JAOMAD Glossary O:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Intro
O—Output signal in analog, discrete, or digital form; also: means "Orifice," or "Restriction" when used as succeeding alpha character position of ISA instrument function tag [see ANSI/ISA S5.1-1984 (R1992)]; also: electromagnetic or sonic signal.
OA—Open Access; also: Organic Acid (flux); also: Office Automation.
OAGi —Open Applications Group, incorporated; provides standards for business software interoperability.
OAGIS—Open Applications Group Integration Specification.
OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications—See OpenDocument format (ODF).
OBIOS—Open, Basic Input/Output System; standard proposed by Real-Time Consortium.
Object—In Object Oriented Programming (OOP), software model or representation of a part of reality; also: set of data, such as bitmap image, text, trend graphs; also: self-contained software modes that encapsulate both data and processing logic.
Object Dictionary—In FOUNDATION fieldbus context, schema-based approach for defining dictionary and directory information about devices and their function blocks; contains all Function Block (FB), Resource Block (RB) and Transducer Block (TB) parameters used in a device; through these parameters, blocks may be accessed over fieldbus network.
Object Language—Also called object code, machine code; see Machine Language.
Object Linking & Embedding (OLE)— in computers using object oriented software, database feature of Microsoft® Windows™ and WindowsNT™ environments that treats data as collection of objects to be shared by applications supporting OLE specification; enables several applications to be linked or embedded to accomplish given task; allows user to keep information current across several software applications, simply by changing information in one of them.
Object Oriented Drawing—Approach in drawing and layout programs that treat digital graphics as line and arc segments (boxes, ellipses, etc.) rather than individual dots; also called vector oriented.
Object Oriented Programming—Computer programming based upon package of information and descriptions of procedures as single object that can communicate to other objects; allows focus on what is to be accomplished, rather than how.
Object Oriented Sofware—Software that uses and reuses parcels of code to build applications modeled on object techniques including COM/DCOM, Java, and CORBA standards.
Object Oriented System—System where both data and procedures combine in software objects, message passing is used to communicate digitally with and between objects, similar objects are grouped into class structures, and both data and procedures are inherited through the class structure to specific instances (copies) of objects.
Object Request Broker (ORB)—Architecture that defines interfaces by which objects transparently make and receive responses; enables interoperability among applications on different machines and interconnects multiple objects, provided that underlying computer infrastructure also supports ORB. (See also CORBA).
OBS—Open Business Systems; term used by some for next generation business system management packages where hardware and software is not proprietary; also: Oil Blending System.
OCD—Open Circuit Detection.
OC—Open Controller; process controller which can communicate directly with other controllers, user interfaces, and other devices made by different vendors.
OCR—Optical Character Recognition; scanning printed/written data into text file of computer.
OCS—Open Control System; term used by some for next generation of DCSs where ideally hardware and software is not proprietary; also: Open Control Software; term used by ARC Advisory Group for control software that can be used in PCs rather than in traditional vendor-specific hardware, such as PLCs in factory automation.
Octal—Pertaining to base 8 number system.
Octet—Eight bits; whereas byte is a "character" and may be six to eight bits.
OCX—OLE Controls (eXtension); second generation component software technology from Microsoft® that enables a Windows program to add funtionality by calling ready-made components; generally called "OLE controls" or "OLE custom controls," they appear to end user as just another part of the program; these object-oriented software building blocks which save considerable programming time in creating applications theoretically can readily be plugged into Visual Basic, Visual C++, databases, spreadsheets, and word processors; see VBX & ActiveX.
OD—Output Driver; also: Object Directory, see definition.
O.D.—Outside Diameter.
ODA—Open Document Architecture; formerly Office Document Architecture; see definition.
ODBC—Open Data Base Connectivity; in computers, data access standard which provides transparent connection among variety of different databases (even across platforms) and any applications depending on them; supports structured query language (SQL); it was defined by the SQL Access Group of which Microsoft was one member and the first to release a commercial product based on its work (under Microsoft Windows) but ODBC is not a Microsoft standard as many people believe.
ODF—Open Document Format, see definition.
ODHS—Operational Data Historian Systems.
ODIF—Open Document Interchange Format; formerly Office Document Architecture.
