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Correct. In fact, they really do mean very different things.
Text: "I'm leaving something out" or "and so on" or, for all you
Seinfeld fans, "yadda yadda yadda"
GUI: "this feature requires additional action to use"
Is the GUI convention the right convention to use? Maybe, maybe not,
but it's one that has been in place for quite a long while.
But, we can debate using it or not using it until the cows come home
(where'd they run off to, anyway?). The point is that you need to
decide on a style for the right reasons, and then you need to stick
with it. You can side with the MMoS which says to omit the ellipsis,
or you can decide to leave it in. Just be consistent about your use,
and make sure you document why (if not deferring to a 3rd party style
guide for the rule) so your reviewers don't red pen your draft in
error.
Funny, my initial reply to this thread still stands.
Q: How does Open... help the user complete their task?
A: However your editor says it does. ;-) Seriously though, what does
your style guide say?
Bill
On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Dan Goldstein
<DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com> wrote:
> Because an ellipsis in the GUI and an ellipsis in the manual don't mean
> the same thing.
>
> In text, an ellipsis means, "I'm leaving something out."
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