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Subject:Re: Help: "Increment" as verb From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 21 Dec 1995 10:57:07 -0800
>from Connie E. Winch:
>>I'm editing one of our manuals and have come across "increment" used as a
>>verb. According to my American Heritage Dictionary, it's not a verb.
>>However, I'm having a hard time thinking of a replacement. Any
>>suggestions? It would be used in a sentence like this: "The software
>>package automatically increments the transaction ID number after each
>>entry."
If you're writing for the software industry, I'd say to go ahead
and use "increment" as a verb. If, however, you're afraid that
your audience will misunderstand (or you're that much of a stickler
for detail ;-) ), try sumpthin' like...
Each time you create a whoosis, the system automatically
assigns the next sequential (consecutive???) number.
Not as elegant as "the system increments the transaction number" -
IMHO, but effective none the less.
Hope this helps.
Sue Gallagher
Expersoft Corporation
San Diego, CA
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com