ODI—Open Datalink Interface; in computers, allows network users greater flexibility in moving files from one type of network to another; supports TCP/IP and SPX/IPX transport protocols concurrently with existing Ethernet, Token Ring, and ARCNET® adapters.
ODM—Original Design Manufacturing; see definition.
ODR—Oscillating Disk Rheometer.
ODS—Output Data Strobe.
ODX—OPC Data transfer; see OPC.
ODVA—(Open DeviceNet Vendors Association); formed in 1995 by over 100 developer-vendors in the U.S. after Allen-Bradley transferred intellectual property ownership to position DeviceNet™ as non-proprietary international standard.
O/E—Or Equal, Or Equivalent; reference in system specifications when listing features needed and identified by specifics of given vendor equipment as form of description for that feature.
OEE—Overall Equipment Effectiveness, see definition.
OEL, OELD—Organic ElectroLuminescent Device; see Organic Light Emitting Diode.
OEM—Original Equipment Manufacturer; see definition.
OFDM—Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; a technology for the next generation of high-speed wireless data products and services.
OFF Delay—Timer that begins when power is removed completely from the unit.
Off Load(ing)—Relieving intensive amount of data processing with specific application from CPU by performing those calculations in dedicated or specialized processor.
Off-Line—Condition in which user, terminal, or other device is not connected to computer or is not actively transmitting via a network, operating independently from main system; opposite of On-Line; also: in traditional video editing, stage at which most content and editing decisions are made, usually on less expensive equipment and using dubs (or work prints) of original source material, at this stage an Edit Decision List is often created to facilitate an on-line session.
Offset—Difference between setpoint and actual process value, sometimes called droop.
Off-State Current—Current that flows in solid state device in off-state condition.
Off-State Condition—Conditions of solid state device when no control signal is applied.
OFHC—Oxygen Free High conductivity Copper; industry designation of pure copper used in type T thermocouple.
OFX—Open Financial eXchange; financial services computer communication standard.
OHIM—Oh Heck It's Monday. J
Ohmeter—Instrument used to measure electrical resistance.
Ohnosecond—Similar to nanosecond but shorter; it’s that miniscule fraction of time in which you realize you've just deleted your entire computer directory. J
OI—Operator Interface.
OIT—Operator Interface Terminals.
OLAP—On-Line Analytical Processing; software tools designed for ad hoc data access & analysis; allows easy exploration of database for patterns which assist determining significance of data (obtain information from highly dimensional complex data); analysis techniques rely on steady-state and quasi-steady-state models to optimize processes; enables users to analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data such as providing time series and trend analysis views; chief component of OLAP is the OLAP server, which sits between a client and a database management systems (DBMS), and understands how data is organized in the database, having special functions for analyzing the data; compare: OLTP or Transaction Processing.
OLB—Outer-Lead Bonding.
OLE—Object Linking & Embedding; in computers, application integration feature of Microsoft® Windows™ and WindowsNT™ environments that treats data as collection of objects to be shared by applications supporting OLE specification; enables several different applications to be linked to accomplish given task; allows user to keep information current across several different software applications, simply by changing information in one of them; with arrival of Internet, Microsoft® now prefers to use “ActiveX.”
OLED—Organic Light Emitting Diode; see definition
Oleophillic—Oil receptive.
Oleophobic—Oil Repellent.
OLE-PC—Object Linking & Embedding for Process Control; OLE extensions to improve interoperability among different industrial automation devices and software; now frequently called OPC; see OPC™.
OLI—Open Link Interface; specification developed by Novell® and Apple® for DOS and OS/2 platforms.
OLP—Off Line Program.
OLTP—On-Line Transaction Processing; same as transaction processing.
O&M—Operations & Maintenance.
OMAC—Open Modular Architecture Controller; concept of system structure more than hardware, being developed by General Motors in conjunction with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. to merge currently incompatible platforms of PLCs and motion controlling CNCs; parallels co-existence of PLCs and DCSs in process control; some technologies include IEC 1131-3 programming languages, Microsoft® Windows™ environments, Ethernet®, and VMEbus®.
