Home

Apple Publications Style Guide

Contents

1. TObj ect FirstMethod TObject SecondMethod Apple Publications Style Guide 165 How to Write a Glossary A good glossary can enhance the usefulness of documentation Here are some guidelines for preparing a glossary Audience Considerations Keep in mind the needs of the people for whom you are writing Follow the guidelines in this section First time users If your document is intended for first time computer users or first time Apple product users you ll probably have to include obvious terms such as window screen menu start up and command Look at earlier user documentation for ideas about what to include and ask your developmental editor for suggestions Intermediate users Documentation for intermediate users and installation manuals for peripheral devices lie in a gray area Can you assume for example that the person buying a hard disk has already learned how to use the computer Perhaps not But some hard disk buyers will be very advanced users When deciding which terms to include you should probably err on the side of including terms that most readers might already know rather than leaving out those that some readers won t know assuming that the terms belong in the document s context Developer documentation Developer documentation writers don t need to assume computer illiteracy on the part of readers you may not have to define general computer terms such as silicon or application program However you
2. You do this by double clicking the icon double tap n double tap v double tapping n v Note hyphenation Use when you describe the trackpad action that s equivalent to double clicking Down Arrow key When you refer to more than one of the arrow keys use lowercase as in the arrow keys download v downloadable adj One word dpi Abbreviation for dots per inch and dot per inch Spell out on first occurrence See also dots per inch dot per inch dpi drag Refers to the act of positioning the pointer pressing and holding down the mouse button moving the mouse and then releasing the mouse button Define on first mention Always use drag in reference to objects on the screen Don t use drag the mouse Don t use click and drag Don t use place put or move when you mean drag Correct Drag the icon all over the screen Correct Drag the icon to the Trash Incorrect Click and drag the icon to the Trash Incorrect Put the icon in the Trash drag and drop v drag and drop adj Note hyphens in the adjective Avoid using drag and drop as a compound verb followed by an object dragging includes dropping the item into place Correct Drag the file to the printer icon Correct Using iPhoto you can create digital photo albums with drag and drop simplicity Correct Just drag and drop to add photos to your documents Incorrect Drag and drop the file onto the printer icon DRAM Acronym for dynamic rando
3. To print from the desktop first select the documents you want to print To open a new Finder window choose File gt New Finder Window To find an item in the Finder type its name in the Search box m Developer documentation In developer documentation use Finder to describe the application The Finder obtains the type and creator codes from the information stored in the bundle FireWire FireWire 800 Apple s version of the IEEE 1394 high speed serial data link technology Don t use i LINK FireWire 800 conforms to the IEEE 1394b standard The original version of FireWire was renamed FireWire 400 when FireWire 800 was introduced Use the numbers only if you need to make a distinction between the two Otherwise use just FireWire first person Don t use rewrite in terms of the reader or the product fixed width adj Preferred term to describe fonts such as Courier in which each character takes up the same amount of space on the line Synonymous with monospaced flashing Don t use to describe the insertion point or the cursor use blinking for this purpose flatbed scanner Note that flatbed is one word flat panel adj Note hyphen flexible disk Don t use use disk Use floppy disk to distinguish from hard disks or compact discs flip foot Two words no hyphen floppy Don t use use disk Use floppy disk to distinguish from hard disks or compact discs never use just floppy for this purpose flowchart One word Ex
4. control character adj Note hyphenation of adjective Control click v adj Note capitalization and hyphenation The hyphen denotes a combined keystroke Control click is equivalent to press the Control key and click Use the Control click technique to see shortcut menus To open a document Control click the document icon and choose Open control key Don t use in a general sense use modifier key The name of the specific key is capitalized Control key Control key Don t use CTRL but Ctrl is OK when space constraints don t allow use of the full term as in column heads in tables controlled controlling Not controled controling control panel Classic Lowercase Refers to a small application that allows the user to set or control some feature of hardware or software such as the volume of the speaker or the number of colors displayed on the screen These applications are available in the Control Panels folder Refer to a control panel by its name capitalized and add the words control panel lowercase Views control panel Map control panel Memory control panel Monitors control panel Sound control panel However refer to the General Controls control panel as the General Controls panel Control Panels folder Classic Note lowercase folder A folder located in the System Folder for storing control panels Apple Publications Style Guide 39 40 Style and Usage Control Strip Classic Note capitalization
5. enabled adj Avoid in user documentation when you mean turn on Turn on implies initiating an action or starting a process immediately enable implies doing a task that makes subsequent actions possible Correct Turn on Windows file sharing Incorrect Enable Windows file sharing Avoid using enabled when you mean selected for example when you refer to radio buttons or checkboxes or available when you refer to commands or buttons that are sometimes dimmed but not in this case Correct Make sure the Magnification checkbox is selected in Dock preferences Correct The Copy command isn t available because no text is selected Incorrect Make sure the Magnification option is enabled in Dock preferences Incorrect The Copy command isn t enabled because no text is selected Its OK to use enable to describe a task that makes other actions possible To use this website you must enable cookies Slide the Hold switch to enable the iPod buttons In developer documentation it s OK to use enabled and disabled when you describe buttons menu items and the like See also allow disable disabled let en dash See dash en end of file EOF The character Note hyphenation Spell out on first occurrence end user n end user adj Avoid in favor of user use end user only if necessary to distinguish between types of users a network administrator and other users on the network a developer and users of his or her produc
6. in order to Don t use unless absolutely necessary use just to input n adj Don t use as a verb use enter or type depending on the context Input menu A menu that appears to the right of the Help menu when more than one keyboard layout is active input output I O device Note capitalization and slash Spell out on first occurrence insertion point Use to describe the point at which the user types or inserts data The vertical blinking bar marks the insertion point See also cursor pointer inside Not inside of install You install items on a disk not onto a disk Installer Always capitalize whether you re referring to a specific Installer program or to Installer programs in general insure ensure Use insure to describe what an insurance company does Use ensure to mean make sure or guarantee Compare assure integrated circuit IC Spell out on first occurrence interapplication communication IAC n Note lowercase Spell out on first occurrence interapplication communications adj Note lowercase interface card Refers to a type of peripheral card that implements an interface to other devices internal disk drive Use either internal disk drive or built in disk drive to match the software internet Short for internetwork refers to any large network made up of a number of smaller networks Compare Internet intranet Internet Refers to the worldwide network made up of interconnected networks that use th
7. Correct Install the administration software on the server s hard disk Correct You can install a second hard disk drive in the expansion bay hard drive Use hard drive or hard disk drive to refer to the mechanism that holds and accesses a hard disk HD disk Don t use Use high density disk headings See text heads help Lowercase unless you re referring to the complete name of an application s help such as Mail Help or iTunes Help help files For more help look in iPhoto Help help book The collection of HTML files that provides onscreen help for a particular product Don t use in user documentation use the product s specific name for example FileMaker Pro Help Correct The Help Center shows all the available help Incorrect The Help Center shows all the available help books Help button Capitalize even if the button doesn t have a label that reads Help Help Center The collection of all the help books installed on a user s computer Starting with Mac OS X version 10 2 the contents of the Help Center appear in a drawer that slides out from the Help Viewer window See also Apple Help help tags Lowercase Use to refer to the instructional text that appears when the pointer hovers over an interface element in Mac OS X Don t use tooltips Help Viewer Two words capped The simple browser application Apple uses to display HTML help files Don t use the before Help Viewer hexadecimal In user documentation don
8. Note capitalization and hyphenation The hyphen denotes a combined action Shift click is equivalent to press the Shift key and click Use the Shift click technique to select more than one icon To include another item in the selection Shift click it Shift lock Don t use use Caps Lock shortcut One word See also keyboard equivalents shortcut menu Use to refer to the menu that appears when you press the Control key and click an item on the screen Not contextual menu or pop up menu A shortcut menu appears it doesn t pop up Users choose items from shortcut menus shows up Don t use use appears When you choose Find a dialog appears shutdown n adj shut down v Use Shut Down when you refer to the menu command In generic references use lowercase sign Use sign not symbol in the following terms division sign equal sign greater than sign less than sign minus sign multiplication sign number sign and plus sign signaled signaling Not signalled signalling signals Use regular text font all caps for signal names Use an en dash between the first and last signal names to indicate a range of signals Begin active low signal names with a slash and use angle brackets to enclose two or more ranges in a set CLK lt AD31 AD29 AD7 AD0 gt SIMM Acronym for single inline memory module Spell out on first occurrence since Can be used to mean because but only if it begins a sentence When using since in t
9. See also lists bulleted lists multicolumn lists numbered lists bulleted Use a bulleted list when you want to stress the parallelism of a number of options elements rules or instructions that need not be presented or performed in a particular order a Introductory punctuation Precede all lists with colons whether the sentence before the colon is a complete thought or a partial thought exception to The Chicago Manual of Style See also colons a Capitalization All list items start with a capital letter a Punctuation with a list List items that are fragments or that complete the thought started by the main clause have no period list items that are complete sentences have a period m Parallelism Within a single list all bulleted items should be parallel a A regular sentence broken into a list This type of list emphasizes the parts of a series The syntax of the sentence is unbroken Using Sherlock you can a Find movie times and locations a Look for specific text on the web m Check stock prices a A simple list The main clause is an independent clause and each bulleted item is a sentence fragment The kernel environment has five major components a Mach BSD m Device drivers and the I O Kit m Networking m File systems m A complex list The main clause is an independent clause and each bulleted item is a complete sentence Follow these guidelines for password systems a Allow passwords to con
10. Pronounced em peg Stands for Moving Picture Experts Group a working group of the International Standards Organization ISO MPEG usually refers to the family of digital video compression standards and file formats that the group developed There are three major versions MPEG 1 MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 MPEG 4 is based on the QuickTime file format and defines standards for video and audio streaming There is no MPEG 3 Note that MP3 is short for MPEG Audio Layer 3 not MPEG 3 MS DOS Note hyphenation and capitalization multi prefix Close up in words beginning with either a consonant or a vowel except i multiplayer multitasking multiprocessor multithreading multiuser multi item multiple scan adj No hyphen multiplication sign Not multiplication symbol Musical Instrument Digital Interface MIDI Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence Mute key Note capitalization name server Two words native applications Don t use quotation marks to enclose native Correct For best performance use a native application Incorrect Native applications are designed to take advantage of your computer s microprocessor Net Don t use asa short form of Internet network Computers are on not in a network Network Capitalize when you refer to the pane in System Preferences or the icon in the Finder toolbar network computer NC Lowercase when used generically network time server Not capped but Network
