1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

alternate stream: See named stream.

class identifier (CLSID): A GUID that identifies a software component; for instance, a DCOM object class or a COM class.

compound file: A file that is created as defined in [MS-CFB] and that is capable of storing data that is structured as storage and streams.

element: A stream or storage that is identified by a unique name.

file: An entity of data in the file system that a user can access and manage. A file has to have a unique name in its directory. It consists of one or more streams of bytes that hold a set of related data, plus a set of attributes also called properties that describe the file or the data within the file. The creation time of a file is an example of a file attribute.

FMTID: A GUID value that identifies a property set format.

globally unique identifier (GUID): A term used interchangeably with universally unique identifier (UUID) in Microsoft protocol technical documents (TDs). Interchanging the usage of these terms does not imply or require a specific algorithm or mechanism to generate the value. Specifically, the use of this term does not imply or require that the algorithms described in [RFC4122] or [C706] have to be used for generating the GUID. See also universally unique identifier (UUID).

GUID_NULL: A GUID that has the value "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}".

little-endian: Multiple-byte values that are byte-ordered with the least significant byte stored in the memory location with the lowest address.

non-simple property set: A property set that is stored as a storage, which enables stream and storage as property types.

NT file system (NTFS): A proprietary Microsoft file system. For more information, see [MSFT-NTFS].

property: A typed value associated with a property identifier and optionally a property name.

property identifier: A unique integer or a 16-bit, numeric identifier that is used to identify a specific attribute or property.

property name: A string that, in combination with a property set, identifies a named property.

property set: A set of properties, along with an FMTID, identifying the property set format and an associated class identifier (CLSID). The CLSID is used to identify the application or component that created the property set.

property set format: A specification for the properties in a property set, including the property identifier, type, semantics, and, optionally, a property name for each property.

simple property set: A property set that is stored as a stream and does not enable streams and storages as property types.

storage: (1) An element of a compound file that is a unit of containment for one or more storages and streams, analogous to directories in a file system, as described in [MS-CFB].

(2) A set of elements with an associated CLSID used to identify the application or component that created the storage.

storage container: A software-provided location for a stream.

storage format: A specification for encoding a particular type of data as a stream.

stream: A sequence of bytes that typically encodes application data.

stream container: A software-provided location for a stream.

stream format: A specification for encoding a particular type of data as a stream.

Unicode: A character encoding standard developed by the Unicode Consortium that represents almost all of the written languages of the world. The Unicode standard [UNICODE5.0.0/2007] provides three forms (UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32) and seven schemes (UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-16 BE, UTF-16 LE, UTF-32, UTF-32 LE, and UTF-32 BE).

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.