1.1 Glossary
This document uses the following terms:
access control entry (ACE): An entry in an access control list (ACL) that contains a set of user rights and a security identifier (SID) that identifies a principal for whom the rights are allowed, denied, or audited.
alert subscription: A request to receive an Internet message automatically when user-defined criteria are met. Such messages are generated automatically when items such as documents, webpages, list items, sites, or other resources on a server are changed.
alternate access mapping: A mapping of URLs to web applications. Incoming alternate access mappings are used to provide multiple URL entry points for the same set of content. Outgoing alternate access mappings are used to ensure that content is rendered in the correct URL context.
application server: A computer that provides infrastructure and services for applications that are hosted on a server farm.
ascending order: A sort order in which text strings are arranged in alphabetical order, numerical values are arranged from smallest to largest, and dates and times are arranged from oldest to newest.
best bet: A URL that a site collection administrator assigns to a keyword as being relevant for that keyword. See also visual best bet.
clickthrough: The process of navigating from one Internet resource to another.
compatibility mode: A mode in which hardware or software in one system or product version supports operations from another system or product version.
context: A collection of context properties that describe an execution environment.
contextual search scope: A system-defined restriction that can optionally be added to a query to restrict the query results to items that are from a specific site or list.
cookie: A small data file that is stored on a user's computer and carries state information between participating protocol servers and protocol clients.
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).
descending order: A sort order in which text strings are arranged in reverse alphabetical order, numerical values are arranged from largest to smallest, and dates and times are arranged from newest to oldest.
discovery center: See discovery console.
duplicate: A search result that is identified as having identical or near identical content.
duplicate result removal: An operation to compare the similarity of items and remove duplicates from search results.
electronic discovery (eDiscovery): A type of legal discovery that focuses on electronic (computer) communications and files.
empty GUID: A 128-bit, 16-byte identification number that is represented by all zeros.
empty string: A string object or variable that is initialized with the value "".
endpoint: A communication port that is exposed by an application server for a specific shared service and to which messages can be addressed.
extracted definition: The definition that is obtained by an index server during a crawl to determine if any sentences in the item match the pattern for defining a term.
federated location: A source that returns search results for a search query. The source can be a local search catalog or an OpenSearch1.0/1.1-compliant search engine, as described in [OpenSearch1.1-Draft3].
front-end web server: A server that hosts webpages, performs processing tasks, and accepts requests from protocol clients and sends them to the appropriate back-end server for further processing.
full-text index catalog: A collection of full-text index components and other files that are organized in a specific directory structure and contain the data that is needed to perform queries.
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).
high confidence results: A subset of search results that are considered to be highly relevant because of a precise match between a high confidence property value and the tokens in the query text.
host name: The name of a physical server, as described in [RFC952].
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): An application of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that uses tags to mark elements in a document, as described in [HTML].
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].
index partition: A part of an inverted index within a search system. In Microsoft Search Server 2010 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search, it is defined by a set of document distribution identifiers. In Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010, it is defined by a search index within an index column and can be divided into additional index partitions.
inflectional form: A variant of a root token that has been modified according to the linguistic rules of a given language. For example, inflections of the verb "swim" in English include "swim," "swims," "swimming," and "swam."
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON): A text-based, data interchange format that is used to transmit structured data, typically in Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (AJAX) web applications, as described in [RFC7159]. The JSON format is based on the structure of ECMAScript (Jscript, JavaScript) objects.
keyword: One or more words or phrases that site administrators identified as important for a search service application. A keyword provides a way to apply business rules to search results for queries that use the keyword.
keyword query: Query text that contains a property restriction and a corresponding property value.
keyword synonym: An alternate phrasing of a specific keyword. When users search for a keyword synonym, the search results include the same best bet results as for the keyword.
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.
list: A container within a SharePoint site that stores list items. A list has a customizable schema that is composed of one or more fields.
local search scope: An administrator-defined restriction that can optionally be added to a query to restrict the query results to items that are from a specific SharePoint site collection, site, or list.
managed property: A specific property that is part of a metadata schema. It can be exposed for use in search queries that are executed from the user interface.
metadata index: A data structure that is stored on a back-end database server. It stores properties that are associated with each item, and the attributes of those properties.
object model: A collection of object-oriented APIs that represent data structures and are designed to promote software interoperability.
page impression: An identifier for unique query text.
pluggable security authentication: The ability to support alternate mechanisms for determining the identity of another entity.
post-query suggestions: An alternative search query that is related to the search query that was executed.
pre-query suggestions: A search query that is related to the search query that the user is typing.
query logging: The process of recording information about user searches, such as search terms and time of access.
query result: A result that is returned for a query. It contains the title and URL of the item, and can also contain other managed properties and a hit-highlighted summary.
query rule: A setting that consists of a keyword condition and an action preformed to provide the most relevant search results.
query text: The textual, string portion of a query.
query throttling: A mechanism that helps all queries get their fair share of computational resources.
query transform: A query processing stage in which query text is examined and possibly modified to optimize query results. Examples of modifications are applying synonym settings or stemming expansion rules to the text.
ranking model: In a search query, a set of weights and numerical parameters that are used to compute a ranking score for each item. All items share the same ranking model for a specific set of search results. See also rank.
