Dictionary

downpointer en · NOUN

Etymology

From down- + pointer.

Meanings

1. A pointer in a hierarchical data structure that points to the node that is down from the current node.
   • By using the so-called functional approach to data structures Chazelle [1988] developed a compression scheme to encode the downpointers used by Willard [1985] to reduce further the space requirement. 2004, Allen B. Tucker, Computer Science Handbook, pages 11–25:
   • […] this data structure differs from the tree […] illustrated in Fig. 1, only by having downpointers replaced by downtrees. 1985, Society for Industrial, Applied Mathematics, SIAM Journal on Computing, volume 14, page 244:
   • Except at level zero, the downpointer always points down. 1969, Information Processing: Proceedings of the IFIP Congress, page 1249:
2. An indicator that points toward the ground.
   • During one session , the subject used a canopy-mounted downpointer to estimate position in space relative to the ground, and in the other session the subject used a joystick-controlled, inside-out, aircraft attitude indicator. 1989, Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine, page 492:

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