Re: Upload versus download

Subject: Re: Upload versus download
From: "Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:02:47 -0500

I have found, particularly when working with "company" standards, that it's helpful to spell out the difficulties clearly in cases like this. Perhaps the local convention is counter to established practise or it's opposite of intuitive sense. Just say so! "Contrary to the what might be expected, the term upload means '_...yyy..._' and download means '_...xxx..._' ."

On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 10:46:28 -0500, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com> wrote:

The phrase "upload from" is certainly a bad sign.

If the GUI text is from the perspective of the device rather than the
user, then you probably have to live with everything being backwards.
Just make sure that it's always clear that the subject of "upload" is
the PLC and the object is the user's PC, and vice-versa for
"download."

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 7:01 AM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
As we all know, one uploads a file from a PC or similar device to a server.
If a resource exists on a server, it is downloaded to the PC (or similar
device).

Originally written by John, the designer/engineer of a programmable logic
controller (PLC), I'm rewriting his user manual. Using John's home-grown
GUI with buttons labeled accordingly, a person can connect a Windows PC to
his PLC for file transfer.

John living in his own siloed/silo'd world, everythingâincluding his GUIâis
PLC-centric. Therefore, one uploads binaries *from* the PLC to the PC for
editing/viewing, then can *download* them back to the PLC.

These two terms, upload and download, are used in a way that's
counter-intuitive to the rest of us who understand the PCâserver
relationship. It's one thing for me to make the changes in the manual, but
retooling the GUI is a far bigger kettle of fish that will likely meet with
much resistance.
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Follow-Ups:

References:
Upload versus download: From: Chris Morton
Re: Upload versus download: From: Robert Lauriston

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