11. To refer to the computer s speed use the adjective form don t incorporate the speed in the name 800 MHz Power Mac G4 not Power Mac G4 800 For a list of product names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 Power Manager The part of the Mac OS that manages the power use of various hardware components such as disk drives displays and fans For the integrated circuit that is part of the power management system use Power Manager IC in generic references Use the name of the IC in a specific computer when appropriate For example in Power Mac G4 computers the Power Manager IC is the PMU99 power off v Don t use especially in user documentation use switch off or turn off power on v Don t use especially in user documentation use switch on or turn on power on light Note hyphenation and lowercase PowerPC One word Use PowerPC based computer to refer generically to computers with a PowerPC microprocessor See also Power Macintosh Power Mac power switch OK to use when you re not sure what kind of power control a device has Otherwise use Power button See also Power button power button power up n adj power up v OK in developer documentation Don t use in user documentation use switch on turn on or start up PRAM Stands for parameter random access memory Can also use parameter RAM Spell out on first occurrence Pronounced PEA ram pre prefix Close up even when it forms a double v
12. brackets and quotation marks A closing parenthesis bracket or quotation mark should be in the same style as the opening mark For example the closing parenthesis following an italicized word should be in plain style not italic unless all text between the parentheses is italicized You can add music to slideshows see the iPhoto User s Guide The closing parenthesis is not italicized Read the manual iPhoto User s Guide m Plurals When you form the plural of an italicized letter used as a letter a number used as a number or a word used as a word don t use italics for the apostrophe or the s Enter a series of D s The apostrophe is in plain text For guidelines on punctuation in lists see lists See also apostrophes commas dash em dash en ellipsis points hyphenation quotation marks push button Two words In most cases button is just as appropriate put Don t use when you mean drag Correct Drag the file to the Trash Incorrect Put the file in the Trash question mark button Don t use use Help button QuickDraw The correct version names are basic QuickDraw not classic QuickDraw original Color QuickDraw 32 Bit QuickDraw a system extension used with System 6 and in System 7 Color QuickDraw Note capitalization In most cases you can use just QuickDraw to refer to the current version QuickDraw 3D No hyphen in 3D Apple Publications Style Guide 115 116 Style and Usage quick reference
13. changeable pronounceable purgeable serviceable abort Don t use when you mean cancel Avoid in user documentation Compare cancel exit halt interrupt quit stop above You can use above to describe an element or section of an onscreen document that cannot be paged through such as a single webpage Don t use above in print documents instead use one of these styles a Earlier chapter Use the chapter name and number To learn how to create movies see Chapter 4 Composing Movies a Earlier section Use the section name followed by the page number For more information see Printing on page 154 Instructional Products and User Publications use this style m Earlier figure table or code listing Use the number of the element followed by the page number For a summary of slot and drive numbers see Table 1 2 page 36 Technical Publications uses this style for references to a figure table or code listing at a distance If the element is immediately above the page number is omitted See also below earlier later AC Abbreviation for alternating current access It s OK to use access as a verb when you cannot be more specific Even in developer documents consider more precise terms such as og in to Avoid Access the server using an administrator account Preferable Log in to the server using an administrator account Avoid You can access the Internet with your iBook Preferable You can connect t
14. click icon radio button button states In a dialog the default button has color and pulses but avoid characterizing the button as blue call it the default button Buttons have color or don t have color don t refer to buttons as clear cable Use cable to describe what physically connects two pieces of hardware Don t use cabling even when you mean cable collectively use cables Compare cord Apple Publications Style Guide 25 26 Style and Usage cable extender cable terminator Use lowercase even when using the full product name LocalTalk cable extender SCSI cable terminator cache n v cached v caching n v Note spelling See also backside cache level 2 cache level 3 cache RAM cache Calculator An application in Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 Note capitalization Don t use the calendar Use Arabic calendar to refer to the lunar calendar used in much of the Arabic world Don t use Muslim or Mohammedan calendar Use Gregorian calendar to refer to the calendar used in Europe and the United States callback n adj No hyphen callouts Use a callout a short text label with a line that points to part of a figure whenever you need to identify something within a figure A thin line without an arrowhead known as a leader line connects the callout to what it identifies within the figure a Simplicity Use callouts freely when they are really necessary but keep in mind that too many callouts can be distractin
15. convertto Not into cookies Not cookie files Use to refer to small text files a website may copy to a user s hard disk to record information about the user or the computer To use some websites you must set your web browser to accept cookies coprocessor No hyphen copy Don t capitalize except when you refer to the Copy command by name You copy something using the Copy command you don t Copy it You copy a file to a disk not on a disk or onto a disk copy protect v copy protected adj pred adj copy protection n A copy protected disk or file cannot be copied legally Hyphenate in all forms copyright page All documentation must have a copyright page or copyright notice In a printed book the copyright information is usually on the second page which does not have a page number or a running foot Onscreen documents also require a copyright notice a Finding the correct copyright notice The copyright page is a boilerplate element Consult with your department editor to be sure you have the appropriate boilerplate a Apple trademarks All Apple trademarks mentioned in the document must receive a credit line on the copyright page See the most recent Apple trademarks list which is available at web apple com areas trademarkinformation a Third party trademarks Certain third party trademarks also must receive a credit line on the copyright page See the Special and Licensed Trademarks and or Copyrights section
16. mailing addresses Place the elements below the phone number using the following format Fax 408 123 1234 Email appleci apple com m Other addresses For other addresses spell out elements such as Avenue Drive Road Street and Suite It s OK to abbreviate Blvd and Bldg Use the format shown in the preceding examples for city and state phone numbers fax numbers and email addresses Use two letter abbreviations for state names see The Chicago Manual of Style Apple Publications Style Guide 11 12 Style and Usage administrator n A person who has administrative authority for networks servers databases or other information technology assets Don t shorten to admin Don t use administrator to describe a person who has an administrator account in Mac OS X Instead say a user with an administrator account the owner of a computer Correct To obtain a static IP address for your computer contact your network administrator Incorrect You must be an administrator to install software See also System Administrator administrator admin Admin all adj In Mac OS X use to describe the primary account used to create other accounts set access privileges install software and make systemwide settings Use lowercase for admin except when you refer to a specific label in the user interface Correct Log in with an administrator account to install software Correct Use the AirPort Admin utility to update t
17. on first occurrence thereafter its OK to use just PowerBook a Laptop notebook You can also use laptop laptop computer preferred notebook or notebook computer to describe a PowerBook m PowerPC based computers PowerBook computers that contain PowerPC microprocessors are not called Power Macintosh computers You can refer to them as PowerPC based computers For a list of PowerBook product names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 Power button power button Use Power button uppercase to refer to the button on the keyboard marked with the icon Use power button lowercase to refer to the same button on the computer display or other product See also power switch power cord Not power cable power down n adj power down v OK in developer documentation Don t use in user documentation use switch off turn off or shut down Apple Publications Style Guide 109 110 Style and Usage Power Macintosh Power Mac Not PowerMac a Product names Current computers are named Power Mac G4 not Power Macintosh G4 The previous line was the Power Macintosh G3 You can use Power Mac to refer to these computers generally To refer to a specific model use the appropriate name Power Mac G4 Power Macintosh G3 Power Macintosh 9600 300 Don t use variations of product names such as G4 Power Mac or PowerPC Macintosh Use an article The Power Mac is ideal for creative professionals m Speed
18. program listings Use code font Programmable Array Logic PAL Spell out on first occurrence progress indicator The generic term for an onscreen stand by animation i 7 ie z If you have to name one describe it The progress indicator looks like a colored pinwheel appears You see a progress indicator looks like a spinning gear prompt n v adj Avoid as a verb except in reference to what the system does when it displays an actual prompt character on the screen The prompt reminds you to do something The system then prompts you for information with a prompt character The prompt character is sometimes a bracket Apple Publications Style Guide 113 114 Style and Usage pronunciation Whenever the pronunciation of an acronym is not self evident it s a good idea to give a pronunciation key Use all caps for the stressed syllable use a hyphen between syllables Enclose the phonetic spelling in quotation marks ASCII pronounced ASK ee This style guide provides pronunciation keys for many acronyms Don t invent your own pronunciation key unless this guide doesn t show the pronunciation Consult your editor propeller Use Command key not propeller key to refer to the key with the oropeller symbol The symbol is actually used on Scandinavian road signs to mean sight worth seeing from either a cultural or a scenic point of view protocol When the word protocol is part of the name of a pro
19. spell out United States except in trademark notices See also America American Apple Publications Style Guide 141 142 Style and Usage USB Abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus Spell out on first occurrence Avoid as a noun Usenet Note capitalization user When the audience of your document is users avoid this term Instead address the reader as you Correct You can burn your own music CDs Incorrect Users can make movies with effects transitions and a sound track When the audience is developers or system administrators use user to refer to end users and you to address the developer or system administrator You may need to prevent users from accidentally making changes You can give users access to the server User is also appropriate in the context of Mac OS X users for example when you discuss the Users pane of Accounts preferences user group Not users group or user s group user name Two words Note the treatment of these similar terms device name filename pathname volume name user s guide user s manual Not user guide or user manual See also manual Velocity Engine Note capitalization version Lowercase when you refer to versions of software as in iPhoto version 1 1 Use earlier or later rather than lower higher or newer older in phrases such as This application requires Mac OS X version 10 2 or later m Abbreviating the word version When you abbreviate a version of Mac OS X use v c
20. wide Use a hyphen in compound adjectives beginning with wide wide angle viewing wide format screen An exception is widescreen Close up words ending with wide companywide enterprisewide industrywide systemwide worldwide wide area network WAN Three words Spell out on first occurrence thereafter OK to use the acronym WAN widescreen adj One word window When an icon is double clicked what appears on the screen is called a window Inactive windows or objects are in back of or behind active windows window controls Standard controls for windows include the close button the minimize button the zoom button and the resize control windowful Don t use When you refer to scrolling through the contents of a window use window at a time or window by window Correct Click in the area above or the below the scroller to view contents a window at a time Correct Click above or below the scroller to view the contents window by window Incorrect To scroll by the windowful click above or below the scroller Windows compatible adj Use to describe hardware or software that works with Microsoft Windows window titles When you refer to a window by name use the exact words in the title bar of the window the Mail window the window called About This Mac Lowercase window unless it s capitalized in the title bar window zooming Note lowercase No hyphen wish See want word processing n word processing adj Note
