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.
Subject:Re: Looking for words From:Earl Morton <WorkgWords -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 7 May 1997 09:11:02 -0400
In a message dated 97-05-06 15:56:54 EDT, Roy Jacobsen writes:
> I'm looking for alternatives to the words "parent" and "child" to describe
> entities in a outline-like conceptual structure. One alternative for
> "child" is "dependent," but I can't think of an easily aprehended analog
> for "parent."
>
> Is parent/child good enough, or are we overlooking some obvious
> alternatives?
I've used "heading" and "subheading" in a program that includes an outliner,
and that has worked for us. This means that every item in the outline can be
a "heading," and all but the top level items can be "subheadings," depending
on your perspective. In our situation, we don't have to discuss a subheading
and its "parent"; our perspective is always looking the other direction, from
a heading to its subheadings. These terms might not work as well otherwise.
Our users tend to be non-technical and non-professional computer users, and
"parent" and "child," while fine for people who have worked in the industry
enough to be familiar with them in this kind of usage, seemed inappropriate
for our users. "Heading" and "subheading" seemed more natural. I don't know
that we've had any complaints or misunderstandings from our users.
Earl Morton
WorkgWords -at- aol -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
