Re: Toolbar vs Menu

[Ginna Watts <gwatts -at- PIM -dot- BC -dot- CA>]

At 11:54 AM 11/18/97 -0800, Scott Miller wrote:
>When you document a procedure, do you document the toolbar method or the
>menu/command method or both, and why?
>
>The toolbar method:
>
>1. Click {picture of toolbar icon}
>
>The menu/command method:
>
>1. Choose File - New.
>
>Both:
>
>1.  Choose File - New.
>      {picture of toolbar icon}
>

I document MicroStation key-in commands for our product. I include a blurb
at the beginning of the chapter which explains that you can access every
command using the icon, the key-in or the menu.

In the body of the chapter, I document each command like this:

        icon    Descriptive text
                Key-in (exact wording)

                Procedure - how to use the command once activated.

This format follows the one that Bentley uses for their documentation,
which we deliberately mimic. Nowhere in the body of the command description
do I ever say "click the icon to activate the command" or "key in the
following in the command window to activate the command". It would be
repetitive, and take up WAY too much space. However (big however), we (I)
assume that the user is familiar with MicroStation, and understands what
key-ins are. (Yes, this assumption is stated clearly up front!)

Ginna

Ginna Watts - Technical Writer
Pacific International Mapping Corp.
250-727-0727
gwatts -at- pim -dot- bc -dot- ca

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