OMG—Object Management Group, 11 companies including IBM®, H-P®, Sunsoft® who developed CORBA for programming object oriented software, which competes with de facto object standard COM by Microsoft®.
OMS—On-line Management System.
OMT—Object Modeling Technique; of object oriented design.
ON Delay—Timer that starts when power is applied and output contacts transfer at end of timing period; this type resets during power failure.
ON—(Österreichisches Normungsinstitut); standards group in (former) East Germany.
ON/OFF Control—Process control response in which function is either fully ON or fully OFF, with no intermediate operating positions.
ONC—Open Network Computing; network computing environment developed by SUN Microsystems®.
On-Line—Condition in which user, terminal, or other device is actively connected with facilities of communications network or computer; opposite of Off-Line; also: in traditional video editing, the stage at which final video tape is made, usually on more expensive equipment that re-edits a piece using original or lowest generation material for best quality, and adds all finishing touches.
One2one— Direct market of one customer; form of highly individualized market segmentation which allows continuous customization of the content, services and interactions with a customer to deliver exactly what he or she needs and to create the sense that he or she is a market/market segment of one; one2one is often used in marketing relations.
On-State Condition—Condition of solid state device when conducting.
One-stop-shopping—Practice of customers who like to buy all equipment for a project from a single source; on internet, has become concept within e-commerce where buying needs can be served in one single e-commerce solution at one time.
OOA—Object Oriented Analysis; see OOD (Object Oriented Design).
OOD—Object Oriented Design; design method in which a system is modelled as a collection of cooperating objects and individual objects are treated as instances of a class within a class hierarchy. Four stages can be identified: identify the classes and objects, identify their semantics, identify their relationships and specify class and object interfaces and implementation. Object-oriented design is one of the stages of object-oriented programming.
OODB—Object Oriented DataBase; system offering database management system facilities in object-oriented programming environment; data is stored as objects and can be interpreted only by using the methods specified by its class; relationship between similar objects is preserved (inheritance) as are references between objects; quieries can be faster because joins are often not needed as in a relational database; object can be retrieved directly without a search, following its object identification..
OODBC—Object Oriented DataBase Control; allows computer program to interface to a variety of databases; allows programmers to interact with text files in the way they would interact with a database.
OODBMS—Object Oriented DataBase Management System; the desire to organize data the way it is done in real world.
OOP—Object Oriented Programming; programming based on objects that talk by message passing; an object is package of information and descriptions of procedures to manipulate that information.
OOS—Out of Service.
OPAL—Operational Performance-Analysis Language.
OPC™—OLE-PC; Object Linking & Embedding for Process Control; communication (interface) standard based on extensions to OLE concepts created by task force of consortium to rapidly develop this for manufacturing automation to improve interoperability among industrial devices and software; includes AEG Schneider, Applied Automation, Aspen technology, Fluke, Gensym, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Siemens, USDATA, Hitachi, Moore Products, National Instruments, and Wonderware.
OPC-DA—OPC -Data Access; protocol which vertically links the enterprise and MRP systems to plant floor.
OPC-DX—OPC-Data exchange; protocol based on XML data structures intended to augment OPC-DA as standard client interface allowing peer-to-peer communications and interoperable data exchange between commercially available fieldbuses via Ethernet.
OPC-UA—OPC-Unified Architecture; OPC's future platform for interoperability based on Web Services; designed to unify service and information models of existing OPC Component Object Model (COM) specifications, providing common base of services that spans all OPC functional areas.
Open Architecture—Architecture whose specifications are public; includes officially approved standards as well as privately designed architectures whose specifications are made public by the designers; allows for easy extension and customization to meet a particular application need.
Open Document Architecture (ODA)—(sometimes called Office Document Architecture); standard document file format created by the ITU-T to replace all proprietary document file formats detailed in the standards documents T.411-T.424, which is equivalent to ISO 8613; defines compound document format that can contain raw text, raster images & vector graphics using both logical and layout structures; not to be confused with OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications.
OpenDocument Format (ODF)—(full name: OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications - ISO/IEC 26300); file format for electronic office documents, such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents; not to be confused with Open Document Architecture.