21. 167 Content Guidelines 168 Make Definitions Explanatory 168 Make the Context Clear 168 Connect Ordinary Usage With Technical Meaning 168 Matters of Form 168 Design 168 Format of an Entry 168 Alphabetization 169 Parts of Speech 169 Pronunciation 169 Cross References 170 Multiple Definitions 170 Independence 170 Assembling the Glossary 170 Appendix E How to Develop an Index 173 Choosing the Number of Levels 173 Main Entries 173 Subentries 173 Wording 173 Commands 174 Cross References 174 Order of Entries 175 Style of Entries 175 Checking the Spelling 175 Appendix F International Style 177 Currency 177 Dates and Times 178 Decimals 178 Languages 179 Telephone Numbers 179 Units of Measure 180 Apple Publications Style Guide 5 About This Guide The Apple Publications Style Guide is for writers editors proofreaders and others who work on Apple documents product training programs and electronic instructional and reference materials Outside developers of Apple related products may also find some parts of this guide useful What s in This Guide This guide is designed as a random access reference tool though some users such as editors and proofreaders may want to become familiar with the entire document a Style and Usage beginning on page 7 shows how certain terms are used in Apple publications and gives preferred style capitalization spelling and hyphenation for those terms It also gives g
22. G3 Parts of Speech m Verbs If the term is a verb start the definition with an infinitive not a gerund Correct To make available Incorrect Making available a Adjectives If the term is an adjective you may have to start the definition with phrases like these Said of Characteristic of Used to describe m Different parts of speech Use n v or adj for noun verb or adjective when you need to distinguish a part of speech Pronunciation When you define an acronym or other term with unusual or unclear pronunciation provide a pronunciation key Use all caps to indicate the stress and hyphens to separate syllables Use quotation marks around the pronunciation key ASCII Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange pronounced ASK ee EBCDIC Acronym for pronounced EB si dik leading The amount of blank vertical space between lines Pronounced LED ing Apple Publications Style Guide 169 Cross References If you want to draw attention to related terms in the glossary add cross references at the end of the entry m See means that the definition for a term is given elsewhere m See also means that additional relevant information is given elsewhere Compare means that a contrasting or complementary term is defined elsewhere It isn t necessary to say Compare with You can also use Same as and Opposite of for synonyms and antonyms open To make available
23. Interconnect PCI Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence but never thereafter peripheral slot Don t use use expansion slot Phase Alternating Line PAL A European standard for displaying color video Spell out on first occurrence Phillips screw Phillips screwdriver Note capitalization and spelling Not Phillips head screw or Phillips head screwdriver phone numbers When giving phone numbers don t put the area code in parentheses or include a leading 1 for example 800 282 2732 The corporate phone number for Apple is 408 996 1010 See also Appendix F International Style on page 177 phone port Don t use use modem port piggyback board Don t use use expansion board pin In user documentation avoid referring to connectors by the number of pins because the actual number of pins may not match the designation a Description Describe the connector by its size and shape icon or in another way appropriate to the context m Developer documentation When you refer to connectors in developer documentation use a numeral and a hyphen before pin 9 pin 11 pin 25 pin 50 pin Exception to the rule that numbers ten and smaller are spelled out except when used as numerals per se pinout n One word Apple Publications Style Guide 105 106 Style and Usage pixel Short for picture element Not synonymous with bit Use dot to describe a single pixel play back v playback n adj Note that th
24. Window tab Correct You turn on AppleTalk in the AppleTalk pane of Network preferences Incorrect On the AppleTalk tab select Make AppleTalk active See also pane tab in Classic Control Strip Use lowercase tab when you refer to the tab at the end of the Mac OS 9 Control Strip Tab key tab character Capitalize when you refer to the key on the keyboard Use lowercase when you refer to the character When you press Tab you generate a tab character The tab character HT for horizontal tab has ASCII value 09 table of contents Most books of ten pages or more should have a table of contents which always begins on a new right hand page a What to include The table of contents should include part chapter and chapter equivalent titles and may include level one level two and level three heads If absolutely necessary level four heads can be included but remember that a book long enough to need level four heads also has an index Capitalization wording and punctuation The wording capitalization punctuation and spelling of all heads and titles must be exactly the same in the table of contents as in the text See also chapter tables of contents tables Use tables for information that is easier to scan in columnar form than in running text Also use tables for information matrixes which provide an effective way to present quick reference instructions or descriptions Capitalization Use sentence s
25. You open files or documents in order to work with them Compare close See also icon window Important Make sure all cross referenced terms are in your glossary Multiple Definitions Precede each definition in a sequence with a number in parentheses followed by a single space graphics 1 Information presented in the form of 2 The display of pictures If the definitions are for different parts of speech show the part of speech abbreviation with a period in parentheses branch v To pass program control to a line or statement other than the next in sequence n A statement that performs the act of branching See also conditional branch unconditional branch More complexity is possible Consult a developmental editor if necessary when dealing with complex entries Independence A glossary should stand alone Don t include references to other parts of the document or other documents Assembling the Glossary The following steps provide an overview of steps needed to put together a glossary m First Decide which terms you need to include and define for your readers a Second Check to see if your department has a glossary from which you can cut and paste appropriate entries a Third Check other Apple documentation on related topics for highly specific definitions that may not appear elsewhere m Finally Look in other dictionaries or write your own definition 170 How to Write a Glossary You don t necess
26. bitmapping n One word in all forms You can use either bitmap font or bitmapped font but be consistent bitrate Two words bits per second bit s Spell out on first occurrence black and white adj black and white pred adj Note hyphenation You can change a color picture to a black and white picture With iPhoto you can change a picture to black and white For displays monochrome is usually more appropriate because it encompasses amber and black green and black and so on blank character Don t use use space character Apple Publications Style Guide 21 22 Style and Usage blinking Use to describe the insertion point Don t use flashing for this purpose Blue appearance Note capitalization An appearance available in Mac OS X See also appearance Bluetooth No internal cap board Don t use when you mean card A board is built in a card can be removed by the user Compare card bomb Don t use as a verb use not responding or stops responding OK to use as an adjective as in the bomb icon bookmark n v One word Boolean adj Note capitalization boot Don t use for start up or switch on except in developer documentation In documentation written for new users however you may want to mention the term boot or include it in the glossary because users may see the term elsewhere boot chime Don t use when you describe the chord heard during a successful startup sequence Use startup sound boot di
27. colon in text including a colon used before lists or steps should be preceded by an independent clause a complete thought with both subject and verb Your Macintosh computer includes these storage devices a A hard disk drive a An optional Zip drive in the expansion bay It s OK for a colon to precede lists or steps even if it is preceded by only a partial thought exception to The Chicago Manual of Style To create a new document 1 Click the TextEdit icon in the Dock 2 Choose File gt New Your Macintosh computer includes a A hard disk drive a An optional Zip drive in the expansion bay See also lists color lookup table CLUT Note lowercase when spelled out use one word for lookup Spell out on first occurrence color picker Avoid naming this feature in user documentation instead use a phrase like Choose a color in the dialog color pixels Not colored pixels colors Colors include shades of gray so you can use colors to refer to settings for both grayscale and color displays On first mention of setting colors say for example You can set the number of colors or shades of gray displayed on the screen Thereafter use colors Column View button The rightmost button in the View control in Finder windows Note capitalization fii Apple Publications Style Guide 35 command Use command or menu command in user documentation don t use menu option The menu contains a list of command
28. cute flippant or gimmicky heads Humor can be an effective means of enhancing the reader s experience but it generally works best in examples rather than in titles or heads that Use to introduce a restrictive clause clauses beginning with that are generally not set off with commas This is the computer that has network access There are many computers the phrase that has network access restricts narrows the meaning of the subject of the sentence to one computer The newest computer in the lab which is a Power Mac G4 is also the students favorite There is only one newest computer the phrase which is a Power Mac G4 although it provides more information doesn t restrict the subject of the sentence Compare which then Then is not a coordinating conjunction In plain declarative sentences that consist of two or more independent clauses then should usually be preceded by a comma and and or by a semicolon First you insert the CD and then you install the printer software First you insert the CD then you install the printer software In the imperative mood as in how to steps then is OK without the conjunction Insert the CD then install the printer software It s also correct to use and then in imperative sentences consisting of two independent clauses or to precede then by a semicolon Insert the CD and then install the printer software Insert the CD then install the printer software Whichever style
29. emf energy derived from electrical source per unit quantity of electricity electron volt eV energy farad coulombs per volt F capacitance foot ft length gallon gal volume gigabit Gbit computer memory gigabyte GB computer memory gigahertz GHz frequency gilbert Gb magnetomotive force gram g mass weight 154 Units of Measure Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity grams per cubic centimeter g cms density henry H inductance hertz cycles per second Hz frequency horsepower HP power hour h time inch in length joule kilogram meter J energy joules per second See watt kelvin K thermodynamic temperature kilobit 1000 bits kbit computer memory kilobits per second kbit s standard speed of data transmission kbps some Apple groups kilobyte 1024 bytes KB computer memory kilobytes per second KB s standard KB sec some Apple groups speed of data transmission kilogram kg mass weight kilogram meter See joule kilogram meters per second squared See newton kilograms per cubic meter kg ms density kilohertz kHz frequency kilohm kQ Option Z electric resistance kilometer km length distance kilometers per hour km h velocity kilowatt kilovolt ampere kw power Apple Publications Style Guide 155 Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity kilowatt hour kWh energy usually electric power consumption lines per i
30. inverted Don t use when you mean highlighted I O device Abbreviation for input output device Note capitalization and slash Spell out on first occurrence IP Abbreviation for Internet Protocol Spell out on first occurrence iPhoto Note capitalization Don t use when you refer generally to photos or pictures Correct You can use iPhoto to place your pictures in an album Incorrect You can email your iPhotos to friends iPod Note capitalization IrDA Note capitalization Short for Infrared Data Association which created a standard for transmitting data ISDN Abbreviation for Integrated Services Digital Network Spell out on first occurrence ISP Abbreviation for Internet service provider not ISP provider Spell out on first occurrence iSync Note capitalization and no h italics Use italics not boldface or underlining as described in this entry m References to titles of disks and titles of manuals Italicize the entire title See the Power Mac G4 Setup Guide m Letters as letters words as words and phrases as phrases talicize the i the o s the word boot the phrase Welcome to Macintosh But Type Q press Command S a Emphasis Use italics to emphasize a word or phrase but don t overdo it Make sure that the power cable is plugged in and that power is available at the outlet m Metasymbols in syntax examples Italicize metasymbols Read file var a When italics aren t available When italics aren t
