Re: need help with wording

["Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- JAEDWORKS -dot- COM>]

At 12:47 PM -0700 7/28/99, Kathleen Holscher wrote:
>I'm so flustered I can't think straight!  I'm not even sure how to describe
>this to everyone.  Here goes...I have an 11 page document which only applies
>when our product is used with Oracle.  My audience is Windows NT network
>administrators.

A suggestion:

File Name - This column lists the file name. If your copy of Oracle was
installed using the default settings, the file name is as shown. However,
if the default settings were changed when Oracle was installed, the second
half of the filename is the default instance name, or SID, that was chosen
during the installation. For example, if your instance name is "prod", your
file names will be "initprod.ora", "pwdprod.ora", etc.

You may also have multiple files which contain a number in the file name.
These files are identified with a number sign (#) in the table below. For
example, the file listed as "clt#orcl.ora" corresponds to files on your
system named "clt1orcl.orca", "clt2orcl.ora", etc.

------

In general, when you have a default case and a non-default case, it seems
better to describe the default case first, on the grounds that those who
use it then know to relax and skip the rest of the paragraph.

I'm not wild about the use of passive voice, but since someone else may
have installed the copy of Oracle it seems wisest. If the members of your
audience can be assumed to be the ones who installed Oracle, it can be
eliminated.

--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com
http://www.jaedworks.com

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