C, C++, and C# are programming languages. It is all right to use these names as adjectives. For example, you can say “a C program.” But do not form hyphenated adjective phrases with them.
C# is pronounced “c-sharp.” Because not all fonts include the musical sharp sign, use the number sign (#) to form C#.
Microsoft style
C++ based
built with exported functions that are callable by C
Not Microsoft style
C++-based
built with C-callable exported functions
Microsoft style
The printer is connected to the computer.
Not Microsoft style
The printer is cabled to the computer.
Do not use as a synonym for cable or cables. If necessary in a discussion of network connections, it is all right to use cabling to refer to a combination of cables, connectors, and terminators.
Differentiate between cache and disk cache. A cache generally refers to a special memory subsystem where data values are duplicated for quick access. A disk cache refers to a portion of RAM that temporarily stores information read from disk.
Do not use cache or file cache to refer to the storage location of Internet files that are downloaded as you browse the web. The Internet Explorer term is Temporary Internet Files folder.
Use only as an adjective or as a noun. As a verb, use schedule, list, or another appropriate verb instead.
Two words as a verb, one word as an adjective and as a noun.
In content for software developers, do not use callback to mean callback function.
Two words as a verb, one word as an adjective or as a noun.
Microsoft style
You should call out special features in the interface.
Add callouts to the art. The callout wording should be brief.
For information about using callouts, see Art, captions, and callouts (Chapter 7).
Use the verb can to describe actions or tasks that the user or program is able to do. Use may to express possibility, not to imply that the user has permission to do something. Use might to connote greater doubt than may or to eliminate ambiguity when may could be interpreted to imply permission.
Microsoft style
You can use the /b option to force a black-and-white screen display.
You might receive incorrect results when you run a query in SQL.
The form might not be displayed.
Not Microsoft style
You may use the /b option to force a black-and-white screen display.
You may receive incorrect results when you run a query in SQL.
The form may not be displayed.
Do not use could when you mean can. Like might, could conveys a tone of doubt that is best avoided in technical writing. It is all right to use could as the past tense of can when users cannot mistake its meaning. See also should vs. must.
In procedures, you do not have to use the words the and button with the button name. You can just say “Click Cancel.”
Use as a general term to describe hardware that supports connecting a computer to a peripheral device such as a monitor, speakers, or a camera. A card can be a printed circuit board, a PC Card or CardBus device, or circuitry that is part of the motherboard itself. Do not use board or adapter with this exception: use network adapter to describe hardware that supports connecting a computer to a network.
Use card also when referring to a device that has card in the name, such as smart card, and in nontechnical ways, such as credit card or business card. See also board, video card.
Microsoft style
smart card
sound card
video card
Not Microsoft style
network card
Card refers to hardware. It is not the same thing as a driver, which is software that controls the behavior of hardware.
Follow conventional practice and use a slash mark, not a hyphen, when referring to this ASCII character combination. Abbreviate as CR/LF for subsequent references.
Use carry out to describe the action that results when a user or macro issues a command. Use run to describe the action that results when a user or macro starts a program or macro.
Do not use execute for these operations in content for a general audience. Execute is all right to use in content for a technical audience. See also run vs. execute; start, Start (the menu).
Microsoft style
You can use Doskey.exe to create macros that carry out one or more commands.
You can write a batch file that runs Microsoft Word.
Not Microsoft style
You can use Doskey.exe to create macros that run one or more commands.
You can use Doskey.exe to create macros that execute one or more commands.
You can write a batch file that executes Microsoft Word.
Do not use except in content for software developers that discusses creating menus, and only if you cannot use submenu in the context, or if cascading menu appears in the user interface or the application programming interface. See also Ribbons, menus, toolbars; submenu.
In spreadsheet programs, refers to the (usually) horizontal axis in charts and graphs that shows the categories being measured or compared. For clarity, refer to it as the category (x) axis on first mention. On subsequent mention, you can use x-axis. You can also use horizontal (x) axis in content for novice computer users. See also value axis.
Advises users that failure to take or avoid a specified action could result in loss of data.
Precede a caution with the warning symbol.