refinement bin: A set of data that is returned with query results and represents a statistical distribution of those results. The data is based on values of the managed property with which a refiner is associated.
refinement token: A Base-64 encoded string that represents a single refinement modifier that can be used to refine a search query. The string includes the name of the refiner, refinement name, and refinement value.
refinement value: A string that stores a value or numeric range that can be used to refine query results.
refiner: A configuration that is used for query refinement and is associated with one managed property.
request message: A Traversal Using Relay NAT (TURN) message that is sent from a protocol client to a protocol server.
response message: A Traversal Using Relay NAT (TURN) message that is sent from a protocol server to a protocol client in response to a request message. It is sent when the request message is handled successfully by the protocol server.
result provider: A component or application that serves a query to a search provider and translates the resulting data into a result set.
result set: A list of records that results from running a stored procedure or query, or applying a filter. The structure and content of the data in a result set varies according to the implementation.
result source: A local or remote search catalog, a remote Exchange search endpoint or an OpenSearch1.0/1.1-compliant search engine that may include a list of attributes that defines a set of search results for a search query.
search alert: An Internet message that is sent to subscribers automatically for a specific query. It notifies subscribers when one or more new results exist, or an existing result was modified.
search application: A unique group of search settings that is associated, one-to-one, with a shared service provider.
search index: A set of data structures that facilitates query evaluation by a search service application. The primary part of a search index is an inverted index of terms.
search provider: A component or application that provides data in response to a query. See also result provider.
search query: A complete set of conditions that are used to generate search results, including query text, sort order, and ranking parameters.
search query log: A record of information about user searches, such as search terms and time of access.
search scope: A list of attributes that define a collection of items.
search scope consumer: A site collection that uses a specific search scope display group.
search scope rule: An attribute that specifies which items are included in a search scope.
search security descriptor: A custom security descriptor that is in an arbitrary format and is handled by alternate authentication providers in pluggable security authentication.
search service application: A shared service application that provides indexing and querying capabilities.
search setting context: An administrative setting that is used to specify when a search setting for a keyword is applied to a search query, based on the query context.
security descriptor: A data structure containing the security information associated with a securable object. A security descriptor identifies an object's owner by its security identifier (SID). If access control is configured for the object, its security descriptor contains a discretionary access control list (DACL) with SIDs for the security principals who are allowed or denied access. Applications use this structure to set and query an object's security status. The security descriptor is used to guard access to an object as well as to control which type of auditing takes place when the object is accessed. The security descriptor format is specified in [MS-DTYP] section 2.4.6; a string representation of security descriptors, called SDDL, is specified in [MS-DTYP] section 2.5.1.
security identifier (SID): An identifier for security principals that is used to identify an account or a group. Conceptually, the SID is composed of an account authority portion (typically a domain) and a smaller integer representing an identity relative to the account authority, termed the relative identifier (RID). The SID format is specified in [MS-DTYP] section 2.4.2; a string representation of SIDs is specified in [MS-DTYP] section 2.4.2 and [MS-AZOD] section 1.1.1.2.
security trimming: The process of filtering search results by checking the access control list (ACL) for a resource and displaying only those resources that a user has permission to view.
shared search scope: An administrator-defined restriction that can be added to a query to limit query results to a collection of content. This restriction is available to multiple site collections.
site: A group of related pages and data within a SharePoint site collection. The structure and content of a site is based on a site definition. Also referred to as SharePoint site and web site.
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 collection identifier: A GUID that identifies a site collection. In stored procedures, the identifier is typically "@SiteId" or "@WebSiteId". In databases, the identifier is typically "SiteId/tp_SiteId".
site identifier: A GUID that is used to identify a site in a site collection.
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.
stemming: A type of query expansion that factors relationships between words by reducing inflected words to their stem form or expanding stems to their inflected forms. For example, the words "swimming" and "swam" can be associated with the stem "swim."
task: An act to be executed by all query servers, and any requisite information for those query servers to execute that act correctly.
tenant: A protocol client or protocol server that accesses a partition in a shared service database.
token: A word in an item or a search query that translates into a meaningful word or number in written text. A token is the smallest textual unit that can be matched in a search query. Examples include "cat", "AB14", or "42".
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): A protocol used with the Internet Protocol (IP) to send data in the form of message units between computers over the Internet. TCP handles keeping track of the individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for efficient routing through the Internet.
UI culture: The language that is used to display strings and graphical elements in a user interface.
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].
URL zone: A specific base Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that can be used to access a resource within a web application. A web application can have multiple URL zones.
verbose query monitoring: The process of tracking and recording information about the time that is spent by a protocol server to process each search query.
visual best bet: A URL that specifies the address of an image and is assigned to a keyword by a site collection administrator as being relevant for that keyword. See also best bet.
Web Part: A reusable component that contains or generates web-based content such as XML, HTML, and scripting code. It has a standard property schema and displays that content in a cohesive unit on a webpage. See also Web Parts Page.
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.
Windows security descriptor: See security descriptor.
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 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: A description of a type of XML document that is typically expressed in terms of constraints on the structure and content of documents of that type, in addition to the basic syntax constraints that are imposed by XML itself. An XML schema provides a view of a document type at a relatively high level of abstraction.
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.