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Percussion makes content management software, so I am assuming he is writing
about that.
There are different things you can do with the text and the binary
files--diffs, merges, etc for text. The product probably can't do a merge
with the binary, maybe the product has a binary diff--I don't really know.
The product will probably have to deal with several different types of
text-based files (XML, TXT, HTML, CSV, and whatever text-based file formats
the authoring software happens to spit out). Same goes for the binary. The
writer probably will not know exactly what file formats each installation is
dealing with.
In this case, I like the "make them smarter" philosophy. If this is a user
guide, then create a "types of documents" files and explain the differences
between the two. List common file types:
ASCII Binary
MIF fm
TXT doc
XML exe
HTML gif
MML jpg
RTF png
svg etc.
If they are really newbie, then tell them how to tell the difference (such
as "open in notepad--if you get lots of boxes and y's with umlauts, then it
is probably binary).
On the other hand, if it is a marketing piece trying to convince decision
makers to buy your product, then they darn well better know what the
difference is. 8-) If they don't, then they will be impressed with the
unfamiliar jargon. 8-))
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