RE: writing commands

Subject: RE: writing commands
From: "Walden Miller" <wmiller -at- vidiom -dot- com>
To: "'TECHWR-L'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:26:13 -0700

I have not been following this thread, so excuse me If I am repeating
someone else....

Using brackets, braces, etc. all originate from a form a defining syntax
prior to WYSIWIG displays: Backus-Naur format (BNF). There is actually a
few versions of it, but the core is the same and has been used consistently
for the 25+ years I have written manuals.

The versions I have used were modified to reflect typography: Italics for
variables and a specific bold font for literals. All other grammar was
Extended BNF.

We used a page at the beginning of the manual for conventions.

We used the form:

init type [serial_number]

Where
type is one of the following: basic, pro, or delux.
serial_number
is the number found on the back of the unit. If
serial_number is not specified,
then you are prompted for the serial number.

Serial_number and type would be in italics indicating that you replace them
with a value.
Init, basic, pro, delux would be in a bold sans serif font t o indicate you
type them as given. The brackets indicate that serial_number is optional.

We didn't use < or > to indicate items because < and > are command line
operators in many OS's.

Look up BNF on the web for more info....

Hope this helps.

w


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References:
Re: writing commands: From: Lori Olcott

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