31. megabits per second See also Ethernet Fast Ethernet gigabyte See GB glossary The writer and editor determine whether a book needs a glossary See Appendix D How to Write a Glossary on page 167 for guidelines on preparing a glossary glyph In discussions of font technology use when necessary to refer to the distinct visual representation of a character that a display device such as a monitor or printer can display In some non Roman writing systems several different glyphs may be used to represent a single character Gopher Note capitalization Use as an adjective a Gopher site a server with Gopher software The UNIX command gopher is all lowercase Correct You can use a Gopher site to find files located on computers throughout the world Correct You can use the gopher command to find files located on computers throughout the world Incorrect You use a Gopher to find files on remote computers Grab An application utility included with Mac OS X Don t use as a verb graphic adj Not graphical except in graphical user interface Compare graphics graphical user interface Note lowercase Don t use the acronym GUI Apple Publications Style Guide 65 66 Style and Usage graphics n adj The noun form usually takes a singular verb You can draw high resolution graphics with much more detail But Graphics are the responsibility of the design team Use graphics not graphic as an adjective in referenc
32. most compounds with double letters sub bezel and compounds that are homographs or could be misread re cover co worker See The Chicago Manual of Style for more examples prepositions Although placing prepositions at the ends of sentences can add an informal flavor to documentation avoid using this construction too frequently Instead rewrite the sentence or use the more grammatically correct preposition which Avoid Specify the application you want to connect with Instead Specify the application with which you want to connect Or Specify the application you want to use to connect Apple Publications Style Guide 111 112 Style and Usage preset n adj May be used as an adjective to describe a default setting iPhoto provides several book designs with preset fonts and page layouts In some applications preset may be used as a noun to describe a group of related default settings You can choose a preset in the iTunes equalizer to optimize the sound for a specific kind of music See also default press Use for keys on the keyboard and mechanical buttons and switches to mean pressing down and releasing Don t use click hit tap or type Press the Return key Press Command Q to quit iMovie Use for buttons on the screen or the mouse button to mean only pressing down without releasing To click press and release the mouse button Press the New button to see a list of memo forms then drag to the form y
33. refer to the whole computer In documentation written for new users however you may want to mention this misuse of CPU because users may see it elsewhere Never refer to the central processing unit as the unit See also main unit CGI Abbreviation for Common Gateway Interface Spell out on first occurrence Use CGI scripts as the plural form on first occurrence Thereafter it s OK to use CGls chain OK to use when you mean a series of USB devices connected together See also hierarchy chapter Capitalize the word chapter in references to specific chapters exception to The Chicago Manual of Style Chapter 5 Expanding Your Computer Chapters 4 and 5 in the next chapter Use title style caps for chapter titles See capitalization title style for guidelines chapter tables of contents Use tables of contents before each chapter only in very long documents where the main table of contents in the front matter is unmanageable as a locator for sections throughout the entire book If you use chapter tables of contents use them for every chapter character Use in reference to what a key on the computer s keyboard stands for Compare symbol check Don t use when you mean the action of clicking a checkbox to select an option checkbox Refers to an onscreen box like the ones shown here One word lowercase Not box or ballot box Checkbox 1 Checkbox 2 You click a checkbox to select or deselect an option you can use the
34. s the name of a metasymbol or the name of a disk it should be in italics in the index Generally the name of a document shouldn t be indexed but if it is it should be in italics If a term is in italics in text for emphasis or because it s a word used as a word it should be in plain style in the index Checking the Spelling When you ve completed the index markers and generated the index review the document with the spelling checker You cannot check the spelling within the markers Apple Publications Style Guide 175 International Style Following international style helps readers with limited English proficiency read what you write It also helps translators human or machine localize your writing by minimizing the burdens of cultural and customary language usage Use this style if your editor asks you to Writing in the international style means that you write simply and that you express yourself using standard international conventions These are the rules a Write in simple structures a Do not use idiomatic or colloquial expressions a Avoid shortcuts symbols and abbreviations that could easily be spelled out a Express data using the standard international conventions outlined in this appendix You should vary from these standards only when there is a truly compelling advantage in using a proprietary or customary style Currency Currency amounts are expressed with the appropriate International Organization for Sta
35. than that of a page within the site If a reader can figure out how to get to the specific information needed from the homepage of a whole site refer to that page rather than to a specific page because organization of sites frequently changes See also email addresses Internet Protocol IP Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence Apple Publications Style Guide 75 76 Style and Usage Internet service provider ISP Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence interprocess communication IPC n Note lowercase interrupt Use as a verb when you describe what happens at the hardware level when a running program is stopped Hardware interrupts a running program a user stops a running program OK to use interrupt as a noun in developer documentation Compare abort cancel exit halt quit stop into into Into implies motion from without to within Avoid substituting into for in to adverb and preposition Use in to when in is part of the verb Correct Plug the cable in to the USB port Correct These constants identify an index into the array of help tag content structures Incorrect Plug the cable into the USB port See also onto on to intranet Don t capitalize refers to a private network usually owned by a corporation or institution your company s intranet Compare internet Internet in use light Note hyphenation Use Ready in Use light to describe the light on a LaserWriter printer
36. that apply largely or exclusively to developer documentation These rules are also included by topic in the main body of this guide General Considerations When writing about a particular programming language be careful to follow the capitalization style of that language Code Use code font for code Develop a method of spacing around punctuation and use the method consistently It s often best to use English style spacing one space character between words because it s easy to remember and to stick with height width extended quo integer PageSize 1024 Syntax Descriptions Use code font for literals parts of the language values and so on italic regular text font for metasymbols artificial terms that have meaning only in your book and are to be replaced by a value or symbol and plain style regular text font for brackets that enclose something that s optional Pay close attention to punctuation Read file var Use embedded caps to connect words that act as a single metasymbol sourceFile Be consistent when naming metasymbols for example don t alternate between commands and commandL ist 163 Code Font in Text Most developer documentation uses code font for computer language elements in text Whether to use code font in text for other documents is a matter of judgment Use code font for all text fragments that the reader should construe as expressions in a programming language Use c
37. the text you want to make bold Select the checkbox next to each volume you want to index m Selecting objects Although users generally click to select objects they can also use the keyboard you need to use the complete phrase click to select only if you think there s potential for confusion Both of the following examples are acceptable Click to select a name in the list of users Select a name in the list of users m Checkboxes and radio buttons In a few cases select and click are interchangeable However use select or the complete phrase click to select when you refer to checkboxes and radio buttons If the item is already selected instructing the user to click deselects the item Correct Select the checkbox labeled Show displays in menu bar Ambiguous Click the checkbox labeled Show displays in menu bar a temnames Although it s usually clearest to include both the name of the interface item and what type of item it is such as a checkbox or radio button you can also refer to the item as an option or give only the name of the item to save space Select the option Show displays in menu bar Select Left Bottom or Right to position the Dock on your screen m Choose Use choose for menu items including those in pop up and shortcut menus See also choose click menus Compare deselect highlight unselected self powered See bus powered self powered self test n adj Note hyphenation Don
38. to navigate to a part of the interface Icon Click the Mail icon in the Dock to open the Mail application Button To show the toolbar click the Toolbar button in the top right corner of the window Button tab Open System Preferences click Network and then click the PPP tab a Activating an object Also use click to describe how users can make an object visible or activate an object on which they want to perform a task Icon Click the Photo Library icon to see all the images in your library Disc icon Click the disc icon and then choose File gt Make Alias Widget In the photo viewing area click the triangle next to the film roll you want to view See also click in press select click and drag Don t use You either click or drag Correct Drag the icon to the Trash Incorrect Click and drag the icon to the Trash 32 Style and Usage click and hold Don t use Click means to press and quickly release the mouse button Use press when you mean press and hold down the mouse button See also press click in You click in a window or region such as a scroll bar you click other onscreen elements such as icons and buttons See also click click on Don t use use click clip art Two words Clipboard Note capitalization In developer documentation it s OK to use pasteboard when you discuss the NSPasteboard class but point out that users view the contents of the pasteboard in the Clipboard In user documentation
39. using the plural if you must use an apostrophe and an s to form the plural but don t italicize the apostrophe or the s Exception to the rule that punctuation is in the same style as the word it follows O s p s S S a Fonts When you discuss fonts and character formation using italics for letters as letters may be misleading for example when you discuss a particular character in plain style In such cases use quotation marks The letter a can be converted to a a Key names Don t italicize a letter when you use it as the name of a key Press Command Q a What the user types Use code font not italics for a letter you instruct the user to type Type Z level 2 cache level 3 cache Note lowercase Can be abbreviated as L2 cache or L3 cache if necessary Don t use secondary cache or second level cache when you mean L2 cache See also backside cache like suffix Close up words ending with like unless the word is a proper name or a compound term or the resulting word is difficult to read Courier is a typewriter like font family A scanner allows you to convert photographs to lifelike images on the screen Behave in a businesslike manner at all times You can create an Ethernet like network limited warranty Note lowercase line Not necessarily the same as statement One line may contain several statements and one statement may extend over several lines line breaks Don t break a line between
40. when you use the letter x to stand for something else m Resolutions Use a lowercase x when you state resolutions 1024 x 768 note the space before and after the x a As a placeholder variable When you use x as a placeholder for replaceable numbers the x is lowercase and in regular text 02xx represents a range of Memory Manager errors Don t use x s as placeholders in numbers representing microprocessors Correct 68000 family microprocessor Incorrect 68xxx microprocessor a Fora range of version numbers Except in developer documentation don t use x to express a range of software version numbers as in 10 x use a specific number or range of numbers m To designate speed For the speed of disc drives use a lowercase x for example 24x speed Note that there is no space between the numeral and the x See also version XON XOFF All caps Refers to the handshake Xserve Note capitalization Xserve RAID Note capitalization Y adapter Note capitalization and hyphen zap Don t use Use reset instead Reset the PRAM zero character OK for the ASCII character 30 Don t confuse with null character 00 zeros Not zeroes zip code Note lowercase Zip disk Zip drive Note capitalization Don t call a Zip disk a cartridge zoom button Lowercase The rightmost button of the three window controls at the left of the title bar Clicking this button switches between the standard window size and the user resized size
