(also green words)
1. Meta-information embedded in a file, such as the length of the
file or its name; as opposed to keeping such information in a
separate description file or record. The term comes from an IBM
user's group meeting (ca. 1962) at which these two approaches were
being debated and the diagram of the file on the blackboard had the
green bytes drawn in green.
2. By extension, the non-data bits in any self-describing format. "A
GIF file contains, among other things, green bytes describing the
packing method for the image." Compare {out-of-band}, {zigamorph},
{fence} (sense 1).
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {out-of-band}]