E
E32
Original name for the base components of Symbian OS.
E32Image
Symbian OS executable file format.
EABI
Embedded Application Binary Interface.
ear
A triangular button that can be pressed to set another control to the next or previous in sequence. Ears are displayed to either side of the control they affect.
ECOM
ECOM stands for Epoc Component Object Model, It's a generic framework in Symbian OS from v7.0 for use with plug-in modules.
EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution. An enhanced modulation technique designed to increase network capacity and data rates in GSM networks. EDGE should provide data rates up to 384 Kbps. EDGE will let operators without a 3G license to compete with 3G networks offering similar data services. EDGE is not expected before 2001 at the earliest.
editable text
Text and other text object components (including pictures and other attachments) that may be edited under program control. An interface is provided to the layout engine so that editable text can be displayed on screen, and commands and selections made from the screen. The two most important forms of editable text are rich text and global text.
See also: rich text, global text, plain text, layout engine
EFF
Electronic Font Foundry.
See also: Electronic Font Foundry format, Fontcomp
effective format
The set of format attributes that apply to a character or paragraph. Consists of the attributes specified by the applicable format layers.
See also: format attribute, format layer
EIKON framework
A GUI programming framework including concrete controls and standard dialogs, which was replaced in v5.1 by UIKON and device-specific UI libraries.
EKA1
EKA1 is the first-generation kernel for Symbian OS. It offers pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, but no real-time guarantees and a single-threaded device driver model. It has now largely been superseded by EKA2.
EKA2
The name of the real-time kernel available for Symbian OS from Symbian OS v8 onwards.
True real-time performance became increasingly critical for Symbian OS as phones evolved into converged multimedia devices. From Symbian OS v9 onwards, all systems are based on EKA2.
Electronic Font Foundry format
Font format licensed by Symbian for use in Symbian OS. Also referred to as EFF.
See also: EFF
ELF
Executable and Linking Format
embeddable capability
Embeddable documents can be embedded within another application.
See also: application, application capabilities
empty
A rectangle is empty when the area contained within it is zero or negative. This situation occurs when the rectangle is not normalised, or when it has a height or width of zero. A region is empty if it contains no rectangles.
See also: normalise, rectangle, region
Emulator
An implementation of Symbian OS hosted on PCs running Microsoft Windows. The Emulator is the primary development environment for Symbian OS.
End entity certificate
A certificate which has been signed by a certification authority. An EE certificate may be used to sign a SIS file or a MIDlet, but may not be used to sign certificates.
engine
The UI and view independent portion of an application, concerned with data manipulation and other fundamental operations independently of how these are eventually represented to the user.
See also: model, MVC
Engine Utilities
Also known as BAFL, this component provides utilities for applications.
See also: BAFL
entity
An object to be parsed by the Versit parser. The entity types supported by Versit are: vCalendar, vCard, vEvent, vTodo.
Entities may either be top level entities, or sub-entities.
See also: versit, top level entity, sub-entity
entry
A directory entry. This may be either a file or directory.
or
An item recorded in the Index by the Message Server, such as a message, service, folder, or attachment. Each Index entry (and so each item) is uniquely identified by an ID field.
See also: attribute
entry ID
Uniquely identifies an agenda entry in an agenda file. Unlike the unique ID, the entry ID can change if the entry is updated, or if another entry is deleted from or added to the file. It therefore cannot be used to identify the entry during synchronisation.
See also: unique ID
entry observer
A class implemented by a messaging client that is notified when the data representing an individual entry changes, or when requested access to a message store has been successfully gained.
entry point
In Symbian OS before v9, a function E32Dll() that was called when a DLL was loaded, or attached by a thread or process.
See also: DLL, export
entry symbol
The character which is used to represent an entry in Agenda application views.
EOP
End Of Procedure. Indicates the end of a complete page of fax information, and that no further documents are expected. Proceed to phase E upon receipt of a confirmation.
EPOC
The original name for Symbian OS.
EPOC32
Early version of the operating system that evolved into Symbian OS
The 32 in 'Epoc 32' represents that it was a 32-bit operating system. Its predecessor, EPOC, was only 16 bit, also known as SIBO.
ESN
Electronic Serial Number: a unique number used to identify handsets on CDMA mobile phone networks.
ESOCK
The Symbian OS sockets framework. It provides an abstract sockets interface, for which extensions to support particular sockets protocols, such as TCP/IP, can be written.
See also: socket
E-TACS
Extended Total Access Communications System: a 1G mobile phone network developed in the UK and available in Europe and Asia.
ETel
The Symbian OS telephony framework. It provides an abstract telephony interface, for which extensions to support particular telephony protocols or devices can be written.
ETel core API
The ETel API that implements the subset of near-universally supported telephony functionality.
See also: ETel
ETEXT
The Symbian OS component that relates to text content and formatting.
See also: FORM
event
A loose term used to describe the cause of the completion of a request to an event source.
See also: event source, asynchronous request
event queue
A queue of keyboard, pointer and redraw events maintained by the window server, for each of its current client applications.
See also: window server
event source
An asynchronous service provider that causes requests to complete when some event (usually not directly solicited) occurs.
Event sources must buffer the events they detect, until they are able to 'give' them to a user program by virtual of a request completion. Buffer overrun is a real possibility.
See also: event, asynchronous service provider
exception
Abnormal condition that causes the CPU to stop what it is doing and jump to a specific piece of code.Or
In an agenda entry's repeat details, a date for which the repeat algorithm does not apply.
See also: leave, trap harness, repeat details, repeating entry
excess width
The width over which excess space is to be distributed when drawing justified text.
See also: justification
exe
An Executable file that contains the code for a program. A type of binary which when loaded is used as the basis for a new process.
exec call
A call to the Kernel via a software interrupt.
export
Within the context of a DLL, to make a function or data available for use by application programs or other DLLs.
See also: DLL, import
export by ordinal
Within the context of a DLL, an exported function referred to by its ordinal number instead of by name.
See also: Export
expose
A window is completely or partly exposed when a window that used to be on top of it is moved or destroyed.
See also: window
extension
Identifies the type of a file. It comprises everything after the final dot. If there is no final dot, the extension is empty.
See also: path
extent
A control or window's position and size.
externalise
The process of writing an object's data to a stream.
See also: stream
