Re: Worst Documentation and Other Clowns

Subject: Re: Worst Documentation and Other Clowns
From: "Huber, Mike" <Mike -dot- Huber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 10:15:39 -0400

One of the first things I do when I get a document to clean up from
somebody (like an engineer or manager) who doesn't write on a day-to-day
basis is to do a Search/Replace for two spaces in a row. I don't do an
automatic replace, though, because sometimes the extra spaces are used
for things like lining up columns (uggg) or paragraph indenting and need
special treatment. Sometimes it takes a couple of passes (3 or more
consecutive spaces in a few places) but it's a very easy and quick thing
to do, and I hardly even think about it.

What gets to me is when they hit <enter> at the end of each line.

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From: alsacien[SMTP:alsacien -at- NETVISION -dot- NET -dot- IL]
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 1996 11:26 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list TEC
Subject: Worst Documentation and Other Clowns

-------------------------------------
E-mail: alsacien -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
Date: 07/13/96
Time: 19:20:49

I've read all the discussion over the practice of double-spacing after
a period. I was taught to do that when I studied typing in high school
and I continued to do so until 1994, when someone pointed out to me
that Microsoft did not adhere to that practice. (Again, Microsoft
sets the standard for the world.) Although Ventura always gave me a
no-break space symbol for the double-space and Frame always balked,
it doesn't change the fact that I felt that it made the text easier
to read. Years ago, it was the standard, even for text that used the
now-shunned fully justified margins (which Microsoft also uses).

The problem is that somehow many people in the market today regard
any typist who double-spaces after a period as being very
unprofessional. I did a bid for a tender a year ago in which the
manager of the project checked my document with a fine toothed comb
for this problem only! He marveled at the way I did not double-space
even once; what he didn't know was how long it took me to get used
to this change. I still don't think that the single space after the
period is desirable; the extra space lets you know that the sentence
really has ended! However, what the market demands is what we do,
right? I've yet to see the technical writer who'll forego a contract
because the client wants single spaces after the periods!

- Moshe

Fin d'émission
-------------------------------------


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