FW: software control terms -- To "choose" is passive?
Butler, Darren J Ctr 584 CBSS/GBHAC
Darren.Butler.ctr at Robins.af.mil
Tue Sep 11 13:09:50 MDT 2007
On 4-Sep-07 @12:18:00 PM Darren J Butler wrote:
Blessings,
Darren
****************************************
Darren J. Butler
Sr. Technical Writer-Editor, Template Wrangler, Mil-Spec Pharisee
Integrated Data for Maintenance
NG Corp
-----Original Message-----
From: Butler, Darren J Ctr 584 CBSS/GBHAC
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:59 PM
To: 'Yves JEAUROND'
Subject: RE: software control terms -- To "choose" is passive?
So....entreators can't be selectors?
Hey, I did write "in my view" and "IMHO."
Even though our subject matter is usually scientific, the means of coveying the material is often an subjective art and that is driven by the undertanding of the audience or the prefferance of the author. This sort of thing drives my trainee crazy. I end up having to edit his work because I have more experience with the target audience and the writing style of the local office. Ocasionally, we've all had to choke-down being garmmatically correct in order to ensure a paying customer understood what-the-heck button they needed to push ;-).
Blessings,
Darren
****************************************
Darren J. Butler
Sr. Technical Writer-Editor, Template Wrangler, Mil-Spec Pharisee
Integrated Data for Maintenance
NG Corp
-----Original Message-----
From: Yves JEAUROND [mailto:jingting at rogers.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:20 PM
To: Butler, Darren J Ctr 584 CBSS/GBHAC; Susan W Gallagher
Cc: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: RE: software control terms -- To "choose" is passive?
Darren you are right that choose and select convey the same idea.
Then you add that "to choose" is too passive? Huh?
choose. OED1, to pick out as being the best...
select. OED1, carefully choose as being the best...
If users can't just plain choose, what is this world coming to? :-)
Cheers,
YJ
"Butler, Darren J Ctr 584 CBSS/GBHAC" <Darren.Butler.ctr at Robins.af.mil> a écrit :
FWIW - I use "select" as my "go-to" verb whenever an action can be
achieved by multiple methods [...] The word "choose" (in my
view) conveys the same idea but is too passive. One can choose an option
but not take any action regarding it - IMHO.
Blessings,
Darren
****************************************
Darren J. Butler
Sr. Technical Writer-Editor, FrameTemplate Wrangler, Mil-Spec Pharisee
Integrated Data for Maintenance
NG Corp
-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+darren.butler.ctr=robins.af.mil at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren.butler.ctr=robins.af.mil at lists.techwr-l.
com] On Behalf Of Susan W Gallagher
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 11:41 AM
To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: software control terms
I have always had a problem saying "select" for anything but a menu or
list
items. My reasoning is that a check box, for example, can be selected
without being checked. Picture the laptop user, or the fast
touch-typist,
who wants to navigate a dialog box without using the mouse. They tab
through
the fields until the appropriate check box item is ***selected*** (i.e.,
has
focus), then press the space bar to check or uncheck the box. Saying
"select" for a check box just isn't accurate, and I don't care what the
good
folks at MS think.
My two cents. Everyone else's mileage is sure to vary.
-Sue Gallagher
On 9/10/07, Combs, Richard wrote:
>
> Christine Leisgen
>
> > I now realized that at least now, Microsoft uses a more "wordy"
> > explanation of software terms, e. g. "activate the check-box
> > for options x". I see that there is the advantage that it is
> > clearer for the user where to look for the option (it is a
> > check box, not a drop-down list).
>
> Where did you see "activate the check-box"? MMOS has always said that
> you _select_ and _clear_ check boxes (no hyphen). And here's what my
> copy says about identifying interface elements:
>
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