blue book

noun
1.
a register or directory of socially prominent persons.
2.
any register or directory, as of major companies or officials.
3.
a blank book used in taking college examinations, usually with a blue cover.
4.
a British parliamentary or other publication bound in a blue cover.
5.
(initial capital letters) Trademark. a reference manual listing the current market value of used cars by model and year of manufacture.
6.
a similar manual listing the market value of other items, appliances, etc.
Also, bluebook.
blue book in Technology


1. Informal name for one of the four standard references on the page-layout and graphics-control language PostScript. The other three official guides are known as the Green Book, the Red Book, and the White Book.
["PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook", Adobe Systems, Addison-Wesley 1985, (ISBN 0-201-10179-3)].
2. Informal name for one of the three standard references on Smalltalk. This book also has green and red siblings.
["Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation", David Robson, Addison-Wesley 1983, (ISBN 0-201-11371-63)].
3. Any of the 1988 standards issued by the ITU-T's ninth plenary assembly. These include, among other things, the X.400 electronic mail specification and the Group 1 through 4 fax standards.
See also book titles.
[Jargon File]
(1995-10-12)