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Subject:Re: Are there any word/language guru's out there? From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- STARBASECORP -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 9 Aug 1995 15:06:06 -0700
> Sue Jones asks:
> >Has anyone got any idea for a phrase I could use instead of the word
> >"lexicographical", in the context of a listing (i.e. "nodes/templates
> >are listed in lexicographical order")?
Well... I guess we're all agreed that "lexicographical" is
supposed to be some sort (excuse the pun, please) of alphabetical
order. And, now that we have that determined, I've gotta throw
my $.02 in.
Whenever I tell my readers that something is sorted, I tell them
in what order and by what collating sequence the material is
arranged. This eliminates surprises -- especially when the
sequence is straight ASCII and uppercase everything sorts above
lowercase everything.
For example, "the column sorts in ascending order using the ASCII
collating sequence" or "date and time information sorts in decending
order" or "the column sorts in decending order, the sort is not case
sensitive" (yeah, I know that's a comma splice -- so what?). The
point is, if you describe the sort results in a way your users
understand it will really help them find information on the list.
Just a thought...
Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- starbasecorp -dot- com
