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mental unit of infonnation that a computer can accept.
It
has two states called "1" (one) and "0" (zero), or "on"
and "off', and can be used to represent a yes/no type of
statement. Groups of bits are used to represent more com-
plex statements such as a character (see ASCII). The most
common grouping of bits is called a byte, consisting o f \
eight bits.
Buffer
A storage device used to compensate for a difference in
rate or sequence of data flow when transmitting data from
one device to another.
Centronics
An industry-standard parallel interface.
Character
A single letter, number, symbol, space, or punctuation
mark. Printable characters are those normally associated
with a typewriter. Unprintable characters are special char-
acters normally used by a computer to control a system,
e.g. line feed, backspace, carriage return, escape, bell,
start of text, etc.
Column
This usually refers to the position of a character on a page
or on a computer display, Column 1 being the left hand
character position irrespective of margin, Column 2 the
one next to it, and on many computer displays Column 80
being the right hand one. It does not refer to a column in
the sense used by a typist or a typesetter.
Command
An instruction comprised of a specific sequence of con-
trol characters andlor printable characters which enables a
computer or printer to pefonn a specific task.
Glossary-2
QMS SmartWriter 80+
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