Appendix A   Glossary

Boolean  
is the type name for the truth values true and false as well as for the related boolean expressions.
Body  
A body is part of a conditional instruction (if) or a loop (while or for) and consists of a sequence of operator calls. If you consider the for-loop, for instance, all operator calls, that are located between for and endfor form the body.
Control data  
Control data can be either numbers (integer and real), character strings (string) and truth values (boolean). This data can be used as atomic values (i.e., single values) or as tuples (i.e., arrays of values).
Empty region  
An empty region contains no points at all, i.e., its area is zero.
Graphics window  
A graphics window is used in HDevelop for displaying, e.g., images, regions, and XLD.
HDevelop 
is an interactive program for the creation of HALCON applications.
Iconic data  
are image data, i.e., image arrays and data, which are described by coordinates and are derived from image arrays, e.g., regions, images and XLD.
Image  
An image consists of one or more (multi-channel image) image arrays and a region as the definition domain. All image arrays have the same dimension, but they can be of different pixel types. The size of the region is smaller or equal than the size of the image arrays. The region determines all image points that should be processed.
Iconic object  
Generic implementation of iconic data in HALCON.
integer  
is the type name for integer numbers.
Operator data base  
The operator data base contains information about the HALCON operators. It is loaded at runtime from the binary files in %HALCONROOT%\help.
Program Window  
In HDevelop the program window contains the program. It is used to edit (copy, delete, and paste lines) and to run or debug the program.
Operator window  
In the operator window of HDevelop the parameters of the selected operators can be entered or modified.
Real  
is the type name for floating point numbers. They are implemented using the C-type double (8 bytes).
Region  
A region is a set of image points without gray values. A region can be imagined as a binary image (mask). Regions are implemented using runlength encoding. The region size is not limited to the image size (see also set_system('clip_region','true'/'false') in the HALCON reference manual).
String  
is the type name for character strings. A string starts and ends with a single quote; in between any character can be used except single quote. The empty string consists of two consecutive single quotes.
Tuple  
A tuple is an ordered multivalue set. In case of control data a tuple can consist of a large number of items with different data types. The term tuple is also used in conjunction with iconic objects, if it is to be emphasized that several iconic objects will be used.
Type  
iconic variables can be assigned with data items of type image, region, and XLD. The types of control data items can be one of integer, real, boolean, or string.
Variable window  
In HDevelop the variable window manages the control and iconic data.
XLD  
is the short term for eXtended Line Description. It is used as a superclass for contours, polygons, and lines.