1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

absolute URL: The full Internet address of a page or other World Wide Web resource. The absolute URL includes a protocol, such as "http," a network location, and an optional path and file name — for example, http://www.treyresearch.net/.

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.

alert: An Internet message that is sent to subscribers automatically to notify them when user-defined criteria are met. Alerts are generated automatically when items such as documents, webpages, list items, sites, or other resources on a server are changed.

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.

alert template: An XML-based file that contains predefined formatting, including layout and text, for an alert.

always notify alert: An alert notification that is sent to a user at the requested time, regardless of whether the data is changed.

app principal: Designates an authenticated entity that is not a user.

assembly: A collection of one or more files that is versioned and deployed as a unit. An assembly is the primary building block of a .NET Framework application. All managed types and resources are contained within an assembly and are marked either as accessible only within the assembly or as accessible from code in other assemblies. Assemblies also play a key role in security. The code access security system uses information about an assembly to determine the set of permissions that is granted to code in the assembly.

attachment: An external file that is included with an Internet message or associated with an item in a SharePoint list.

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

cascading style sheet (CSS): An extension to HTML that enables authors and users of HTML documents to attach style sheets to those documents, as described in [CSS-LEVEL1] and [CSS-LEVEL2]. A style sheet includes typographical information about the appearance of a page, including the font for text on the page.

class name: The name that is used to refer to a class module that provides an implementation of a behavior.

Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML): An XML-based language that is used to describe various elements, such as queries and views, in sites that are based on SharePoint Products and Technologies.

composite field index: An index that uses more than one column in a table to index data.

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.

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).

current user: The user who is authenticated during processing operations on a front-end web server or a back-end database server.

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).

deployment system object: An object that is created as part of a site or site collection. Examples of deployment system objects are root folders, catalogs, default pages, and galleries that are created during site or site collection creation. A deployment system object is not part of a template.

discussion board: A list in which users can read, post, and reply to messages from other users who are members of the same discussion board.

document library: A type of list that is a container for documents and folders.

empty GUID: A 128-bit, 16-byte identification number that is represented by all zeros.

empty string: A non-initialized string object that has a null value.

event: Any significant occurrence in a system or an application that requires users to be notified or an entry to be added to a log.

event host: A site collection, site, list, list item, workflow (2), feature, or content type that hosts an event receiver.

event receiver: A structured modular component that enables built-in or user-defined managed code classes to act upon objects, such as list items, lists, or content types, when specific triggering actions occur.

export operation: An operation that exports information or objects from a site for reuse or backup purposes.

external group: A group whose membership is controlled by an external component, such as an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain group or a role that is managed by a role provider in ASP.NET.

farm: A group of computers that work together as a single system to help ensure that applications and resources are available. Also referred to as server farm.

Farm Administrators group: A group of users that has permission to manage all of the servers in a server farm. Members of the Farm Administrators group can perform command-line operations and all of the administrative tasks that are available in Central Administration for the server or server farm.

feature: A package of SharePoint elements that can be activated or deactivated for a specific feature scope.

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

folder identifier: A GUID that identifies a folder in a site collection.

gallery: A library that is used to store a collection of site resources, such as Web Parts, list templates, and site templates. 

generic list: A SharePoint list whose base type value is "Generic List".

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).

index: A data structure that is used to quickly locate data in a table. For more information, see [GRAY].

Information Rights Management (IRM): A technology that provides persistent protection to digital data by using encryption, certificates, and authentication. Authorized recipients or users acquire a license to gain access to the protected files according to the rights or business rules that are set by the content owner.

item: A unit of content that can be indexed and searched by a search application.

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.

list form: A page that enables users to create, view, or edit an item in a list.

List Form Web Part: A type of Web Part that is used to display, edit, or view an item in a SharePoint list.

list identifier: A GUID that is used to identify a list in a site collection.

list item: An individual entry within a SharePoint list. Each list item has a schema that maps to fields in the list that contains the item, depending on the content type of the item.

list template: An XML-based definition of list settings, including fields and views, and optionally list items. List templates are stored in .stp files in the content database.

list view: A named collection of settings for querying and displaying items in a SharePoint list. There are two types of views: Personal, which can be used only by the user who created the view; and Public, which can be used by all users who have permission to access to the site.

List View Web Part: A type of Web Part that generates HTML-based views of items in a SharePoint list.

major version: An iteration of a software component, document, or list item that is ready for a larger group to see, or has changed significantly from the previous major version. For an item on a SharePoint site, the minor version is always "0" (zero) for a major version.

master page: An ASP.NET file that has a predefined layout that can include static text, HTML elements, and server controls.

minor version: An iteration of a software component, document, or list item that is in progress or has changed only slightly from the previous version. For an item on a SharePoint site, the minor version number is never "0" (zero) and is incremented for each new version of an item, unless a major version is explicitly published. When minor versioning is disabled on a SharePoint site, only major version numbers are incremented, and the minor version is always "0" (zero).

mobile device: A small computing device that is easily portable and can be used in various environments.

moderation status: A content approval status that indicates whether a list item was approved by a moderator.

multilingual user interface (MUI): A technology that enables users to change the language of the user interface and Help according to their preferences, if the requisite language resource files are installed.

navigation node: An element in the navigational structure of a site. The element is a link or a series of links to a specific page in the site.

