Sentence structure: Indeed it depends

[Mark Levinson <mark -at- SD -dot- CO -dot- IL>]

Geoff Hart says "As always, Karen, it depends" and provides
some examples.

Another example would be a procedure in which-- as in many
I've seen, and perhaps in some you've seen-- the user is
called upon to perform steps the individual purpose of which
means very little at the user level.

For example, to install a new software product may involve
typing twelve commands and be documented in fifteen steps.
Half the commands may be commands that the user is not
expected to be familiar with otherwise.  Let's say that in
this context the user needs to type a particular command
that decompresses some data files.  You could say,--

4. Now you need to decompress your data files.
   To do so, type dcmprs.

But why force the reader to deal with that extra explanation of
an interim step of the procedure, when all that interests
the user is the ultimate result of getting the software installed?
You could say just--

4. Type dcmprs.

That is, don't ask questions.  Just do it.  But if you were
feeling avuncular, you could put the explanation after the
action:

4. Type dcmprs.  The dcmprs (decompress) command translates files
   out of the especially compact form they were delivered in
   and into a form that can be used.

Then the user gets the important information up front and can
treat the rest more casually.
__________________________________________________________________________
||- Mark L. Levinson, mark -at- sd -dot- co -dot- il -- Box 5780, 46157 Herzlia, Israel -||
||                      - Death to fanatics! -                          ||