Rockwell Automation 1770-M12 Mass Storage Systems - Manual (Page 67)

Glossary
Appendix E
EĆ2
can also be interconnected in order to share data with other locations or with a
central facility. The system may include terminals, programmable controllers,
and/or intelligent I/O modules.
Environment: In a systems context, the environment is anything that is not a
part of the system itself. Knowledge about the environment is important
because of the effects it can have on the system or because of possible
interactions between the system and the environment.
File: A collection of related records that are stored together. The records are
organized or ordered on the basis of some common factor called a key. Records
may be fixed or varied in length and can be stored in different devices and
storage media. See record and file organization.
File Creation: Establishing or writing records for a file on some storage
medium to bring the file into existence. Making the file known to the
processing system by storing the data on a medium according to a file
organization and providing a way to access the stored data.
File Maintenance: Adding, deleting, or changing the contents of records in a
file. Reorganizing the structure of a file to improve access to records or to
change the storage space required.
File Management: A term that includes the functions of creation, insertion,
deletion, or updating of stored files and records in files. The operations that are
performed on files.
File Organization: A method of ordering data records stored as a file and
providing a way to access the stored records.