Epson 386SX - Manual (Page 269)

Option card
A circuit board you install inside the computer to provide
additional capabilities, such as more memory or a modem.
Parallel
The type of interface that transmits data in groups of bits. See
Interface and Serial.
Parameter
A qualifier added to a command that tells MS-DOS what
particular conditions to look for and specifies information such
as what data you want to process and where to locate or store a
file.
Parent directory
The directory immediately above a given directory in the
directory tree. In pathnames, the parent directory is represented
by the symbol . . (two periods).
Parity
Data signals sent during communications to detect errors in
transmitting or receiving data.
Partition
The area defined on a hard disk for use by an operating system;
to divide a hard disk into separate sections or logical drives.
Pathname
The list of directories and subdirectories you specify to locate a
file. For example, the pathname for the file SALES which is
located in the subdirectory BUSINESS of the root directory ( \ )
is \ BUSINESS \ SALES.
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