Warning symbol
In general, do not use CBT and its spelled-out form, computer-based training. Use tutorial instead. Use online tutorial only to distinguish from a printed tutorial.
CBT and computer-based training are all right in content for software developers that discusses such things as the CBTProc function.
Do not spell out. If you refer to a CD as a disc, use the correct spelling.
It is all right to use CD by itself as long as either the reference is general or there is no possibility of confusion as to what type of CD is under discussion: audio CD, CD-ROM, CD-R, or CD-RW. When it is necessary to be specific, be specific.
Refer to the drive for a CD as the CD drive, not the CD player. If you are referring to a specific type of drive, such as a CD-RW drive, use the appropriate name.
Do not use CD disc, CD-ROM disc, or similarly redundant constructions.
A combination of letters and numbers that identify an individual product license. The CD key is usually found on the back of the product CD case.
Use only when necessary to refer to a key that is specific to a CD. In general, use product key instead.
Refers to the connectivity method in which data is exchanged over the air and not by Wi-Fi or syncing with a computer. It is also all right to use cellular data network or cellular data connection, depending on the context.
Don’t use cellular phone or cell phone unless you need to call out the cellular technology. Use mobile phone or phone instead. See also mobile phone, phone.
Use only in reference to content that is written as a book or written both as a book and for online presentation. For content written only as online documentation, use section, topic, site, or another appropriate term. See also article.
Do not use as a verb when referring to entering data for a graphic. Use plot instead.
Use the noun chart instead of graph to refer to graphic representations of data. For example, use bar chart, pie chart, and scatter chart.
Use as an adjective, a noun, or a verb in the context of Internet or intranet chat. Use voice chat and video chat if necessary to avoid ambiguity.
Use check or checked as an adjective in such phrases as “a check mark” or “a checked command.”
Do not use check or uncheck as a verb meaning to add a check mark to or remove a check mark from a check box. Use select and clear instead.
Do not use check as a noun to mean check mark. See also checked command.
Two words. Use the identifier check box, not just box, to refer to a check box. Box alone is ambiguous, especially for non-native English speakers.
Use select and clear with check boxes, not turn on and turn off, mark and unmark, check and uncheck, or select and deselect. See also Webpage controls, dialog boxes, and property sheets (Chapter 5).
Microsoft style
The code management system requires you to check in the changes.
This change requires that you check in your code.
Not Microsoft style
This check in is required.
A command name on a menu that follows a check mark or a bullet that appears or disappears each time that the user clicks the command or a related command. Checked commands can be either mutually exclusive or independent of each other. For example, document views in Microsoft Word are mutually exclusive. Settings on the View menu in Microsoft Excel are independent of each other. In the latter case, it is all right to call them marked commands.
Use turn on or turn off in procedures to refer to activating or deactivating the command, but use click as the means of turning it on or off.
Microsoft style
To turn on Outline view
On the View menu, click Outline.
If the Outline command is checked, the document is in Outline view.
Use choose when the user must make a decision, as opposed to selecting (not picking) an item from a list to carry out a decision already made.
Microsoft style
If you do not have an Internet account, click Choose from a list of Internet service providers (ISPs) and then click Next.
If you choose to encrypt only the folder, no files or subfolders contained in the folder are encrypted.
Do not use choose as an alternative to click or double-click. Choose does not convey any additional information to those who do not use a mouse, and such users normally understand the equivalent action that they must take when a procedure step says to click. See also click, select.
Microsoft style
On the File menu, click Open.
Not Microsoft style
On the File menu, choose Open.
Use clear as a verb to describe the act of removing a check mark from a check box or removing a tab stop. Do not use turn off, unmark, uncheck, or deselect. See also select, Webpage controls, dialog boxes, and property sheets (Chapter 5).
The antonym of clear is select.
Microsoft style
Clear the Mirror margins check box.
In general, use click instead of select to refer to the user action of issuing a command or setting an option. For exceptions, see select.
If a user can set an option so that the user can either use a single click or a double click to perform some action, use the default mode when documenting a feature, and explain the various options.
Do not use click on or click at. However, you can say “click in the window.” With this exception, click should always be a transitive verb. See also point to; select; tap: Webpage controls, dialog boxes, and property sheets (Chapter 5).
