(US -ll- or -l-) The process of packing one or more items of data into a message ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=buffer">buffer, prior to transmitting that message buffer over a communication channel. The packing process not only collects together values which may be stored in non-consecutive memory locations but also converts data of different types into a standard representation agreed with the recipient of the message. (2000-06-09)
