Re: appears vs is displayed

["Virginia L. Krenn" <asdxvlk -at- OKWAY -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>]

I completely agree with you.

The screen doesn't just appear all by itself.

To change it to 'active' voice, one would have to say "the such-and-such"
system displays the screen. That would be unnecesary and probably
confusing.

However, an alternative that might satisfy all of you could be, "Click Add
to display the Add Patient window".

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: appears vs is displayed
Author:  robin -dot- m -dot- allen -at- worldnet -dot- att -dot- net at SMTP
Date:    3/25/97 8:26 AM

Hi ya'll:

I'm in the middle of a raging debate among several tech writers about
the use of "appears" vs "is displayed," e.g.:

"Click Add and the Add Patient window is displayed."
vs
"Click Add and the Add Patient window appears."

Even though it uses the passive voice, I personally prefer "is displayed."
To me, "appears" sounds like it happens through magic. Any thoughts?

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