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Subject:Writing computerese (Was: Enter vs. Type) From:Ken d'Albenas <kendal -at- AUTOTROL -dot- CUC -dot- AB -dot- CA> Date:Thu, 2 Jun 1994 22:11:45 MDT
"Entering" a command is an age-old debate topic in
tech writing. I don't want to froth at the mouth about
whether it's good English or computerese jargon.
Instead, I'd like to point out a different consideration
that doesn't get much airplay:
Not all mainstream computers have a key labelled Enter!
That's something to bear in mind if you have to
maintain documentation for more than one platform.
Many keyboards have a Return key instead. Or they have
a key labelled Return next to the alphanumeric portion
of the keyboard, _and_ a key labelled Enter on the
numeric keypad or somewhere else. Sometimes these two
keys do the same thing; sometimes they don't. Therefore,
the action of "entering" a command, which seems so obvious
to some, can be opaque to others - or even downright
misleading.
Cheers,
Ken d'Albenas
Calgary, Alberta
(-::
Reply-to: kendal -at- autotrol -dot- cuc -dot- ab -dot- ca
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The goal of science is to build better mousetraps.
The goal of nature is to build better mice.
- Anon.
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