atw: Re: What do dialog boxes do?

I would always use 'a dialog box is displayed' for the same reasons you
cited, Howard, ie 'displays' is a transitive verb. But this is a passive
construction and technical writing 'wisdom' claims the passive should be
avoided (though why I don't know, it's a perfectly normal grammatical
construction which should neither be avoided nor misused).

This passive phobia is probably what led to the usage 'a dialog box
displays'. 'Displays what?' would be my first question but to be honest,
it is something that I could get used to.

Michelle Hallett
IT Trainer/Support Analyst
Leighton Contractors P/L
Tel: 02 8668 6047
Fax: 02 8668 6666
Mob: 0434 183 541
Email: michelle.hallett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Howard.Silcock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, 28 June 2006 10:59 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: What do dialog boxes do?

Someone asked me recently whether I thought we should say 'a dialog box 
displays', 'a dialog box is displayed', or something else. I told her
what 
I thought, but I'd be interested to see what terminology others on this 
list use.

I said I objected to 'a dialog box displays', because if you look in a 
dictionary you'll see that 'display' is shown as 'verb (t)' [Macquarie 
Online], meaning that it's a *transitive* verb. (If you're not familiar 
with this terminology, a transitive verb is one that must have a direct 
object. An example is the verb 'hit': you can't just say 'I hit',
because 
you have to hit SOMETHING. ) So a dialog box can only display SOMETHING.
I 
suppose you could say 'a dialog box displays itself', but that sounds
too 
weird to me. 

Therefore, if you want to use 'display', it'd have to be 'a dialog box
is 
displayed' or maybe 'Windows [or <application name>] displays a dialog 
box'. However, I tend to favour 'a dialog box appears'. Another option 
might be 'you see a dialog box'.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Howard



Howard Silcock
Technical Writer
Electronic Systems
ADI Limited
PO Box 14, Deakin, ACT 2600, Australia
Ph: +61 2 6234 6000
Fx: +61 2 6234 6011
Email: howard.silcock @adi-limited.com
Web: www.adi-limited.com


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