Open Control System (OCS)—Theoretical fully non-proprietary control system which allows connection with any device provided by any supplier which is built to common standards; marketing departments of several suppliers have used this term loosely to mean nearly any PLC, DCS, or PC system.
Open Controller—Controller that is PC operating in Windows environment with software control.
Open Loop Control—In process control, sensing change in input of process to cause change in control signal to one of the other inputs to that same process, does not have self correcting action as with Closed Loop (Feedback) Control; also called Feedforward control or Anticipatory Control.
Open Source—Free source code of a computer program, which is made available to the development community at large; rationale is that broader group of programmers will ultimately produce more useful and more bug-free product for everyone, especially because more people will be reviewing the code; peer review is considered one of the most important safeguards for good code; additionally allows an organization to modify the product for its own use rather than hope that vendor of some proprietary product will implement its suggestions in a subsequent release; examples include Linux operating system & Netscape Communicator; means more than access to source code but distribution terms of open-source software must comply with criteria listed at www.opensource.org.
Open System—In digital communications, hardware/software designs in which degree of interchangeability and connectivity provides user with choices: ability to select multiple products from multiple vendors, and integrate them seamlessly on powerful networks; open systems make every resource on network available to any authorized user who needs it; also, but not limited to, system that complies with requirements of OSI reference model.
Operand—Quantity or data item that is operated upon.
Operating Specifications—[Operating Range] Environmental conditions over which equipment or system will operate and maintain its specified performance without any degradation; see Extreme and Storage.
Operating System—Software of computer that controls execution of programs, typically handling functions of input/output control, resource scheduling, and data management; it provides application programs with fundamental commands to control the computer.
Operational Qualification—In process validation, documented verification that equipment-related system or subsystem performs as intended throughout represented or anticipated operating ranges.
Operator Interface—Shared boundary between human operator and computer system, typically consisting of graphical representation (on CRT or LCD) and input device (keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, trackball, lightpen).
Operator Station—Operator interface from where process or plant is run.
Operator—In description of computing process, that which indicates action to be performed on operands.
OPI—Open Prepress Interface; desktop publishing standard that converts large, high-resolution images into smaller, more manageable bit maps for use during layout of printed and screen images.
Optical Disk—Very-high-density information storage medium that uses light to read and write digital information (comes in read-only and write once types); unlike magnetic media, it is not inadvertently changed or erased due to EMI/RFI fields.
Optical Fiber—Any filament or fiber made of dielectric materials and consisting of core to carry the light signal, and surrounding cladding which reflects signal back into the core; thin glass thread is most commonly used, but plastic fiber can also be chosen.
Optical Isolation—Two networks which are connected only through LED transmitter and photoelectric receiver with no electrical continuity between the two networks.
Optical Zoom—Use of lenses to change focal length of video imaging device just as wih traditional cameras used for film; See Digital Zoom.
OpX—Operational eXcellence; program(s) to maximize product quality, safety, plant efficiency & throughput; initiated by companies in pharmaceutical industry.
OQL—Query language that supports complex data types (multimedia, spatial, compound documents, etc.) that are stored as objects; a subset of SQL, and standard SQL entries can be used.
ORB—Object Request Broker; architecture within object oriented software, that defines interfaces by which objects transparently make and receive responses; this middleware establishes client-server relationships between objects, enabling interoperability among applications on different machines and interconnects multiple objects, provided that underlying computer infrastructure also supports ORB. (See also CORBA).
Organic Light Emitting Diode—Glowing substrate developed by Kodak into flat panel display which can displace conventional color flat-panel displays by being brighter, thinner, lighter, and cheaper, with very low power requirements and wide viewing angle (up to 160 degrees), even in bright light; additionally known as Organic ElectroLuminescent Device (OEL, OELD), they are monolithic devices, because each layer is deposited on the other, creating single unit, unlike LCDs and FEDs, which are constructed of layered materials; see Polymer Light-Emitting Diode, Light-Emitting Diode, Liquid Crystal Display.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)—One who provides final systems made from assemblies and subassemblies from other manufacturers.
Original Design Manufacturing (ODM)—Business model focuses on design for functionality & manufacturability, and requires very specific tools—3-D modeling software, electrical design software, program languages, etc.—not typically found at panel builders and system integrators.
