply or require that the algorithms described in [RFC4122] or [C706] must be used for generating the GUID. See also universally unique identifier (UUID).

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): An application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS): An extension of HTTP that securely encrypts and decrypts web page requests. In some older protocols, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Sockets Layer" is still used (Secure Sockets Layer has been deprecated). For more information, see [SSL3] and [RFC5246].

internal identifier: An integer that uniquely identifies any item in a term store.

language code identifier (LCID): A 32-bit number that identifies the user interface human language dialect or variation that is supported by an application or a client computer.

login name: A string that is used to identify a user or entity to an operating system, directory service, or distributed system. For example, in Windows-integrated authentication, a login name uses the form "DOMAIN\username".

merged term: A single term that is the combination of and has the semantic meaning of two, previously distinct terms.

orphaned term: A term whose source term was deleted.

partition: An area within a shared services database, such as an area that isolates different tenants within a service, or the process of creating such an area in a shared services database.

partition identifier: A GUID that identifies a partition.

reused term: A term that has instances in more than one term set.

security principal: An identity that can be used to regulate access to resources. A security principal can be a user, a computer, or a group that represents a set of users.

service application: A middle-tier application that runs without any user interface components and supports other applications by performing tasks such as retrieving or modifying data in a database.

session: A representation of application data in system memory. It is used to maintain state for application data that is being manipulated or monitored on a protocol server by a user.

site collection: A set of websites that are in the same content database, have the same owner, and share administration settings. A site collection can be identified by a GUID or the URL of the top-level site for the site collection. Each site collection contains a top-level site, can contain one or more subsites, and can have a shared navigational structure.

site subscription: A logical grouping of site collections that share a common set of features and service data.

SOAP: A lightweight protocol for exchanging structured information in a decentralized, distributed environment. SOAP uses XML technologies to define an extensible messaging framework, which provides a message construct that can be exchanged over a variety of underlying protocols. The framework has been designed to be independent of any particular programming model and other implementation-specific semantics. SOAP 1.2 supersedes SOAP 1.1. See [SOAP1.2-1/2003].

SOAP action: The HTTP request header field used to indicate the intent of the SOAP request, using a URI value. See [SOAP1.1] section 6.1.1 for more information.

SOAP body: A container for the payload data being delivered by a SOAP message to its recipient. See [SOAP1.2-1/2007] section 5.3 for more information.

SOAP fault: A container for error and status information within a SOAP message. See [SOAP1.2-1/2007] section 5.4 for more information.

source term: A specific instance of a term, in a specific term set, that is used to define permissions for the term.

term: A concept or an idea that is stored and can be used as metadata.

term label: A string that is used as the display value for a term. Each term label is associated with a specific language.

term label path: A string that contains the labels for a term and the labels for all of its parent terms.

term set: A collection of terms that are arranged into and stored as a hierarchy or a flat list.

term set group: A collection of term sets.

term store: A database in which managed metadata is stored in the form of term sets and terms.

Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): A string that identifies a resource. The URI is an addressing mechanism defined in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax [RFC3986].

Uniform Resource Locator (URL): A string of characters in a standardized format that identifies a document or resource on the World Wide Web. The format is as specified in [RFC1738].

Universal Naming Convention (UNC): A string format that specifies the location of a resource. For more information, see [MS-DTYP] section 2.2.57.

web application: A container in a configuration database that stores administrative settings and entry-point URLs for site collections.

Web Services Description Language (WSDL): An XML format for describing network services as a set of endpoints that operate on messages that contain either document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. The operations and messages are described abstractly and are bound to a concrete network protocol and message format in order to define an endpoint. Related concrete endpoints are combined into abstract endpoints, which describe a network service. WSDL is extensible, which allows the description of endpoints and their messages regardless of the message formats or network protocols that are used.

workflow: A structured modular component that enables the automated movement of documents or items through a specific sequence of actions or tasks that are related to built-in or user-defined business processes.

workflow association: An association of a workflow template to a specific list or content type.

workflow template: A definition of operations, the sequence of operations, constraints, and timing for a specific process.

WSDL message: An abstract, typed definition of the data that is communicated during a WSDL operation [WSDL]. Also, an element that describes the data being exchanged between web service providers and clients.

WSDL operation: A single action or function of a web service. The execution of a WSDL operation typically requires the exchange of messages between the service requestor and the service provider.

XML: The Extensible Markup Language, as described in [XML1.0].

XML namespace: A collection of names that is used to identify elements, types, and attributes in XML documents identified in a URI reference [RFC3986]. A combination of XML namespace and local name allows XML documents to use elements, types, and attributes that have the same names but come from different sources. For more information, see [XMLNS-2ED].

XML namespace prefix: An abbreviated form of an XML namespace, as described in [XML].

XML Schema (XSD): A language that defines the elements, attributes, namespaces, and data types for XML documents as defined by [XMLSCHEMA1/2] and [XMLSCHEMA2/2] standards. An XML schema uses XML syntax for its language.

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.