TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
John Posada wonders: <<I have an application that has a menu button
labeled Export. When clicked, you are given two choices; Excel and
Text. My issue is that we call it out by the application Excel, when in
reality, we're simply creating a file with an Excel extension and
whatever spreadsheet application they are using that recognizes that
extension is launched.>>
The simple solution: add the word "format" to both buttons, or add a
title such as "Export format:" above the two buttons. This focuses on
the result (creating a file in a specific format), not the application
that will use the file.
<<are there enough non-Excel users out there to make the effort of
changing our application to use the choices Spreadsheet and Text?>>
That's not the important question. Changing it to "spreadsheet" begs
the question of _which_ spreadsheet. It's always better to be specific
than vague, and "spreadsheet" is vague.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
ROBOHELP X5 - SEE THE ALL NEW ROBOHELP X5 IN ACTION!
RoboHelp X5 is a giant leap forward in Help authoring technology, featuring all new Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author support, PDF and XML support and much more! View an online demo: http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrldemo
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.