zap (redirected from zapping)

zap

A command that typically deletes the data within a file but leaves the file structure intact so that new data can be entered. See wipe.

---

1.	(language)	ZAP - A language for expressing program transformations. ["A System for Assisting Program Transformation", M.S. Feather, ACM TOPLAS 4(1):1-20, Jan 1982].
2.		ZAP - Zero and Add Packed.
3.	(jargon)	zap - 1. To modify, usually to correct; especially used when the action is performed with a debugger or binary patching tool. Also implies surgical precision. "Zap the debug level to 6 and run it again." In the IBM mainframe world, binary patches are applied to programs or to the operating system with a program called "superzap", whose file name is "IMASPZAP" (possibly contrived from I M A SuPerZAP). See also Zero and Add Packed. 2. To fry a chip with static electricity. "Uh oh - I think that lightning strike may have zapped the disk controller."