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block

  1. A string of records, words, or characters that for technical or logical purposes are treated as a unity.


  2. A collection of contiguous records that are recorded as a unit, and the units are separated by interblock gaps.


  3. A group of bits or digits that are transmitted as a unit and that may be encoded for error-control purposes.


  4. In programming languages, a subdivision of a program that serves to group related statements, delimit routines, specify storage allocation, delineate the applicability of labels, or segment parts of the program for other purposes. In FORTRAN, a block may be a sequence of statements; in COBOL, it may be a physical record.

Block check is the part of the error control procedure that is used for determining that a block of data is structured according to given rules.

Block length is a measure of the size of a block, usually specified in units such as records, words, computer words, or characters.

Block transfer is the process, initiated by a single action, of transferring one or more blocks of data.

Blocking factor, also called grouping factor, is the number of records in a block. The number is computed by dividing the size of the block by the size of each record contained therein.


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   • COMPUTERS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND CYBERNETICS


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