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At 4:26 PM -0500 11/6/01, TDean -at- envirosys -dot- com wrote:
>If there is a misspelled word (of course this could apply to crazy
>programmer abbreviations) on the software screen, would you show the field
>name or term in your documentation the way it is represented in the
>software?
If this is happening a *lot*, I try to get control of the UI. (I just
mis-typed US, which is either a typo or delusions of grandeur....) If there
are a lot of crazy abbreviations showing up, it's often a lot better to have
one person in charge of what the field labels say than it is to have a bunch
of developers typing in any old thing.
If it's obviously a spelling mistake, I correct it in the documentation and
send an e-mail to the developer.
If it's not obvious what the correction should be, I document as is and use
whatever systems are in place to inquire if this is really what was
intended. (You know: (Puzzled tone of voice) "Whenever the user presses the
KALI button, the system self-destructs. Is this what's meant to happen, and
if so, shouldn't the button be called something more self-explanatory and
have a warning label on the UI?")
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Digital Bridges, Scotland
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.
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