normalisation

1. data processing A transformation applied uniformly to

each element in a set of data so that the set has some

specific statistical property. For example, monthly

measurements of the rainfall in London might be normalised by

dividing each one by the total for the year to give a profile

of rainfall throughout the year.

2. programming Representation of a floating-point number

so that its mantissa's left-most digit is non-zero. If the

leftmost fraction digit are zeros, the number is said to be

unnormalised. Unnormalised numbers are normalised by shifting

the fraction left, one digit at a time, until the leftmost

digit is nonzero and reducing the exponent by the number of

shifts.

3. database database normalisation.

(1998-04-15)