Re: in or on

[Marie Moore <marie -at- SAE -dot- COM>]

In article <Pine -dot- 3 -dot- 89 -dot- 1 -dot- 2 -dot- 9501221036 -dot- B16438-0100000 -at- zeus -dot- datasrv -dot- co -dot- il>,
 Edunetics <edunet -at- zeus -dot- datasrv -dot- co -dot- il> writes:
|> Which would you choose?
|>
|> The application I'm writing about has a tree browser that displays icons
|> representing the different members of a school's organization.
|>
|> (Would you leave off the word icon? Would you use 'select' instead of
|> 'click'?)

I would *not* leave off "icon"; saying "Click the student" sounds silly.
I would use "click" rather than "select" -- depending on your audience
and their familiarity with computers.  It seems like most "shrink-wrapped"
software, such as is available for PCs and Macs, use "click" so the odds
are that this is already a familiar word/concept for most users.

At my company, "click" and "select" have distinctly different meanings:

        "click" means that when you click a button/icon/menu option,
                some action immediately occurs, such as another
                window opens, a new color is applied to a
                selected graphic object, and so on

        "select" means that you choose something, and then perform
                an operation either on it or using it.
                For example, you might select a tool for drawing a
                circle, and then proceed to draw the circle.
                The action is not immediate; first you choose a
                tool/setting/whatever, and then you use it.


Just my two cents; hope it helps.

Marie Moore, Sr. Technical Writer; marie -at- template -dot- com
 "Don't look back.  Something may be gaining on you."
                    --Satchel Paige