Note
It is all right to omit “Click OK” at the end of a procedure if it is clear that the user must click OK to complete the procedure.
Microsoft style
To add or remove a program, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Programs and Features.
In content for a general audience, use computer instead of client.
In content for a technical audience, use client as an adjective to refer only to a computer, object, or program that obtains data or services from a server. You can use client, not client computer, if it is clear that the context is hardware or software. See also computer, device, machine, PC.
Microsoft style
client workstation
client computer
Do not use client to refer to a person. Use customer instead.
Do not use for a general audience, especially as an adjective. Use client instead.
Client side is all right to use when it refers specifically to the client part (“side”) of a program or protocol that acts on both a server and a client computer. In general, such usage should be necessary only in content for a technical audience.
If you must use client-side as an adjective, hyphenate it. See also client.
Capitalize when referring to the component in both Windows and Macintosh content. Do not precede with Windows. Material is moved or copied to the Clipboard, not onto it.
Use close for windows, documents, and dialog boxes. For programs, use exit. For network connections, use end.
Use close to refer to the action a program takes when it has encountered a problem and cannot continue. Do not confuse with stop responding, which indicates that the program cannot close itself.
The box with an x in the upper-right corner of a window that, when clicked, closes the window.
Spell out and capitalize the word Close and use the word button. Close as part of the Close button is always bold. When possible, use an inline graphic of the Close button.
Microsoft style
and then click the Close button
and then click the Close button.
For technical audiences, the term cloud computing typically refers to a specialized, virtual environment that houses applications, data, and/or computing resources in a single location and provides access to those resources over the Internet. For a general audience, cloud computing refers simply to applications and services that are accessed over the Internet, rather than installed on a user’s local computer. Define the term or give it context on the first reference, using the definition appropriate for your given audience.
Use cloud as an adjective. Cloud may be used sparingly as a noun in content for a technical audience or in informal contexts. Do not use cloud interchangeably with Internet or web. When referring specifically to the services provided by Microsoft, refer to Microsoft cloud services or the Microsoft cloud platform as appropriate.
For more information about referring to cloud computing, see Cloud computing style (Chapter 6).
In general, do not hyphenate words beginning with co-, such as coauthor and coordinate, unless it is necessary to avoid confusion. When in doubt, check the American Heritage Dictionary, or consult your project style sheet.
Do not spell out as compressor/decompressor or coder/decoder. Use only in content for a technical audience or when codec appears in the user interface.
It is all right to use collaborate and collaboration to refer to two or more people who are working on a shared document.
However, do not use collaborator to describe a worker in such an environment unless you have no other choice. Collaborator is a sensitive term in some countries. Therefore, use a synonym such as colleague or coworker instead.
As the name of a communications port (also known as serial port), use all uppercase followed by a number, as in COM1. As an extension and the indicator of a commercial organization in a URL, use all lowercase preceded with a period, as in .com file and Microsoft.com.
COM is also an abbreviation for Component Object Model. Be sure that the user cannot be confused about what COM means in your content.
Two words. Use in content for a technical audience to describe a box in which the user can select an item from a list or type a value directly in the box. Do not use combo box in content for a general audience. Refer to it as a box instead, using the label provided in the user interface. See also Webpage controls, dialog boxes, and property sheets (Chapter 5).
Use enter to indicate that a user can either type an item in the box or click an item in the list.
Microsoft style
In the Size box, enter the font size, in points, that you want.
In general, use command instead of menu item, choice, or option to describe a command on a menu.
In content for software developers about creating elements of the user interface, sometimes menu item may be the best term to use. See also menus.
To refer to the usually rectangular button that appears in the user interface that carries out a command, use the button label without the words command or button, especially in procedures. Follow the user interface for capitalization and spelling. If it is important to identify a command button as a button, it is all right to refer to the label and the word button, but do not use the word command. See also Webpage controls, dialog boxes, and property sheets (Chapter 5).
Microsoft style
For information about the dialog box, click the Help button.
Not Microsoft style
For information about the dialog box, click the Help command button.
