HTML Glossary

Cookie A text file or string that stores state information. Some cookies are scoped to the HTTP session only (no longer existing once the client application shuts down) while others are persistent by virtue of being written to a storage device.

Digital Certificate Enables secure communication with a Web server.

Field A unit of data contained in a form. A field may be a label to display on the screen, an item of data, or an interactive widget of some kind. Some fields may be hidden (and thus have no visual interface.) Each field has its own attributes that determine how it is displayed and if the area can be modified.

Frames Some HTML pages are displayed in discrete panes with draggable dividers. These panes are called frames. The FRAMESET tag is used to create a group of frames. Each frame has its own FRAME tag. The source code for an HTML page that contains frames does not contain the detailed HTML code for the individual frames; instead, the SRC attribute of the FRAME element directs the browser to the appropriate URI for the frame.

HTML Hyper Text Markup Language

HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol.

HTTP GET A method that gets the file at a specified URI using URIencoded form data appended to the target URI.

HTTP POST A method that posts data to a specified URI (which usually points to a CGI script on the server).

HTTPS The "secure" version of HTTP.

Native Environment Pane A pane in the HTML Component Editor that provides an emulation of an actual HTML terminal session.

Map Screen Action A special non-editable action that indicates the location in an Action Model where a new data is received. Any actions intended to interact with this screen must be placed subordinate to the Map Action's Screen Actions line in the Action Model.

Redirection An attempt to send the client to a new destination URI. Redirection may occur as a result of a Refresh directive in the <META> elements of an HTML page, a specific Refresh directive issued by the server (in the HTTP header of a response), or a script (typically JavaScript) inside the HTML page.

ScreenDoc A special DOM that can be displayed in the HTML Component Editor representing the current HTML page as an XML document.

SSL Secure Socket Layer Support

TIDY A utility used to transform hard to read HTML into clearly layered markup text.

URI Uniform Resource Locator. The URI expresses the location of the web resource as well as the protocol that should be used to communicate thereto.

Web Browser A display window where the actual contents of a HTML document is displayed.

XHTML HTML meeting the minimum "well-formedness" requirements of the XML standard.