>> You have said that it is irrelevant whether the CTRL key is held or released between operations, as long as it is held when the M and F keys are pressed. Of course this is so; that's how computer keyboards work. The computer pays no attention to whether a modifier key is released, because it receives the code from the keyboard at the moment a key is *pressed*. If a modifier key (CTRL, ALT, SHIFT) is held at the same time as a letter key is pressed, a different code is sent. Since it is irrelevant whether CTRL is released between operations, Yes, I know.
>> I think you do your readers a disservice to encumber them with invented conventions or instructions about what they *don't* have to do. Ok, that's a point. >> MSTP is consistent in using all caps for the modifier keys (CTRL, SHIFT) and all caps for the letter keys Yes, thanks for pointing that out. >> (which is how the letters appear on the keyboard). Actually - they do *not*. Which is why I made the mistake of writing them the way I did. But, again, thanks for pointing out that according to MS they should be CAPS. >> For key sequences, the guideline is to use commas followed by spaces. So the MSTP instruction would be "press CTRL+M, CTRL+F." Ok, so that seems to be the bottom line. That's the way I wrote it originally. Not that I though that it looked great, but just there seemed no other alternative I could find in the rule book. And so it's left as self-understood that you don't have to take your finger off the CTRL key in between. >> (Adobe has a different standard that uses mixed case, probably stemming from its compatibility with UNIX, which is case-sensitive in ways that DOS and Windows weren't and aren't.) >> As for the SME, I assume that writing documentation according to standards is not the SM in which they are E; *you* would be the E in that SM, and entitled to stand your ground! ;-) No, I have no problem with that - it's just that I also didn't like what I wrote. Thanks, - avi On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 6:11 PM, Stuart Rogers < srogers at phoenix-geophysics.com> wrote: > Avraham Makeler wrote: > >> Hi David, >> Thanks for the effort you're putting into this. >> >> Press and hold Ctrl while pressing the letter m, release both keys, and >>>> >>> then press and hold Ctrl while pressing the letter f (Ctrl+M Ctrl+F). >> >> A little earlier, I got the following reply from somebody offlist: >> >> I would say "ctrl+f, ctrl+m" would be the best way to do that. You >> need to separate the steps is the issue. >> Hope that helps! >> >> And I replied as follows: >> -------------------- >> >> Great minds think alike! Lacking any other alternative, that's exactly >> what >> I wrote in my first draft! >> >> (And it was on that the SME wrote his take, and told me to change them all >> accordingly to Ctrl M+F.) >> >> The problem is, that ctrl+f, ctrl+m make it look as if after the ctrl+f >> you >> then have to first release the Ctrl key and only then do Ctrl+M. >> >> However, lacking any other alternative *standard* alternative, this seems >> the only solution. >> >> The only other alternative would be to create our own new standard. One or >> two people suggested to me Ctrl+(M,F) - and that also seems to me to be >> correct. >> >> >> -------------------- >> >> So coming back to your suggestion, David, it seems that are are all >> converging on the same solution, >> however, it's just that 'ctrl+f, ctrl+m' (with a space or a comma) gives >> the >> wrong impression that you have to take your finger off the Ctrl key after >> doing Ctrl+M and before doing Ctrl+F; you do not have to. >> >> I would want to define a new standard, like this: Ctrl+(M,F). >> >> Thanks, >> >> - avi >> > > I think you are re-inventing the wheel, as well as introducing ambiguity. > (Is the user supposed to press the comma key? the parentheses keys? Some > users are very literal.) Microsoft's MSTP guidelines work perfectly well > for your situation, and they are an industry standard. > > You have said that it is irrelevant whether the CTRL key is held or > released between operations, as long as it is held when the M and F keys are > pressed. Of course this is so; that's how computer keyboards work. The > computer pays no attention to whether a modifier key is released, because it > receives the code from the keyboard at the moment a key is *pressed*. If a > modifier key (CTRL, ALT, SHIFT) is held at the same time as a letter key is > pressed, a different code is sent. Since it is irrelevant whether CTRL is > released between operations, I think you do your readers a disservice to > encumber them with invented conventions or instructions about what they > *don't* have to do. > > MSTP is consistent in using all caps for the modifier keys (CTRL, SHIFT) > and all caps for the letter keys (which is how the letters appear on the > keyboard). For key sequences, the guideline is to use commas followed by > spaces. So the MSTP instruction would be "press CTRL+M, CTRL+F." > > (Adobe has a different standard that uses mixed case, probably stemming > from its compatibility with UNIX, which is case-sensitive in ways that DOS > and Windows weren't and aren't.) > > As for the SME, I assume that writing documentation according to standards > is not the SM in which they are E; *you* would be the E in that SM, and > entitled to stand your ground! ;-) > > HTH, > > -- > Stuart Rogers > Technical Communicator > Phoenix Geophysics Limited > Toronto, ON, Canada > +1 (416) 491-7340 x 325 > > srogers phoenix-geophysics com > > "Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product." > > -- Eleanor Roosevelt >
