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Subject:Re: Technical Writing Books From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Mon, 19 May 1997 11:19:52 +0800
bevparks <ParksB -at- EMH1 -dot- HQISEC -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> said:
> In the application I document ... none of the labels on the GUI buttons
> match any keys on the keyboard (except Delete), so I just say "Press
> Update", "Press Close", "Press Enter", "Press Tab".
Me too. 'My' applications have functionally identical GUI and character
interfaces. The CUI has a row of eight button-like boxes on the second-
bottom line, like this:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Help | | Exit | Search | Go To | | | Accept |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
. . . where Help is F1, Exit F3, Accept F8, and so on. In the GUI, some
of the options (e.g. Accept) are on buttons, some (e.g. Search) are on
pulldowns, and some (e.g. Exit) are on both, but the F-keys always work.
Our stuff is run on a range of keyboards, from dumb terminals to PCs to
workstations. Saying 'Press' seemed the best solution.
Our users are operators and sysadmins so they aren't troubled by the
mechanics of function keys and mice.
---
Stuart Burnfield
Functional Software Pty Ltd mailto:slb -at- fs -dot- com -dot- au
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