chain
:chain: 1. vi. [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] To hand off
execution to a child or successor without going through the OS
command
interpreter that invoked it. The state of the parent program is lost and
there is no returning to it. Though this facility used to be common on
memory-limited micros and is still widely supported for backward
compatibility, the jargon usage is semi-obsolescent; in particular, most
Unix programmers will think of this as an exec
Oppose the more modern
`subshell'. 2. n. A series of linked data areas within an operating
system or application. `Chain rattling' is the process of repeatedly
running through the linked data areas searching for one which is of
interest to the executing program. The implication is that there is a
very large number of links on the chain.
Jargon File Version 4.3.1, 29 JUN 2001 =
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