The term command button is all right to use in programs in which command buttons can be user-defined and created, such as Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Excel 2010.
Microsoft style
In Excel 2010, you can add a command button to automate the printing of a worksheet.
Do not refer to a command button as an action button or push button. It is all right to say something like “a command button, also known as a push button” if a segment of your users will be more familiar with that term.
Hyphenate as an adjective. See also command prompt, console.
Users type commands at a command prompt, not on a command line.
Microsoft style
command-line parameter
command-line tool
Use instead of C prompt, command-line prompt, or system prompt.
Command prompt refers only to a prompt
itself. For example, C:> is a command prompt.
Refer to the window in which a command prompt appears as the
Command Prompt window. Note
capitalization.
Do not refer to the Command Prompt window as a console window except in content for a technical audience.
Users type commands at a command prompt, not on a command line. See also command line, console.
Microsoft style
At the command prompt, type certutil -setreg ca.
Not Microsoft style
On the command line, type certutil -setreg ca.
Use to refer to a computer port that supports asynchronous communication one byte at a time. Spell out on first mention. It is all right to abbreviate as COM port on subsequent mention if you are referring specifically to the ports on a computer numbered COM1, COM2, and so on. Ensure that the context does not allow the user to confuse the COM in COM port with the abbreviation for Component Object Model.
It is all right to refer to a communications port as a serial port. If you are referring specifically to the COM ports, it is useful, especially for a general audience, to be explicit about the reference.
Microsoft style
Connect the infrared device to a serial port on your computer, and note the serial port number (typically COM1 or COM2).
Do not spell out. Use CD instead. If you must spell out compact disc, it is disc, not disk. See also CD.
Do not abbreviate. A trademark for a data storage specification.
The most common usage of CompactFlash is as a modifier for a specific CompactFlash device.
Microsoft style
CompactFlash memory is commonly used in digital cameras.
Use compare to to point out similarities between dissimilar items. Use compare with to comment on the similarities or differences between similar items. The use of compare to, which is often metaphorical, is generally unnecessary in technical content.
Microsoft style
People have compared a computer to a human brain.
Compared with a Pentium 4 processor, a 386 processor is extremely slow.
All right to use as an adjective, as in “compile time,” or as a verb. Do not use as a noun.
Microsoft style
After you save the file, compile your program.
Not Microsoft style
After you save the file, do a compile.
Do not use unless you have no other choice. Comprise has a history of misuse and is misunderstood even by many native English speakers. It means “to include” or “to (metaphorically) embrace.” The whole comprises or is composed of its parts; the parts compose or are comprised in the whole. Comprised of is always incorrect.
The forms of compose are generally better understood than those of comprise, but synonyms, such as include and contain, are clearer to most users.
In general, use the most generic term that describes a device. Use computer instead of client, server, machine, or box for most audiences.
Do not use PC except in content that is informal in tone, in UI text where space is constrained, or when referring to a feature or website that includes the term PC.
It is all right to use machine in content for a technical audience and in content about virtualization to describe both physical machines and virtual machines.
Use client or server as a synonym for computer only if it is clear to the user whether the client or server discussed is hardware or software. Otherwise, use client computer or server computer. See also client, device, machine, PC.
An icon that represents a user’s private, local system. To refer to the icon in printed documents, use just Computer if the icon is shown. Otherwise, use the Computer icon.
Microsoft style
Double-click the Computer icon.
Do not use connect as a synonym for sign in or log on. Do not use connect as a synonym for map, as in mapping a drive letter to a shared network folder, even though disconnect is the correct term for removing a mapped network drive. See also log on, log off, logon, logoff; sign in, sign out, sign on, sign up.
Do not use console window and console application except in content for a technical audience. Use Command Prompt window and command-line program instead.
Do not use console to describe a configuration of Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins. It is all right to refer to console trees and console panes.
Do not use console as a synonym for snap-in. See also command line, command prompt, snap-in.
Do not use context menu or right-click menu to refer to the menu that appears when a user clicks the right mouse button in certain areas (or “contexts”), such as in a toolbar region. If you must refer to this menu by name, use shortcut menu instead.