OAuth: The OAuth 2.0 authorization framework [RFC6749].

offline: The condition of not being connected to or not being on a network or the Internet. Offline can also refer to a device, such as a printer that is not connected to a computer, and files that are stored on a computer that is not connected to or not on a network or the Internet.

personal site: A type of SharePoint site that is used by an individual user for personal productivity. The site appears to the user as My Site.

personal view: A view of a list that is created by a user for personal use. The view is unavailable to other users.

personalized Web Parts Page: A Web Parts Page that has been modified by a user for personal use. The view of the Web Parts Page is unavailable to other users.

ProgID: An identifier that is used by the Windows registry to uniquely identify an object and is in the form OLEServerName.ObjectName, for example, "Excel.Sheet" or "PowerPoint.Slide."

provision: The process of creating and deploying an object, and in some cases, populating an object with default data and settings.

provisioned: A condition of an object that was created and deployed successfully.

publishing level: An integer that is assigned to a document to indicate the publishing status of that version of the document.

Quick Launch: A collection of links to lists and pages in a SharePoint site. By default, it appears on the side of all pages, except site administration pages, in the site.

read-only mode: An attribute that indicates that an object cannot be changed or deleted. The object can only be accessed or displayed.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS): An XML-based syndication format for content, as described in [RSS2.0].

resource folder: A folder that contains images, templates, and other resource files for a content type.

resource identifier: A string that refers to a localized resource that is stored as a record in a content database.

resource token: An encoded string that refers to an entry in a localized resource file.

Restore: The act of copying data (usually files) back to its original storage location from some other storage media after some form of data loss.

role assignment: An association between a principal or a site group and a role definition.

role definition: A named set of permissions for a SharePoint site. See also permission level.

sealed field: A named and uniquely identifiable field that cannot be changed. A seal can be removed only by a site collection administrator.

securable object: An object that can have unique security permissions associated with it.

security group: A named group of principals on a SharePoint site.

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 principal: (1) A unique entity that is identifiable through cryptographic means by at least one key. It frequently corresponds to a human user, but also can be a service that offers a resource to other security principals. Also referred to as principal.

(2) 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.

security provider: A Component Object Model (COM) object that provides methods that return custom information about the security of a site.

server-relative URL: A relative URL that does not specify a scheme or host, and assumes a base URI of the root of the host, as described in [RFC3986].

service: A process or agent that is available on the network, offering resources or services for clients. Examples of services include file servers, web servers, and so on.

setup path: The location where supporting files for a product or technology are installed.

Short Message Service (SMS): A communications protocol that is designed for sending text messages between mobile phones.

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 administrator: A user who has administrative permissions for a site collection.

site definition: A family of site definition configurations. Each site definition specifies a name and contains a list of associated site definition configurations.

site identifier: A GUID that is used to identify a site in a site collection.

site template: An XML-based definition of site settings, including formatting, lists, views, and elements such as text, graphics, page layout, and styles. Site templates are stored in .stp files in the content database.

site-relative URL: A URL that is relative to the site that contains a resource and does not begin with a leading slash (/).

store-relative form: See store-relative URL.

store-relative URL: A URL that consists only of a path segment and does not include the leading and trailing slash.

survey list: A list that is preconfigured and optimized for conducting surveys and compiling survey results into graphical views.

theme: A set of unified design elements, such as colors, fonts, graphics, and styles, that define the appearance of a website, document, or data visualization.

thicket folder: A hidden folder that contains a thicket manifest and a set of thicket supporting files that, together, store the referenced content of a complex HTML document.

time zone: A geographical area that observes the same local time. The local time has a positive, zero, or negative offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The offset can be different during standard time and daylight saving time.

top-level site: The first site in a site collection. All other sites within a site collection are child sites of the top-level site. The URL of the top-level site is also the URL of the site collection.

trigger: A change of state (for example, reaching a specific time of day) that signals when a task is to run. A task runs when any of its triggers and all of its conditions are satisfied.

uncustomized: A condition of a document whose content is stored in a location other than the content database. If a document is uncustomized, the front-end web server determines the location of the content by using the SetupPath value for the document. Also referred to as ghosted.

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].

user information list: A list that contains items, each of which represents a security principal (2) in a site collection. Each site collection has only one such list and it resides in the top-level site of the site collection.

view flag: A 4-byte integer bit mask that corresponds to the properties of a view.

web discussion comment: An individual comment that is added to a web discussion.

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 Part Page: An ASP.NET webpage that includes Web Part controls that enable users to customize the page, such as specifying which information to display. Referred to as Web Parts Page in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010.

Web Part type identifier: A unique 16-byte value that is assigned to each Web Part type.

Welcome page: A page, such as default.aspx, that can be specified as the default redirect target when users browse to a URL without specifying a leaf name.

Windows Notification Service (WNS): A Microsoft-provided cloud service that is responsible for sending out notifications to targeted clients.

workflow: (1) An automation of business processes that passes business documents and tasks automatically from one user to another for action, according to a defined sequence.

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

XML schema definition (XSD): The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard language that is used in defining XML schemas. Schemas are useful for enforcing structure and constraining the types of data that can be used validly within other XML documents. XML schema definition refers to the fully specified and currently recommended standard for use in authoring XML schemas.

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.