Orphan—In typographical composition of screen displays and printing, a word or short line ending a paragraph which is carried over to top of next column; frowned upon in good typography.
ORP—Oxidation-Reduction Potential; often called REDOX in the process industries, which is directly related to oxidative strength of biocidal agent such as chlorine; ratio of activities of oxidized (loss of electron) and reduced (gain of electron) forms of various substances in solution, activities which generate millivolt potential similar to pH, depending on the substance.
OS—Operating System in computers, see definition; also: Operator Station in control systems, see definition.
OS/2 EE—Operating System 2, Extended Edition.
OS/2®—Operating System 2; multitasking third-generation operating system for PS/2® developed by IBM® & Microsoft® to use with Intel® 80286 & 80386 microprocessors; also: Obsolete Soon, TooJ.
OSF—(Open Software Foundation); not-for-profit coalition of DEC®, IBM®, HP®, Apollo®, Groupe Bull®, Nixdorf Computer AG®, and Siemens AG® located in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, founded in 1988 to develop and license core software technologies to develop alternative to UNIX® due to AT&T® decision to not open UNIX® development; also: (Open Systems Foundation) organization created to define software specifications, develop software, and make available some open, portable environment.
OSHA—Occupational Safety and Health Act; U.S. federal law passed in 1970 specifying requirements an employer must follow in order to guard against employee illness and injury; also: (Occupational Safety and Health Agency) responsible to enforce that act.
OSI/NM—OSI/Network Management forum formed by 8 companies in 1988 to accelerate standard on network management.
OSINET—Open Systems Interconnection NETwork; interoperability testing network, sponsored by NIST designed to provide vendors of products based on OSI model forum for doing interoperability testing.
OSI—Open Systems Interconnect; 7-layer reference model for network operations standardized within ISO to enable any two OSI-compliant devices to exchange information; the seven layers are Physical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application.
OSI-RM—Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model; ISO IS7498.
OSP—Organic Solder Preservative.
OSPF—Open Shortest Path First; newly proposed routing standard.
OSS—Open Source Software; software that can be modified and recompiled by the user; see Open Source.
OTD—Open Thermocouple Detection.
OTDR—Optical Time Domain Reflectometry; method of evaluating optical fibers based on detecting backscattered (reflected) light; used to measure fiber attenuation, evaluate splice and connector joints, and locate faults.
OTP—One-Time Programmable memory.
OTS—Operator Training Simulator.
Out Point—In video development, last frame of a clip; see In Point.
Output Impedance—Impedance measured across output terminals of device due to circuitry within that device; in power supplies, equivalent dynamic series impedance of power supply output; normally derived from ratio of output voltage change for an output current change, as measured at output terminals; load line effect and termination must be considered for total impedance.
Output Noise—The RMS, peak-to-peak ac component of a device (typically a transducer) dc output in absence of signal variation.
Output Rating—Voltage and current carrying capability of equipment electrical output.
Output Sequence: OOX—Output switch is open during reset, open during timing, and closed during timed out condition.
Output Sequence: OXO—Output switch is open during reset, closed during timing, and open during timed out condition.
Output Settling Time—Time needed within specified limits for analog output voltage to reach final value following some given change.
Output Slew Rate—Rate of change of analog output when changing from one level to another.
Output—End result of process or system; information leaving a device, data resulting from processing; audio, electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic signal delivered by an instrument to a load.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness—Equipment availability x performance efficiency x rate of quality; for example, equipment operating at 85 per cent effectiveness would be determined by Equipment availability (90 per cent) x performance efficiency (95 per cent) x rate of quality (99 per cent) = Overall Equipment Effectiveness (84.645 per cent).
Oven—Heated enclosure for baking, heating, or drying; generally at temperatures considerably less than a furnace.
Overhead—In digital communications, all information such as control, routing, and error checking characters that are used in addition to transmitted data; includes routing information, operational instructions, and retransmissions of data that are received in error.
Overload Protection—Protection of equipment against excessive current, including short circuit current; in power supplies, protection circuitry is electronic with automatic recovery, current characteristic is normally a foldback type.
Overshoot—In process control, amount that process exceeds setpoint when dynamically approaching setpoint value.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Intro