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Subject:Re[2]: Word choice for scroll bar . . . From:"Arlen P. Walker" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 14 Jul 1995 14:59:00 -0600
...It really isn't a *random* pan. Random
implies that you pan without any clue of what will show up on the
screen. Unfortunately, I can think of a word or two to describe what
is actually occurring.
Depends on your audience. Random also has a computer-specific usage, as in
"Random Access Memory." In this usage it means non-sequential, and that's
precisely what you're doing, jumping to another view without sequentially
cycling through a series of previous views.
I'm with Bev, though, on "pan," but for different reasons. Words acquire meaning
from context, and when I think of "pan" in the way you're using it here, I think
of a camera. When I run across "pan" in a non-camera context, however, the first
thing that springs to mind is round, has a handle, and can withstand high heat.
In the context of my computer screen, the word "scroll" always comes to mind
(but that's a function of my past experience as much as anything else).
Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 124
Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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