Abnormal end

"Abend" redirects here. For other uses, see the wiktionary box.

An ABEND (also abnormal end or abend) is an abnormal termination of software, or a program crash.

This usage derives from an error message from the IBM OS/360, IBM zOS operating systems. Usually capitalized, but may appear as "abend". It is claimed to be derived from the German word "Abend" meaning "evening".^[1]

Errors or crashes on the Novell NetWare network operating system are usually called ABENDs. Communities of NetWare administrators have sprung up around the Internet, such as abend.org.

See also

• Abort
• Exit status
• Fatal error

References

This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.