41. you choose be consistent throughout a project 136 Style and Usage third party n third party adj The adjective is hyphenated Avoid in user documentation If possible replace with another descriptive term such as not made by Apple or from other manufacturers Avoid You can obtain external FireWire hard drives from third party companies Preferred If you ve installed plug ins from manufacturers other than Apple one of those plug ins could be causing the problem thread In the context of a series of related files such as email messages items are ina thread You can reply to an earlier message in the thread 3D No hyphen 3 5 Not 31 2 when you refer to 3 5 inch disks throw away Don t use when you mean to drag an item to the Trash Correct Once you ve expanded the compressed file drag it to the Trash Incorrect Throw away the compressed file once you ve expanded it thumb Don t use when you mean scroller or slider timecode One word no hyphen timeout n adj One word no hyphen timestamp n v One word no hyphen titlebar Two words Note lowercase titled Not entitled titles chapter and section Make part titles chapter titles and heads concise and consistent Keep the reader s needs in mind and remember that these elements are used primarily as locators for someone skimming through a document titles disk See disc or disk titles titles document See document titles titles window See window ti
42. 4 00 or 0800 046 046 Units of Measure Use only units of the International System of Units SI to express the values of quantities Equivalent values in customary units may be given in parentheses following SI values in cases where safety may be an issue or when they are used ina product s name International Authority Bureau Internationale des Poids et Mesures BIPM Standard BIPM SI Brochure 7th edition 1998 English language translation and United States interpretation is available from the Department of Commerce Federal Register 63 FR 40333 40340 Usage Quantities are always expressed with a unit symbol Use a nonbreaking space between the quantity and its symbol Unit symbols are unaltered in the plural and are never hyphenated even when they are used as an adjective Unit symbols are not followed by a period unless they appear at the end of a sentence Do not imply more precision than is reasonable in choosing a unit symbol The Apple USB Keyboard has a 1 m cable The iBook computer weighs 3 kg Warning The Apple Studio Display 21 weighs 35 kg 77 b Use care when lifting it The iMac Early 2001 computer has a 400 MHz processor The iBook computer has a 350 megahertz processor International Style
43. Apple Publications Style Guide Apple Computer Inc 2003 Apple Computer Inc All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical electronic photocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission of Apple Computer Inc with the following exceptions Any person is hereby authorized to store documentation on a single computer for personal use only and to print copies of documentation for personal use provided that the documentation contains the Apple copyright notice The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc registered in the U S and other countries Use of the keyboard Apple logo Option Shift K for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws Apple 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California 95014 USA 408 996 1010 www apple com Apple the Apple logo AirPort Apple Cinema Display AppleDesign AppleScript AppleShare AppleSoft Apple Store Apple Studio Display AppleTalk AppleWorks Aqua Final Cut Final Cut Pro FireWire iBook iMac iTunes Keychain LaserWriter LocalTalk Mac Macintosh PlainTalk PowerBook Power Mac Power Macintosh QuickDraw QuickTime Sherlock StyleWriter TrueType and WebObjects are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc registered in the U S and othe
44. Apple Publications Style Guide 57 58 Style and Usage field Use to refer to the boxes that appear in windows dialogs webpages or database records in which users enter information It s not necessary to specify text field or number field but if a field has a name try to use it For example Enter the video timecode in the Timecode field Fill in the required fields and then click Checkout For novice users text box or number box may be more appropriate These are OK too but try to be consistent within a document 56K modem The generic name for any modem that can achieve download speeds of up to 56 kbit s See also K56flex V 90 V 92 figure captions Use of figure captions varies by department Consult your department guidelines to determine whether to use them a Number and title Most figure captions include both a figure number and a figure title Unnumbered figures are not included in a list of figures and tables A figure with a number must also have a title a figure with a title generally has a number m Title length Figure titles should be short and to the point a line and a half should be considered the absolute maximum Avoid changing type styles in figure titles a Capitalization and articles Use sentence style capitalization for figure titles Don t end a title with punctuation even if the figure title is a complete sentence Use articles in captions whenever appropriate Correct The Apple menu Correct An
45. Note spacing between each word Don t use Mac OS 8 9 use Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9 Mac OS 8 and 9 is OK if you need to use the term a lot See also version Mac OS Standard format Note capitalization Mention on first occurrence that this is also called HFS thereafter use Mac OS Standard format See also HFS Apple Publications Style Guide 89 90 Style and Usage MacOSX Always use the full name don t shorten to OS X or X Note spacing between each word When abbreviating a version of Mac OS X use v closed up without a period and spell out on first occurrence Mac OS X version 10 2 v10 2 Thereafter it s OK to use Mac OS X v10 2 Mac OS X Server Note capitalization The server operating system Use only to refer to the server software don t use to refer to the computer with Mac OS X Server installed Call the computer the server or the server with Mac OS X Server installed Correct You can give users access to the server Incorrect Create a password to make your Mac OS X Server more secure Mail Capitalize the name of the application Note that Address Book is a separate application mailbox One word In Mail a mailbox is essentially a folder which can contain messages sent and received email and other mailboxes mailbox drawer In Mail when you click the Mailboxes button the mailbox drawer slides out It displays your mailboxes folders that contain messages Mailboxes button The button you click i
46. OS X architecture The correct term to use instead depends on the context Possible alternatives include Darwin With the Terminal application you can enter Darwin system commands and BSD UNIX File System UFS One of the file formats available in Disk Utility Not necessary to spell out on first occurrence unselected adj Use to describe something that is not selected Not deselected or dehighlighted Compare deselect unhighlighted Up Arrow key When you refer to more than one of the arrow keys arrow is lowercase as in the arrow keys upgradable Not upgradeable upload One word Reword if possible but OK to use when you refer to copying files to a server uppercase n adj One word no hyphen When used in conjunction with lowercase as a noun or to modify a noun use uppercase and lowercase both words spelled out in that order upside down adj Note hyphenation upward Not upwards URL Abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator which is another term for an Internet address URL is pronounced you are ell and should be preceded by a not an In most user documentation use Internet address or address not URL If you use URL spell it out on first use An Internet address is sometimes called a URL short for Uniform Resource Locator See also Internet addresses U S Note periods Exception to the rule that abbreviations do not include periods Use the abbreviation as an adjective only as a noun
47. P Abbreviation for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Spell out on first occurrence SnapBack Note internal cap The SnapBack technology is a feature of Safari Use SnapBack as an adjective Correct SnapBack button SnapBack page SnapBack technology Incorrect You can SnapBack to a previously visited page so called adj Don t italicize or use quotation marks around terms following so called socket Use to refer to a receptacle with holes that receives a plug or other connector Don t use female connector Compare connector jack port slot SO DIMM Acronym for small outline dual inline memory module Spell out on first occurrence Note hyphen in acronym software software program See application system software software license agreement Note lowercase software version numbers See version sound input port Lowercase no hyphen Not sound in port or Sound In port The port that connects the computer to a microphone or similar sound input equipment Compare audio input port sound output port Lowercase no hyphen Not sound out port or Sound Out port The port that connects the computer to headphones speakers or other sound output equipment Compare audio output port source file Two words Space bar Two words Note capitalization space character Not blank or blank character OK to use just space but in many cases it s necessary to remind the user that a space is actually a character and that margins indention word wra
48. Part Chapter or Appendix and its number or letter between Figure or Table and its number between slot or port and its number or between a product name and its number Don t break a line within an email address or URL line feed n line feed adj Note hyphenation of adjective link n In a hypertext document such as a World Wide Web page a link is a connection between an element in the document text or graphics and a different element in the document or another document file or script A user clicks the link to go to another page or perform an action The term hypertext link is an acceptable synonym Avoid using follow a link use click a link instead Correct Click a link on the homepage to go to another page Incorrect Follow the link to the page of your choice link v OK to use when you describe the act of creating a link in a webpage but don t use link to describe connecting to a webpage Correct When creating a webpage be sure to link to other interesting webpages Incorrect Click the map to link to other pages in the site Apple Publications Style Guide 83 84 Style and Usage lists Three types of lists are available bulleted multicolumn and numbered Avoid nesting bulleted lists within bulleted lists or numbered lists within numbered lists Also avoid using combinations of numbered and bulleted lists that contain more than a few items In such cases the hierarchy can easily become confusing
49. S X it s called the scroller it s no longer a box scroll wheel The mechanism on the original iPod SCSI Acronym for Small Computer System Interface Spell out on first occurrence The acronym is pronounced SKUH zee so it is preceded by a not an The DVD ROM drive is a SCSI device You can connect Narrow SCSI devices to the computer s external SCSI port Different types of SCSI connections are named according to their speed Note the treatment of these terms Narrow SCSI also called SCSI 1 Fast Narrow SCSI also called SCSI 2 Fast Wide SCSI Wide Ultra SCSI Wide Ultra2 SCSI SCSI cable Not SCSI system interface cable or SCSI interface cable Be specific SCSI system cable SCSI peripheral cable SCSI card Not SCSI interface card SCSI ID indicator Not SCSI priority switch SCSI ID number Not SCSI priority number SCSI ID switch Not SCSI priority switch setter or SCSI ID number switch SDRAM Abbreviation for synchronous dynamic random access memory Spell out on first occurrence secondary cache second level cache Don t use use level 2 cache or L2 cache select Use select not choose to refer to the action users perform when they select among multiple objects such as icons graphic images radio buttons or checkboxes in a dialog or when they highlight text for editing Select a name in the list of users To select several files at once hold down the Shift key and then click the files Select
50. Time a tab label in the Date amp Time pane of System Preferences and Network Time Synchronization are newsgroup One word nickel metal hydride Note hyphens Abbreviated NiMH See also batteries non prefix Close up except before a proper noun a proper adjective an abbreviation or an acronym or when the resulting word would be difficult to read a Note hyphens non ADB non Apple non Macintosh m Note en dashes non keyboard device non Mac OS X platforms non mouse device non operational state non USB device nonsexist language See fair language Apple Publications Style Guide 97 98 Style and Usage nonstartup disk Avoid when possible Instead use a disk that does not contain system software or another appropriate phrase normal installation Not normal install Note lowercase You perform a normal installation you don t do a normal install Note Use the Note tag for information that is relevant to a topic but that may not apply to all readers You can also use a note for a bit of information that s tangential to a topic Use notes and other notices sparingly They lose their effectiveness if they appear too often Don t use a Note tag immediately before or after a Warning or Important notice or immediately after a text head See also Important Warning notebook computer See laptop computer null character Use for ASCII character 00 Don t confuse with zero character ASCII 30 number Abbreviate as
51. To connect the monitor to your Power Mac G4 monitor cable Not video cable or monitor cord Use when you refer to cables for displays other than Apple displays otherwise use display cable Use display power cord or monitor power cord for the cord that goes from the display or monitor to the power source See also display cable monitor depth Avoid use color depth monitor port Not video port Use to refer to the port to which a monitor is connected Don t use monitor port to refer to the port to which an Apple display is connected See display port monospaced adj Not monospace Fixed width is the preferred term to describe fonts such as Courier in which each character takes up the same amount of space most recent Don t use to refer to a specific software update Instead use only the version number or a date in technical support documents or use or later to indicate a range of version numbers It s OK to use most recent if you re generally instructing users to keep their software up to date Correct For the best results make sure you re using the most recent version of Mac OS X Incorrect Mac OS X v10 2 1 is the most recent version of Mac OS X See also latest motherboard Don t use use main logic board or main board Apple Publications Style Guide 95 96 Style and Usage mount Avoid in user documentation For servers and other network volumes use connect to For disks and disk images describe the steps ne
