Software Text Incorrect

[TDean -at- envirosys -dot- com]

If there is a misspelled word (of course this could apply to crazy
programmer abbreviations) on the software screen, would you show the field
name or term in your documentation the way it is represented in the
software?

I usually point it out to the programmer, but it is not my responsibility
to make them change it.
So I spell or treat the term the way it appears on the screen in the user
guide, and then I explain the unabbreviated or correct word in the field
definition - or paranthetical phrase depending...

I was just wondering how other writers handle this? Especially in a company
where the software screens do not heed to any specifications on terms or
styles, this is something that is frustrating.  I read somewhere that the
technical writer should not try to compensate for the software's
shortcomings - if the documentation does not match the software, then the
users get confused.  I know I would.

Tina Dean

=^.^=
    *


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