What the heck do I call these things?

Subject: What the heck do I call these things?
From: ppaul -at- pfs -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 15:36:15 -0400

In our online Help, what do I call a dialog box (i.e., a screen with
buttons) that contains a grid of data records? Do I call it [Dialog Box
Title] Grid? Or [Dialog Box Title] Dialog Box? What do I call it if the
user must go to a sub-dialog box to add data? [Dialog Box Title] Records
Dialog Box? What happens when the main screen and the sub-dialog box have
the very same name?


Here's the dilemma. Our incredibly complex, multiple-developer-muddled
application has basically three types of grids containing data records of
various kinds:

1. "Main" grids. This grid has no buttons, and all functionality, such
as adding or viewing records, is accessed from menu items.

2. "Dialog Box" grids. This grid is contained on a dialog box, has
buttons, and, possibly, additional fields where the user can enter date
ranges or select some type of value. To add or view a record, user clicks
Add and enters data on a sub-dialog box. Often this sub-dialog box has the
very same name as the grid dialog box. So, for example, "Country Names"
dialog box opens "Country Names" dialog box. Argh.

3. "Dialog Box" grids. Like the dialog box grid above except user
enters new records directly into the grid.


Our standard is to call any screen with buttons a dialog box, and to use the
exact title of the screen. So, a screen with buttons entitled "Country
Names" becomes "Country Names Dialog Box" in the online Help. However, we
refer to the grid type #1 above as, simply, "grids" throughout the
documentation, such as User grid.

The problem is that we don't know how to label the dialog boxes for # 2 and
3 in the online Help. I can't find any written references anywhere. My
thinking is, example #2 should be referred to as a grid, as you don't really
get to the meat and potatoes until you go to the sub-dialog box , and #3
should be a dialog box because you do all your dirty work right there on
that dialog box.

Anyone have any good ideas? Clearly I don't, but I really feel badly
for our users who must be terribly confused.

Thanks ever so!


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