RE: toggle switch instructions? (was: "RE: Responses to multiple posts")

["Andrew Warren" <awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com>]

Lauren wrote:

> Both "light" and "switch" are nouns and verbs, each with different
> meanings that do not apply to the action of turning on a light
> switch.  "Light" as a verb means "to illuminate" or "to set on
> fire."  "Switch" means to change position.  Neither verb applies
> to turning on or off a light, but somehow "flipping" a light
> switch works for us, colloquially anyway.  I don't really have
> a good answer to get away from "toggling a toggle switch,"
> unless you decide to "switch a toggle" or "toggle a switch."
> 
> Here's wikipedia's view about the term with an example of its use,
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toggle_switch.

    Wow.

    If you'd LIKE "a good answer to get away from 'toggling a toggle
    switch'", some were posted earlier in the thread.

> You can "set" or "clear" a toggle switch

    No, you certainly can not.

    You can set or clear a BIT, and the state of your toggle switch
    might DETERMINE whether the bit is set or clear, but writing
    "set the toggle switch" when you mean "set the toggle switch
    to '1'", or "clear the toggle switch" when you mean "set the
    toggle switch to '0'" is sloppy.

> [if] you discuss setting the toggle switch, then you should also
> discuss clearing it.

    "Set" and "clear" each have well over a hundred meanings.  When
    I say "set the toggle switch to xxx", I'm using one of the most
    common: "to place in a particular position".  

    You're using a couple of the more-obscure definitions -- the
    ones that define "set" as "set a binary digit to 1" and "clear"
    as "set a binary digit to 0".

    It could be worse, I guess -- you might have decided to use "set"
    and "reset" -- but if you're writing for people who don't deal
    with binary numbers every day, or describing a toggle switch that
    controls anything other than the state of a binary digit, then
    just writing "set the toggle switch" (with "... to 1" only
    implied) will be confusing.

    If your readership includes people who are familiar with binary
    set/clear, explicitly writing "set to 1" and "clear to 0" will
    ensure that no one misunderstands you when you're talking about
    binary digits.

> A patent description that discusses the function of a toggle
> switch, http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3986039.html. 

    Thanks.  A dictionary page that shows 119 definitions for "set",
    none of which is "set a binary digit to 1; antonym of 'clear'":

        http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=set

    -Andrew

=== Andrew Warren  - awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com
=== Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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