"Procrustean assignment" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "After the legendary highwayman Procrustes, who stretched or cut his victims to make them fit a bed.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "head": "Procrustean assignment"
      },
      "expansion": "Procrustean assignment (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Computing",
          "orig": "en:Computing",
          "parents": [
            "Technology",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982, Steven Vickers, Robin Bradbeer, Sinclair ZX Spectrum: BASIC Programming:",
          "text": "[…]the string that is being assigned to it is cut off on the right if it is too long, or filled out with spaces if it is too short - this is called Procrustean assignment[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, Ian Stewart, Robin Jones, Machine code and better BASIC, page 51:",
          "text": "[…] that Procrustean assignment that the Manual goes on about: string arrays always have a fixed length of word.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, Sharon Zardetto Aker, T/S 2068 basics and beyond, page 38:",
          "text": "Because the T/S uses procrustean assignment for string arrays, there are some uses for single-element arrays.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A form of assignment to fixed-length string variables in which a shorter value is padded to the necessary length while a longer one is truncated."
      ],
      "id": "en-Procrustean_assignment-en-noun-r86PhEZH",
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "assignment",
          "assignment"
        ],
        [
          "fixed",
          "fixed"
        ],
        [
          "length",
          "length"
        ],
        [
          "string",
          "string"
        ],
        [
          "variable",
          "variable"
        ],
        [
          "pad",
          "pad"
        ],
        [
          "truncate",
          "truncate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, dated, rare) A form of assignment to fixed-length string variables in which a shorter value is padded to the necessary length while a longer one is truncated."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "procrustean bed"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "rare",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Procrustean assignment"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "After the legendary highwayman Procrustes, who stretched or cut his victims to make them fit a bed.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "head": "Procrustean assignment"
      },
      "expansion": "Procrustean assignment (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "procrustean bed"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Computing"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982, Steven Vickers, Robin Bradbeer, Sinclair ZX Spectrum: BASIC Programming:",
          "text": "[…]the string that is being assigned to it is cut off on the right if it is too long, or filled out with spaces if it is too short - this is called Procrustean assignment[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, Ian Stewart, Robin Jones, Machine code and better BASIC, page 51:",
          "text": "[…] that Procrustean assignment that the Manual goes on about: string arrays always have a fixed length of word.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, Sharon Zardetto Aker, T/S 2068 basics and beyond, page 38:",
          "text": "Because the T/S uses procrustean assignment for string arrays, there are some uses for single-element arrays.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A form of assignment to fixed-length string variables in which a shorter value is padded to the necessary length while a longer one is truncated."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "assignment",
          "assignment"
        ],
        [
          "fixed",
          "fixed"
        ],
        [
          "length",
          "length"
        ],
        [
          "string",
          "string"
        ],
        [
          "variable",
          "variable"
        ],
        [
          "pad",
          "pad"
        ],
        [
          "truncate",
          "truncate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, dated, rare) A form of assignment to fixed-length string variables in which a shorter value is padded to the necessary length while a longer one is truncated."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "rare",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Procrustean assignment"
}