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Yes, in the instructions to Grandma's house, you're talking about things
people will see that are unique to that particular situation, and so
need to be explicitly referenced, whereas in the case of a window
opening, you're talking about an expected event.
BTW, Lauren, I was thinking about you asking whether clouds in the sky
appear or are displayed, and I was thinking -- if I ever find myself on
a date, walking with the woman through a park, I'm going to have an
overwhelming temptation to look up at the sky and say "Aren't those
clouds that are being displayed up there beautiful?"
_________
> It seems so basic to me, just like giving directions to
> Grandma's house:
> "After you reach the top of hill, you should see a huge barn
> on the left
> about 200 feet from the road. There's an enormous tree
> halfway between the
> road and the barn. Turn left at the mailbox."
Did the barn "appear" or was it "displayed"?
In the case of windows opening, telling somebody that an action opens a
window, when procedures frequently result in new windows, states the
obvious
and expected result of an action, so the mention of the action, "a
window
opens," is unnecessary.
If the occurrence of a window is rare in the application, then it should
be
addressed, but if nearly every widget is a window, then nearly every
action
to begin a procedure will include, "and a window opens." Isn't that
repetitive?
Lauren
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