52. X Incorrect The latest update is Firmware Update 4 1 2 See also most recent launch Don t use in user documentation when you mean to open a program OK to use in developer documentation Apple Publications Style Guide 81 82 Style and Usage LED Don t use in user documentation unless there s a specific reason to distinguish from LCD for example Use light Left Arrow key When you refer to more than one of the arrow keys arrow is lowercase as in the arrow keys left hand Avoid except in reference to left hand verso pages use just left whenever possible leftmost No hyphen left side Not left hand side less fewer Use less for quantity or bulk use fewer for countable items The fewer devices in your AppleTalk network system the less cable you need less than sign lt Note hyphenation Not ess than symbol You can also use left angle bracket if appropriate in the context let Avoid using let when you can restructure the sentence so that the reader is the subject Acceptable The Sort command lets you sort items in your document Preferable You use the Sort command to sort items in your document Or You sort items in your document with the Sort command See also allow disable disabled enable enabled letter quality printer Note hyphenation letters as letters Italicize a letter when it is used as a letter in documents designed to be read only onscreen use quotation marks m Plural Avoid
53. Zoomed Video port Note capitalization A port that enables data to be transferred directly from a PC Card to a VGA controller Apple Publications Style Guide 149 Units of Measure This appendix lists frequently used units of measure For each unit both the unit name and the unit symbol or abbreviation are given along with the quantity for which the unit is used Guidelines In user documentation spell out units of measure on first occurrence unless the context makes it clear what the unit symbol refers to this guideline applies to text tables or technical specifications Repeat the spelled out version in new sections and chapters if the unit symbol or abbreviation is obscure and if the audience requires it Always spell out customary units of measure in text for example 17 inch display It s OK to abbreviate them in tables and technical specifications Display size 17 in Use the unit symbol for units of the International System of Units SI after first occurrence If the unit symbol for meter could be confused with another term in your document spell out meter For example The maximum size for a memory card is 35 mm but The Ethernet cable is 40 meters long Abbreviations for customary units are followed by a period Unit symbols for SI units are not unless they appear at the end of a sentence Do not mix unit names and symbols kilogram m2 or unit symbols and abbreviations J sec Do not mix a prefix name with a un
54. a disk or to a disk but not onto a disk save box Don t use use close button Mac OS X or close box Mac OS 9 Scrapbook Classic Note capitalization screen Use to refer to what the user looks at while working on the computer Don t use display when you mean screen On an iBook eMac iMac or PowerBook the display is the LCD or CRT device The screen is the surface the user views Correct Tilt your PowerBook display to prevent glare on the screen Incorrect Tilt your PowerBook screen to prevent glare See also display screen shot n screen shot adj Two words note hyphenation of adjective script system Not script interface system When appropriate refer to a script system by its product name which may or may not include the words script system Don t capitalize generic references to types of script systems KanjiTalk is Apple s version of the Japanese script system The Roman Script System is available on all Macintosh computers Apple Publications Style Guide 121 122 Style and Usage scroll Avoid using as a transitive verb Correct Scroll through a document Correct Scroll to view more of the document Incorrect Scroll a document scroll arrows Two words not scroll bar arrows scrollbar Two words The whole control is the scroll bar In Mac OS X the control that users drag is the scroller in Mac OS 9 it s the scroll box scroll box Classic The control that users drag in the scroll bar In Mac O
55. act the reader Be careful that your humor is in good taste one reader s joke can be another reader s insult and keep in mind that humor may not translate well in localized text See also fair language hypertext link See link hyphenation In general hyphenate two words that precede and modify a noun as a unit Follow this rule especially when Confusion might result if the hyphen were omitted as in parameter list pointer or read only memory m The second word is a participle past or present as in binary coded decimal or color matching algorithm m The two modifiers are a number or a single letter and a noun or a participle as in 32 bit color or D shaped connector Follow these guidelines in various specific cases a Units of measure When you use a spelled out unit of measure in a compound adjective hyphenate the compound 3 5 inch floppy disk When you use an abbreviation or a metric unit of measure including KB MB mm and so on do not hyphenate 4 GB hard disk a Location compounds Hyphenate compounds such as ower left corner top right portion a Special cases Don t hyphenate disk drive or hard disk as nouns or as adjectives a Adverbs Don t hyphenate compounds with very or with adverbs that end in ly very good time recently completed project m Combination keystrokes In combination keystrokes use hyphens to signify that the first key or keys should be held down while the last key is pressed Don t
56. al Volume II Editorial a The wordVolume In cross references to specific volumes capitalize but don t italicize Volume See Volume 1 of the AppleSoft BASIC Programmer s Reference Manual for more information See also parts volume disk In general don t use volume to refer to disks in user documentation use disk or the specific kind of disk to which you re referring OK to use volume to refer to a server or to individual partitions on a disk Also OK to use volume to refer generically to units of storage when these may include a number of different kinds of disks You can use the Find command to search for items on all volumes connected to your computer volume name Two words Note the treatment of these similar terms device name filename pathname user name Volume Down key Volume Up key Note capitalization VRAM Stands for video random access memory Spell out on first occurrence Pronounced VEE ram vs Don t use use versus when absolutely necessary but rewrite to avoid the term when possible want An infinitive or a direct object should follow want in conditional statements It s OK to use wish by itself Correct Rename the file if you want to create infinitive a duplicate Correct Make a copy if you want a duplicate direct object Correct Rename the file if you wish Incorrect Rename the file if you want warm start n warm start adj Note hyphenation of adjective Warning Use a Wa
57. ands essential to the BSD Commands application environment The term Darwin doesn t appear in the Mac OS X user interface dash em Use the em dash to set off a word or phrase that interrupts or changes the direction of a sentence or to set off a lengthy list that would otherwise make the syntax of a sentence confusing Don t overuse em dashes If the text being set off does not come at the end of the sentence use an em dash both before it and after it m In cross references In cross references to a specific part of a document use an em dash to separate the part number from the part title For more information see Getting Started With Your Macintosh Part Setting Up Your Computer m Formatting To generate an em dash press Option Shift hyphen Close up the em dash with the word before it and the word after it Consult your department s guidelines for instructions on handling em dashes in HTML dash en The en dash is shorter than an em dash and longer than a hyphen a Numbers in a range Use an en dash between numbers that represent the endpoints of a continuous range bits 3 17 2003 2005 m Between compounds Use an en dash between the elements of a compound adjective when one of those elements is itself two words desktop interface specific instructions m Combination keystrokes Use an en dash between keystroke names in a combination keystroke when at least one of those names is two words or a hyphenated w
58. ane of System Preferences stop A general term meaning to cause a process command or program to cease Compare abort cancel exit halt interrupt quit style of type Not typestyle or type style subdirectory In developer documentation can be used to refer to a directory within another directory In user documentation use folder See also folder submenu indicator Refers to the triangular symbol that indicates an additional set of choices usually a submenu in a menu Move Left Submenu Move Right gt indicators submenus Use when you describe hierarchical menus When the user highlights a menu item with a triangular indicator a submenu appears When the user must choose an item from a submenu use this style Choose Edit gt Find gt Find Next Seber Al MA faj Fane peling Sparen Fia Preshi mIa Lien Selita fii Fire WE TOHI bo iihi Ej subnetwork No hyphen subtitles document See parts volume book Apple Publications Style Guide 129 130 Style and Usage support Avoid in user documentation when you can use compatible works with or another appropriate word or phrase Preferable To use iDVD you must have an Apple SuperDrive installed Preferable You can use files in most QuickTime formats with iMovie Avoid iMovie supports most QuickTime formats Avoid iDVD does not support DVD R drives other than the Apple SuperDrive It s OK to use support to refer to a product Apple h
59. any Transmission Control Protocol Internet Protocol TCP IP Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence Trash Note capitalization Use an article drag the file to the Trash TrueType One word troubleshoot v troubleshooting n adj One word turn on turn off OK to use when you describe power to a computer or peripheral device TV Not 7Vset or television set Use television on first occurrence except in the product name Macintosh TV TV monitor Don t use Use video monitor or monitor twisted pair cable Note hyphen 2 byte character Don t use use double byte character type n Use in general references to the text that appears on a printed page Don t use type when you mean font or font family Apple Publications Style Guide 139 140 Style and Usage type v Use to describe the act of pressing keys to produce characters on the screen Use code font to represent what the user actually types regular text font to describe generically what the user types Type PR 4 Type Hello Type your name For text to be read only onscreen quotation marks are often but not always used to represent what the user actually types Don t use type in when you mean type Compare enter press Type A connector Note capitalization A type of USB connector Use once and describe what it looks like rectangular type ahead n adj type ahead v No hyphen in verb Refers to the queuing of a user s keystrokes u
60. apitalization for figure captions and table captions In general a caption should read like a title Don t use a caption to explain a figure at length Make the explanation part of the regular text preceding the figure See also figure captions tables Table captions Carbon application An application written and compiled using the Carbon specification Universal Interfaces 3 3 2 or later Don t use Carbonized instead use something like an application updated for Carbon Use the term Carbon only in developer documentation card Refers to a removable circuit board that is installed in a slot Compare board See also interface card peripheral card card names Capitalize the word card in a card name only if card is part of the product name for example AirPort Card For generic names don t capitalize any part of the card name for example an internal modem card caret In developer documentation use caret for the blinking bar that marks the insertion point In user documents the blinking bar is the insertion point Don t use caret when you mean circumflex A circumflex is an accent used in French words such as tre Compare angle brackets carriage return CR Use only when you refer specifically to ASCII character OD or its equivalent Use return character when you write about for example searches for return characters Use Return key for the key you press Explain the term carriage return if your audience include
61. application whose icon is visible in the Dock or in the Application menu in the Classic environment use open Correct Quit open applications Incorrect Check to see if any applications are running m Background processes Use running for applications or processes that perform their function in the background and have no graphical interface Correct Open Process Viewer and make sure the net infod process is running a Applications with a graphical interface Say use not run to describe what a user does with a program that has a graphical interface Correct Do not use other applications while burning a DVD Incorrect Do not run other applications while burning a DVD m Utilities In most cases avoid using run to refer to using a utility application Instead describe the actions the user performs Correct Before installing the software open Disk Utility select your disk and click Verify Disk Avoid Before installing the software run Disk Utility m Versions of the Mac OS For descriptions of versions of the Mac OS use with or that has not running Correct a computer with or that has Mac OS X version 10 2 Incorrect a computer running Mac OS X version 10 2 runtime n adj One word no hyphen sad Macintosh Classic Refers to the startup icon Use quotation marks Not sad Mac Safari Capitalize the name of the application sans serif adj No hyphen Not sanserif save You can save a file on
