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Subject:Representing Computer Interactions (was "comma splices") From:joanne grey <joannegrey -at- MSN -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 15 Jan 1996 05:57:10 UT
On Jan. 13th, Dan Azlin wrote:
"The use of the vertical bar as a seperator is useful because it is
grammatically uncommon (I believe it has some obscure phonetic
application) and catches the eye enough to differentiate the various
menu levels. Using a colon, dash or other commonly used characters raises
issues of preconditioning on the part of the reader in interpreting normal use
of these characters.
In other words, misusing a common colon or dash (et al) as a separator
here will likely cause the reader to loose the flow of the text, even if
only for a moment."
--------------------------------------------
I think that one point needs to be made: the main idea here is consistency. If
you provide your readers with the conventions that will be used throughout the
manual (or help file, etc.), the consistency of _almost_ any convention will
be accepted and become automatic for the reader, as long as it follows a
logical format. Losing the flow of text happens when the reader comes across
something out of the ordinary.
________________________________________________________
joanne grey || When you're walking on thin ice
joannegrey -at- msn -dot- com || You might as well dance.
