Re: help with terminology, pleeze

["Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Wright, Lynne wrote:
> - When describing a tree structure, we don't want to use nodes and leaves
to
> describe elements in our user guides, which are targetted towards average
> joes, not programmers. Are there standard colloquial replacements? ie.
items
> and sub-items, or elements and sub-elements?

Why do you need a generic term? (node, leaf, parent, child, etc). Presumably
each node in your app represents some real-world business object that is
meaningful to your users. Why not call each node by the business object it
is representing? For example, in a file manager (like Windows Explorer),
each node is called a "folder" because that's what it is representing. In my
news reader where I am reading this thread, each node is a "message."

> - Split windows are divided into panes. Fine. But in a single window,
would
> you still call the white rectangular area used to display information a
> pane? Or is there another term that's better: ie. 'display area'?

Unlabeled screen elements are very difficult to represent in documentation.
If you can convince your team to label this thing your life will become a
little easier. Otherwise you can call it
"that-unlabeled-white-area-in-the-middle-of-your-page"

Is it a web application? Web apps have pages and forms. Panes are not
technically part of web apps, so 'pane' can mean whatever you say it means.

Is it a Windows app? Windows apps are made of windows and dialogs. Same
issue - 'pane' can mean whatever you want it to mean.

Mike O.