F
 
facename
The name of a typeface, such as Courier or Baskerville. See typeface.
FAT
See file allocation table.
file allocation table (FAT)
A table used by an operating system to allocate space for a file. This allocation method limits file names to an 8.3 form. FAT partitions are less efficient in use of space and speed than HPFS and NTFS partitions. See high performance file system.
file descriptor
A small positive integer that the system uses instead of the file name to identify an open file.
file extension
The suffix appended to a file name in the FAT file-naming convention. The extension is optional in some file systems. The compilers use file extensions to determine the source type of the file.
file scope
See global scope.
filter
A pattern or mask through which only selected data is passed. The VisualAge C++ IDE allows views to be filtered.
first element
The element visited first in an iteration over a collection. Each collection has its own definition for first element. For example, the first element of a sorted set is the element with the smallest value.
flat collection
A collection that has no hierarchical structure.
float constant
A number containing a decimal point, an exponent, or both. The exponent contains an e or E, an optional sign (+ or -) and one or more digits (0 through 9). IBM.
folder
A directory.
font
A collection of characters (both textual and symbolic) that share common visual elements between all characters of one size of one type style. These visual elements can be broken up into several categories which uniquely identify the font. The major categories are the name of the typeface, the size of type, the style of type, and the weight of type.
for statement
A looping statement consisting of the keyword for followed by a parenthesis-enclosed list of three parts separated by semi-colons: the for-init statement, the condition, and an expression that is customarily used to increment the loop indices.
forward declaration
A class declaration that does not define any members of a class until later. A forward declaration allows you to make specific references to a class prior to its definition. Forward declarations are not necessary in the orderless compiler of VisualAge C++.
frame
(1) A complete television picture that is composed of two scanned fields, one of the even lines and one of the odd lines. In the NTSC system, a frame has 525 horizontal lines and is scanned in 1/30th of a second. See NTSC. (2) A border around a window. (3) The color and line that outlines the border of a geometric shape. Its appearance is defined by graphic attributes for pen width, pen type, balance, joints, and caps.
frame number
(1) The number used to identify a frame. (2) The location of a frame on a videodisc or in a video file. On videodisc, frames are numbered sequentially from 1 to 54,000 on each side and can be accessed individually; on videotape, the numbers are assigned by way of the SMPTE time code.
frame rate
The speed at which frames are scanned. For a videodisc player, the speed at which frames are scanned is 30 frames per second for NTSC video. For most videotape devices, the speed is 24 frames per second. See NTSC.
framework
A set of cooperating classes that makes up a reusable design for a specific application.
free-form surface
The large open area of the Composition Editor window. The free-form surface holds the visual parts from the views a user builds and representations of the nonvisual parts that have been included in the application.
free store
Dynamically allocated memory. In the C++ language, new is used to allocate free store for objects and delete is used to deallocate it. In C, the malloc family of functions is used. There are also system APIs for dynamic memory allocation. Also called program heap.
friend class
A class in which all the member functions are granted access to the private and protected members of another class. It is named in the declaration of the other class with the specifier friend.
friend function
A function that is granted access to the private and protected parts of a class. It is named in the declaration of the class with the specifier friend.
full-motion video
(1) Video playback at 30 frames per second on NTSC signals. (2) A digital video compression technique that operates in real time.
function
A named group of statements that can be called and evaluated and can return a value to the calling statement. IBM. See member function.
function call
An expression that moves the path of execution from the current function to a specified function and evaluates to the return value provided by the called function. A function call contains the name of the function to which control moves and a parenthesized list of values. IBM.
function declarator
See function prototype.
function definition
The complete description of a function. A function definition contains an optional storage class specifier, an optional type specifier, a function declarator, optional parameter declarations, and a block statement (the function body).
function prototype
A function declaration that provides type information for each parameter. It is the first line of the function (header) followed by a semicolon (;). The declaration is required by the compiler at the time that the function is declared, so that the compiler can check the type.
function scope
The capacity to be used anywhere in a function. Labels that are declared in a function have function scope.
function template
A template that results in the creation of a function when it is implicitly or explicitly instantiated or specialized. See template.
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