action A command-language command that MMS executes to update a target. (See also action line.) action line The part of the dependency rule that contains the commands that tell MMS how to use the source or sources to update the target. (See also dependency rule.) action line prefix A special character placed at the beginning of an action line that influences how MMS executes the action. (See also action line.) built-in rule A command that MMS uses when the description file does not explicitly describe the processing needed to update a target. default macro A name that represents a character string that defines commonly used operations. MMS built-in rules are expressed in terms of default macros. (See also built-in rule and macro.) dependency rule The description of a relationship between a target and one or more sources, and the action or actions required to update the target. Dependency rules are contained in the description file. (See also description file.) description file A text file that contains the dependency rules, comments, macros, and directives that MMS uses to build your system. (See also dependency rule, directive, and macro.) directive A word that specifies an action for the processing of the description file. included file A shared file used during software development that contains code or constant declarations. library module specification An OpenVMS file specification for a module in a library. macro A name that represents a character string. The string is substituted for the name in a dependency rule. macro invocation The execution of the macro that replaces the macro name with its definition. mnemonic name A name that identifies the purpose of a sequence of related actions. It can be used as either a source or a target in the description file. (See also source and target.) object library A single file that contains multiple object files. (See also object module.) object module One or more object files that comprise an object library. source In a dependency rule, an entity that is used to create or to update the target. A source can be an OpenVMS file specification or a mnemonic name. (See also dependency rule and mnemonic name.) special macro A name that represents a character string that expands to source or target names in the dependency currently being processed. A special macro is used instead of a target or source file specification when writing general user-defined rules. (See also dependency rule, macro, and target.) suffixes precedence list A list of file types to which MMS refers when it needs to know which source file can update the specified target. target In a description file, the entity that is to be updated. A target can be an OpenVMS file specification or a mnemonic name. (See also mnemonic name.) user-defined rule A rule that the user specifies in the description file to add to and/or replace MMS built-in rules. (See also built-in rule.)