Re: "Non-editable" Fields & Misc.

[Scott McClare <smcclare -at- DY4 -dot- COM>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michelle Vina-Baltsas [SMTP:Michelle_Vina-Baltsas -at- US -dot- CRAWCO -dot- COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 2:34 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      "Non-editable" Fields & Misc.
>
> 1) In our application there are many fields in a window/screen which
> cannot
> be edited.  Can anyone suggest a less awkward way of saying "non-editable"
> or "read-only" fields?
>
"You cannot change the information in this field."  Although I'm assuming
you are trying to give instructions to the user about how to fill out some
fields.

> 2) In the past I've referred to screens as screens not windows.  For
> example: Click the Yes radio button on the XYZ screen.  Is the consensus
> to
> use screen or window?
>
It depends.  Are you documenting a text-mode application (in which
information is given a whole screen at a time), or an element of a GUI where
the immediately relevant part of the user interface has a title bar,
borders, and so on?

If the application displays the thing you're documenting so that it takes up
the entire screen *and* isn't just a really big window, then I would call it
a "screen." (This would also go for applications *intended* to be full
screen, even if the user frequently executes them in a DOS box in Windows.)

If it's a component of a windowed operating system, such as a dialog box,
then I'd call it a "window" (or, for that matter, a "dialog box" if it is
one).

>  Also, would you suggest saying "on the XYZ screen"
> or "in the XYZ screen"?
>
I'm inclined to say "in" the window or screen, if only because its contents
are confined within some kind of borders.

Take care,

Scott

--
Scott McClare - Technical Writer
DY 4 Systems Inc., Kanata, Ontario, Canada
(613) 599-9199 x502 smcclare -at- dy4 -dot- com
Opinions are my own


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