Microsoft style
Use Alt+Spacebar to display the shortcut menu for the active window.
In procedures, use shortcut menu only if doing so would help the customer locate the item in the user interface.
Microsoft style
Right-click the selected text, and then click Copy. (Preferred)
Right-click the selected text, and then click Copy on the shortcut menu.
It is all right to use context menu in content for software developers, but make clear that it refers to the shortcut menu. See also pop-up.
Microsoft style
The Control.ContextMenu property gets or sets the shortcut menu associated with the control.
Microsoft style
The Add Total command is context-sensitive.
The new context-sensitive command bar is fully customizable.
Do not use. This term may be unfamiliar to many users. Use multiple selection instead. If it is important to emphasize that all the selected items are adjacent to each other, use adjacent selection. See also multiple selection.
In content for a general audience, do not use control to refer to a user interface object such as a text box, a check box, or a list box. It is all right to use control to refer to adding a user-defined control in a program such as Microsoft Office 2010.
In almost all other context, it is all right to use control.
Microsoft style
In the Font list, click the font that you want to use.
On the Developer tab in Word 2010, in the Controls group, click the Rich Text control or the Text control.
What can I control with Parental Controls in Windows 7?
Not Microsoft style
In the Font list box control, click the font that you want to use.
Use to describe the button at the far left on the title bar in Windows-based programs. This box displays the program icon in the main window and the generic window icon in secondary windows other than message boxes and dialog boxes. Do not refer to this icon and the menu that it opens by name. If such a reference is necessary, refer to the <Program Name> icon or the <title bar> shortcut menu.
Use to describe a file or data that has been damaged. Do not use corrupt to describe this condition.
Microsoft style
The file may be corrupted.
Not Microsoft style
The file may be corrupt.
Use instead of country in list headings and forms and in other contexts where specific reference may include named disputed territories.
You do not have to replace country with country/region in general discussion.
Microsoft style
This product is not available in all countries.
In the Country/Region box, enter your country/region.
Do not use in content for a general audience unless you have no other choice.
Use fail for disks or stop responding for programs or the operating system. In content for a technical audience, crash may be the best word in certain circumstances, but avoid whenever possible. See also blue screen, bluescreen.
Plural of criterion. It is all right to use criteria in database documentation to refer to one or more instructions about records.
Use to describe a broadly released fix for a specific problem addressing a critical bug that is not security-related. Use update to describe a fix for a noncritical bug that is not security-related. See also out-of-band release terminology (Chapter 6), update.
Use to refer to the folder that the user is currently looking at, such as the Temp folder, or the folder that the user is saving something to, such as the folder that appears in the Save in box in the Save As dialog box. Do not use active or open in this context. See also active vs. current.
Use to describe the point at which text or graphics will be inserted. Do not use as a synonym for pointer. See also insertion point, pointer.
Do not use cut as a verb, even when referring to the Cut command. Use delete instead.
Do not use cut as an imperative in procedures involving either the Cut or Delete command. Use delete instead.
Do not use cut as a noun to refer to the action of the Delete command. Use deletion instead.
Do not use cut-and-replace or cut-and-paste as a noun or as a verb. See also cut-and-paste.
Microsoft style
Use the Cut command to delete the selected text.
Select the text you want to delete, and then click Cut.
Not Microsoft style
Cut the selected text.
Cut-and-paste the selected text.
Do a cut-and-paste on the second paragraph.
Do not use the verb cut to describe temporarily moving text to the Clipboard. Use copy or move instead.
Microsoft style
Use the Cut command to move the selected text to the Clipboard.
Not Microsoft style
Cut the selected text to the Clipboard.
Use only as an adjective.
Do not use as a noun phrase, with or without hyphens.
Do not use cut and paste as a verb phrase. The correct verb for the action of the Cut command is delete. Deleting is one act and pasting another, so cut and paste or delete and paste can be confusing.
Microsoft style
Perform a cut-and-paste operation.
In Notepad, you can delete text from one place and paste it somewhere else.
Not Microsoft style
Do a cut-and-paste.
In Notepad, you can cut and paste text.
In Notepad, you can delete and paste text.