62. arily have to use an existing definition verbatim Make up your own variant or examples if appropriate If an entry contains both a simple definition and a complex one and you don t need both pick out the applicable part Correct errors or misconceptions if you find them Apple Publications Style Guide 171 How to Develop an Index This appendix provides guidelines for developing and checking index entries Choosing the Number of Levels For most books two levels of entries are enough Some books may require three The indexer writer and developmental editor should agree on the number of levels before the indexing begins though the indexer may suggest changing the number after work begins Main Entries A main entry shouldn t have more than five page numbers after it If there are more than five page numbers use subentries Don t use s to make a main entry both singular and plural Subentries can be worded so that all of them read correctly with one form of the main entry Subentries Don t use adjectives as main entries with nouns as subentries such subentries should be separate main entries For example synchronous communication and synchronous modem should each be main entries communication and modem should not be subentries of synchronous Use the subentry defined only when there are multiple page numbers for an entry if only one page number is given no subentry is necessary Wording Wording should be as terse
63. as not tested or to a feature that Apple does not provide but that the user can obtain for example using software from other manufacturers Avoid saying Apple does not support something Preferable You can t copy songs from your iPod to your computer Acceptable Check the iMovie website for a list of supported camcorders Avoid Apple does not support copying songs from your iPod to your computer S video Note capitalization and hyphen S video input port Connects the computer to video equipment that uses an S video connector Not S video In port Different from a composite video input port Compare video input port S video output port Connects the computer to video equipment that uses an S video connector Not S video Out port Different from a composite video output port Compare video output port switch on switch off Don t use power down power off power on or power up in user documentation OK to use turn on and turn off symbol OK ina generic sense as in the percent symbol Don t use symbol when you mean character letter or digit Use sign not symbol in the following terms division sign equal sign greater than sign less than sign minus sign multiplication sign number sign and plus sign sync synced syncing No h except in the full word synchronize Sync synced and syncing are OK as short forms of the verb synchronize or as short ways to refer to particular instances of synchronization You can s
64. as possible but it s OK to use prepositions and conjunctions such as in of and and to make the relationship between the main entry and subentry clear Ignore these small words when alphabetizing 173 174 Commands Follow the names of commands routines and options with an identifier in the index entry especially when the same word or words have another meaning For example Print command rather than just Print MAX function rather than just MAX PL option rather than just PL Cross References a Seealso See also references go on a separate line immediately after the main entry Use semicolons to separate items in a list of cross references For example icons 4 See also applications disks documents folders m See Use a see cross reference when there is more than one way to index a topic and a topic has subentries If Universal Serial Bus has subentries USB See Universal Serial Bus If connectors has subentries expansion connectors See connectors If the topic has no subentries put the page numbers in both places don t use a see cross reference Universal Serial Bus USB 26 111 USB Universal Serial Bus 26 111 You can put the full entry both places even when there are subentries but you must set a consistent cutoff point for using cross references instead of the full entry when the entry is more than five lines for example If an index entry is a term not used in the document alw
65. available such as in some text designed to be read only on the screen use quotation marks for references to titles of disks and manuals and for letters as letters words as words and phrases as phrases a When a term stands for or defines another term Use italics not quotation marks after stands for labeled named termed the term and so on If the term is an onscreen element however use plain text for elements whose names are capitalized title style use plain text in quotation marks for elements whose names are capitalized sentence style INIT stands for initialize A folder named New Folder appears Click the checkbox labeled Keep lines together a What the user types Use code font not italics for a letter word or phrase you want the user to type Type Read and press Return iTunes Note capitalization Apple Publications Style Guide 77 78 Style and Usage jack A small round 1 pin socket used in audio and video connections Don t use connector to refer to a jack See also connector port slot socket jargon Avoid jargon whenever possible Define technical terminology on first occurrence JPEG All caps Pronounced JAY peg Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group JPEG usually refers to the image compression standard that this group developed for color and grayscale images justification Don t use to refer to the alignment of text to the right or left margin use alignment Text that is alig
66. ays use a see cross reference to refer to the term that is in the document whether or not the entry has subentries booting See starting up How to Develop an Index Order of Entries Alphabetizing Alphabetize letter by letter not word by word Numerals When an entry begins with a numeral alphabetize it as if the number were spelled out When entries that contain numbers are grouped together put the entries in numerical order within that group For example G3 before G4 6502 before 65816 Nonalphabetic characters Indexes may begin with a section of nonalphabetic entries The section could include symbols numbers Greek letters and so forth Most entries in this section should also appear subsequently alphabetized as if they were spelled out Headings Separate entries with alphabetic headings A B and so on A letter for which there are no entries should be listed after the preceding letter If there are no entries beginning with X the heading would be W X not X Y Style of Entries Capitalization Don t capitalize all entries Capitalize only the entries you capitalize in the text Code font If a term is in code font because it s a literal computer language word functions constants and so forth it should be in code font in the index If it s in code font in the text to indicate what the user types it should be in regular text font in the index Italics lf a term is in italics in text because it
67. ber of hours from UTC See The Chicago Manual of Style section 8 46 The Power Mac G4 Cube computer was introduced on 2000 07 19 The file will be posted at 18 00Z The file will be posted at 18 00 0800 PST Decimals Decimals are expressed by a period or a comma For numbers larger than 999 do not use a period or comma as a separator A nonbreaking space Option Space bar may be used instead International Authority Bureau Internationale des Poids et Mesures BIPM Standard BIPM SI Brochure 7th edition 1998 Rationale Breaking up large numbers makes them easier to read especially in tables A nonbreaking space cannot be confused as a decimal marker International Style Usage Use a period to produce a decimal in English Numbers may be divided in groups of three on either side of the decimal to make them easy to read Use a nonbreaking space instead of a period or comma to divide numbers Express large numbers in their smallest form to make them easier to read A kilobyte is 1024 bytes Apple sold 300 000 iMac computers in the first quarter Apple sold 3 7 million iMac computers in two years Languages Language names are represented by a two character code International Authority International Organization for Standardization ISO Standard ISO 639 1 Usage Languages are represented by a two character code in a table column or row that clearly indicates that the code represents a language a de German
68. bly language assembly language n assembly language adj Not assembler language Note hyphenation of adjective Assistant Capitalize when the word is part of a full name Use Setup Assistant to Use lowercase when you use the term by itself or generically Use the assistant to You can use assistants to assure Don t use when you mean ensure Assure means to state positively as to remove doubt Compare ensure insure Asynchronous Common Gateway Interface ACGI Spell out on first occurrence attach Don t use to mean connect as in Connect the USB device to your computer audio CD Not CD audio disc audio input port Lowercase no hyphen Not audio in port or Audio In port The port that connects the computer to RCA type output ports of video or audio equipment Compare sound input port audio output port Lowercase no hyphen Not audio out port or Audio Out port The port that connects the computer to RCA type input ports of video or audio equipment Compare sound output port auto key adj Note hyphenation autoplay Autoplay The feature is lowercase the button name is capitalized autorepeat n adj No hyphen available disk Not mounted disk in user documentation See also mounted disk back end n back end adj Note hyphenation of adjective backlit One word back panel Two words backside cache A kind of level 2 cache Backside cache operations are faster than those of other level 2 caches A
69. bols In user and developer documentation print and electronic don t use trademark symbols for Apple products in headings or text Note however that other types of documentation such as marketing materials sometimes do use trademark symbols in text Follow the usage guidelines specific to your type of documentation Trademark status changes with time For the most current Apple trademarks consult the trademark list on the web trademarks usage Follow these guidelines for using trademarks a As adjectives Trademarks are correctly used as adjectives modifying nouns Don t use a trademark as a noun on first use in text Thereafter you can occasionally use the noun form but use the adjective form frequently throughout the text Correct first mention Congratulations on the purchase of your new iMac computer Incorrect first mention Congratulations on the purchase of your new iMac Acceptable later reference Use both hands to lift your iMac m Plural form Avoid using a trademarked name in the plural form Correct If you have more than one Macintosh Incorrect If you have several Macintoshes a Possessive form Don t use a trademarked name in the possessive form Correct Use the iTunes equalizer to adjust the sound Correct Learn more about iBook features Incorrect Use iTunes equalizer to adjust the sound a Third party trademarks For third party trademarks follow the usage guidelines posted by the third party comp
70. c The Mac OS 9 application for selecting devices on a network Note capitalization circuit board n No hyphen circumflex Don t use when you mean caret A circumflex is an accent used in French words such as tre Compare angle brackets caret Apple Publications Style Guide 31 Classic application A Classic application is one originally created for Mac OS 9 or earlier that has not been rewritten for Mac OS X Don t use Classic as a noun Correct You can use Classic applications in the Classic environment Correct Click the Classic button to display Classic preferences Incorrect You can run the application in Classic Classic button A button in the Classic pane of System Preferences Classic Mac OS Don t use instead use Mac OS 9 and earlier or whatever is applicable Classic describes applications not the operating system clean installation Not clean install Note lowercase You perform a clean installation you don t do a clean install click Use click to describe the act of positioning the pointer on an object and briefly pressing and releasing the mouse button Don t use click on You don t click the mouse button you press and release it Since most users know what clicking is you need to define it only in documentation designed for beginning users such as tutorials Use click to describe the following user actions m Initiating a process and navigating Users click to initiate a process or event or
71. caps and enclose the title but not the word Chapter or the chapter number in quotation marks See Chapter 2 The Cinema Tools Interface Some departments may include page numbers in cross references to chapter titles consult your department s style guidelines See Chapter 3 Setting Up Your Computer on page 24 Instructional Products and User Publications use this style See Chapter 3 Kernel Architecture page 40 Technical Publications uses this style a To document titles Use title style caps and italics don t use quotation marks Don t capitalize or italicize phrases like user s guide unless they are part of the title as it appears on the cover of the document Don t include trademark symbols See Getting Started With Your Macintosh PowerBook See your Macintosh user s guide Apple Publications Style Guide 41 42 Style and Usage When you refer to an edition number use lowercase and spell out both the ordinal number and edition See Technical Introduction to the Macintosh Family second edition for more information m To section titles Use title style caps and enclose the title in quotation marks Some departments include page numbers in cross references to the titles of sections of printed manuals consult your department s style guidelines See Trouble Starting Up in Chapter 4 See Before You Install the Software on page 16 m To onscreen help When you refer to onscreen h
