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Subject:Re: Numbered headings From:Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 14 Jul 1995 13:20:24 MST
Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> wrote-->
What I'd like to know is if anyone out there feels the opposite way.
What advantages does section numbering have over doing away with the
numbers?
Then Bev Parks wrote:
Navigation.... It's almost (but not quite) as precise as if I had
given you a page number.
I know, I know: So why not just use the page numbers?
Rick Lippincott added:
How about this: Bev's right about the navigation through a
complex document. But many of these documents, specs, & so
forth date back to the pre-dtp days, when there was no
automated way to prepare an index or TOC. If you -expect- your
document to undergo a series of revisions, the writer's easy
answer is to insert a complex paragraph numbering system (with
the understanding that these paragraphs numbers normally
won't change from one revision to the next). Shorter
turnaround time, cheaper production.
==========
Excellent point, Rick. But I was not looking at it from a
production viewpoint, but rather a user viewpoint. Also, I saw
no reason to cast the paragraph numbers in stone. If a new
section or subsection is added, the following paragraph numbers
would change accordingly. Otherwise, wouldn't there be gaps in
the numbering? If I were reading such a document, any such gap
would drive me nuts. Plus, I'd think something was missing. (My
background is 100 percent military documentation, so I'm used
to paragraph numbering. That doesn't mean I have to like it. :)
Let me back-pedal just a minute. I'm talking about paragraph
numbering in general and for no specific type of document.
Military specs with their data item descriptions are very
specific and inflexible about paragraph numbers.
=*= Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
=*= I am not representing my employer in any way." =*=
