The or no The

Subject: The or no The
From: Melanie Shook <mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com>
To: "'techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999 10:04:34 -0500

I'm documenting software for a communications server. Previous
documentation (written by developers) was inconsistent in the use of "the"
preceeding the name of the software/hardware. One of the programmers thinks
I should put "the" in front of the name of the software, as in "The
SuperThing can be customized to do anything." SuperThing refers to both
hardware and software -- the communications server itself and the
(client/server) software used to run it.

It seems to me that if we are referring to the server, I would use "the" but
in referring to the software, I wouldn't use "the." Just as I would say
"NT" but not "the NT" unless it was used as an adjective, as in "the NT
operating system" or "the NT server."

In the user documentation, I am primarily referring to what the user can do
with the software, so I would not use "the." But since the name applies to
both the software and the hardware, I'm not sure. Is this just a matter of
personal taste, or does CMOS or MMOS (or anyone else) have something to say
about it?

Melanie Shook
Technical Writer
COM2001.com
(405) 419-7032
mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com






Previous by Author: Sort of OT: End-User Edits of PDFs
Next by Author: RE: HTML and JavaScript Training
Previous by Thread: RE: Numbering the headings. What is the point?
Next by Thread: Re: The or no The


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads