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Subject:Re: Style Guides? From:Don M Chaffee <dchaffee -at- WORLD -dot- STD -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 25 Jan 1994 03:15:07 GMT
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com writes:
>Don M. Chaffee (dchaffee -at- WORLD -dot- STD -dot- COM) writes:
>>Apple Style Guide. They're the only computer company I've run across that
>>has even bothered to write a style guide. If Microsoft has one, their
...
>>Write in the present tense, active voice, indicative mood.
>> "The system displays the dialog box"
>> not
>> "The dialog box appears"
>An unfortunate example. I prefer the second to the first, and both are in the
>present tense, active voice, and indicative mood (or has my grammar grown
>completely rusty?).
"The dialog box appears" is passive. Dialog boxes don't "appear" as
though magical. The system or application displays them. I had this rule
pounded into me by one of the best docos at this end of the galaxy, Hank
Watters. Also a good boss. Granted, it's a purist's point of view, and as
you can tell by a couple of sentences in this paragraph even us purists
don't let it get in the way of our email.
So your grammar may be a bit rusty, Michael, but considering for whom you
work, that ain't bad.