72. card No hyphen A copyright notice should appear on all quick reference cards Copyright year Apple Computer Inc All rights reserved QuickTime Player Don t use the with the product name open QuickTime Player QuickTime VR VR stands for virtual reality Don t use QTVR quit You quit or exit from a program You never exit a program Compare abort cancel exit halt interrupt stop quotation marks Use curly opening and closing quotation marks except in code font a With periods and commas Put periods and commas within quotation marks If necessary for clarity periods and commas can go outside as in ANS 17 a With other punctuation Semicolons colons question marks and exclamation points go outside quotation marks unless they re part of an actual quotation m Four character identifiers When you give the name of four character identifiers such as file types use straight single quotation marks in code font and place any punctuation outside the quotation marks Examples of file types are TEXT PICT and APPL a Terminology Use quotation marks not quote marks or quotes Quote is a verb quotation is a noun or an adjective m For cross references and quotations Use quotation marks for references to other sections of documents chapter titles and direct quotations See Maintenance on page 83 See Chapter 2 Using iMovie m Onscreen use Use quotation marks around text that appears only onscree
73. ception to American Heritage folder A folder can contain files and other folders In developer documentation folders are usually referred to as directories Capitalization Capitalize folder names according to how they are named and how they appear on the screen If the word Folder does not appear in the folder name do not capitalize the f Communications folder The word folder doesn t appear on the screen System folder In Mac OS X the word folder doesn t appear on the screen System Folder In Mac OS 9 the word Folder appears on the screen and is capitalized Apple Publications Style Guide 61 62 Style and Usage m Folders for different users When you refer to folders on a computer used by more than one person you need to distinguish only the folders that are not accessible to all users For example the top level applications folder that s accessible to all users of a computer is the Applications folder An individual user s applications folder is a user s Applications folder or your Applications folder See also directory font For bitmap fonts a complete set of characters in one typeface such as Times or Garamond size and style For outline fonts a complete set of characters in one typeface and style Don t use face Compare font family typeface font family Use to refer to a complete representation of characters for one typeface including all available sizes and styles for example Times
74. cessary to make the disk or disk image available to the file system for example Double click the disk image It s OK to use mount in developer documentation and when you discuss certain environments including Mac OS X Server User documentation You can connect to a shared disk by double clicking the disk s alias Server documentation Log in to the remote server and mount each volume that you want to make a share point mounted disk Avoid in user documentation Use available disk on the desktop or in a Finder window Click the Computer button to see a list of all available disks Note that in Finder preferences users can choose whether to display disks on their desktop mouse ahead n adj mouse ahead v No hyphen in verb Refers to the queuing of the user s mouse actions until an application is ready to process them Compare type ahead type ahead mouse and mouse terms Drop references to the mouse as quickly as possible Switch emphasis to the actions on the screen such as clicking dragging selecting or choosing See also choose click drag press select mouse devices It s OK to use mice but try to avoid the plural of mouse mouse down event Note hyphenation Mouse Keys Capitalize when you refer to the feature that can be set in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences mouse scaling n mouse scaling adj Note hyphenation of adjective mouse up event Note hyphenation MPEG All caps no hyphen
75. command by name You paste something using the Paste command you don t Paste it Apple Publications Style Guide 103 104 Style and Usage pasteboard Don t use in user documentation when you mean Clipboard OK to use in developer documentation that discusses the NSPasteboard class but point out that users view the contents of the pasteboard in the Clipboard pathname One word Note the treatment of these similar terms device name filename user name volume name pathnames Use slashes to indicate a path to a file location Use the tilde to indicate a user s home directory Open the Grab application located in Applications Utilities Your files are saved in Documents In developer documentation pathnames are in code font PC Avoid PC when you refer to Apple personal computers Use personal computer It s OK to use PC Windows based PC or Windows PC to refer to non Apple personal computers Correct QuickTime is available for both Macintosh computers and Windows based PCs Correct The Macintosh is an easy to use personal computer Correct You can share Macintosh files with a PC on a wireless network Incorrect PCs have gotten much faster in the last year PCCard Note capitalization A card that conforms to the standard set by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association PCMCIA On first occurrence include a parenthetical reference to PCMCIA cards You use PC Cards PCMCIA cards to expand y
76. complete phrase click to select or just select You don t check or uncheck a checkbox See also button radio button select checkmark Use to refer to the X or check symbol in a checkbox One word checksum One word chip Use integrated circuit or silicon chip with an explanation of the term on first occurrence Don t use chip when you mean microprocessor PowerPC microprocessor not PowerPC chip choose Use choose not select for menu items In general the user selects something such as a disk icon a graphic image or a section of text and then chooses a command to act on the selection a Pull down menus Use the right angle bracket gt to show the sequence of choosing commands from menus in the menu bar Choose Menu Name gt Item gt Submenu Item Choose File gt New gt Mail Message Choose File gt Save As Note the spaces around the angle brackets When the user can choose any item in a submenu you can use either of these styles Choose File gt Export gt shape Choose File gt Export and then choose a shape m Pop up menus and shortcut menus When you give instructions for a pop up menu with a name use this style Choose Built in Ethernet from the Show pop up menu If the pop up menu doesn t have a name or if it s a shortcut menu use this style Choose QuickTime from the pop up menu Choose Make Alias from the shortcut menu See also menus pop up menus select Chooser Classi
77. de 13 14 Style and Usage alphabetic Not alphabetical except when you refer specifically to alphabetical order Exception to American Heritage alphabetization Alphabetize letter by letter not word by word program disk programmer program selector alphanumeric One word Alt key Don t use except when you give instructions for Windows users For Macintosh users use Option key See also Option key alternate Don t use when you mean alternative As an alternative to fsck you can use Disk Utility to check the disk for errors AltiVec Don t use when you mean Velocity Engine OK to say that the Velocity Engine is based on AltiVec technology A M Note small caps and periods Exception to the rule that abbreviations do not include periods In text to be read onscreen you can use full caps A M instead of small caps America American Refers to both North and South America Don t use when you mean United States See also U S ampersand Use the ampersand character amp in text only when you describe a command name an onscreen element or a book or disk title that uses the character and or Rewrite to avoid this construction angle brackets Use angle brackets not brackets to describe these symbols lt gt Use left angle bracket and right angle bracket when you need to distinguish between opening and closing brackets You can also use ess than sign and greater than sign for these symbols if appropriate in th
78. e 99 100 Style and Usage m Large numbers For very large numbers that are a power of 2 you can use the exponential form to avoid a long string of digits for example 232 Numbers larger than 65 536 216 are good candidates for showing in exponential form If there are numbers larger and smaller than 65 536 in the same discussion show the smaller numbers both ways x must be between 1024 210 and 232 See also fractions number sign Use to describe this character Don t use pound sign or number symbol Avoid using the number sign to specify an item in a numbered series You can frequently omit number or the number sign from a sentence and still make the meaning clear See document 58677 for more information Use part 661 2262 to repair the computer numeric adj Not numerical except when you refer specifically to numerical order Exception to American Heritage See also numerics numeric keypad Can be shortened to keypad Don t use numerical keypad or numeric keyboard numerics n adj As a noun numerics takes a singular verb Use numerics not numeric as an adjective in relation to the science of numerics numerics capabilities numerics environment offline One word offsite One word OK Not okay onboard One word Short for on the board refers to components attached to a circuit board or logic board Use built in as in built in video card or internal unless you need to make clear that a compo
79. e TCP IP networking protocol When used as a noun always preceded by the Don t use Internet and World Wide Web or web interchangeably the web is just one part of the Internet Compare internet intranet Internet addresses An Internet address can specify an address on the World Wide Web WWW or on other Internet sites such as File Transfer Protocol FTP and Telnet sites A prefix in the address indicates the type of site to which the address points For example website http samples examples com FTP site ftp myfiles hobbies org Telnet site telnet games transfer com An Internet address includes a suffix that indicates the domain to which the address belongs Examples of domain suffixes include edu educational organizations com commercial organizations mil military organizations org nonprofit organizations uk fi networks located in the United Kingdom Finland a Font Use plain text for an Internet address unless you re instructing the reader to type the address m Line breaks Avoid breaking Internet addresses set them on a separate line if necessary a Punctuation If an Internet address ends a sentence it s OK to use a period m References When you refer to a website or page use a generic name for example the Apple website rather than the specific title for example Welcome to Apple Computer if possible because webpage titles change frequently Use the top level home address rather
80. e context Compare caret circumflex anonymous FTP Note lowercase a See also FTP ANSI Abbreviation for American National Standards Institute anti prefix Close up except before i a proper noun or a proper adjective Hyphenate in those cases Exception anti alias anti alias Note hyphen API Abbreviation for application programming interface apostrophes Use the curly apostrophe except in code font Check your department s guidelines for usage with HTML See also plurals possessives quotation marks appear Use appear not display to refer to the appearance of items on the screen The Print dialog appears When possible avoid stating that the item appears the user can see the item on the screen or include the item in instructions In the Print dialog choose Layout from the pop up menu appearance A coordinated look for user interface elements in Mac OS X Blue and Graphite are examples of appearances appendix Use appendixes for background information and other supplementary material that does not contribute directly to the main subject of the document In user manuals technical information should go in an appendix a Letters Appendixes are lettered Appendix A Appendix B and so forth m Part title An appendix part title may precede the first appendix and includes only the word Appendixes a Single appendix When a book has only one appendix it should be titled Appendix not Appendix A Cross references t
81. e hard disk icon This action is called pointing Then press and release the mouse button to select the icon This action is called clicking the icon Thereafter Point to the hard disk icon and click to select it Once the reader is familiar with basic mouse techniques it s often not necessary to mention pointing at all Click the hard disk icon or Select the hard disk icon Apple Publications Style Guide 107 108 Style and Usage pointer OK in general references but be specific whenever appropriate arrow crosshair beam Cursor may be appropriate when you describe other interfaces and in developer documentation See also insertion point R L Arrow Crosshair l beam POP Acronym for Point of Presence or Post Office Protocol Spell out on first occurrence When used as an abbreviation for Post Office Protocol POP must modify a noun such as server or ID pop up v pop up adj Note hyphenation of adjective pop up menus Refer to pop up menus by name if there is one Don t use pop up as a noun Correct Choose Using DHCP from the Configure pop up menu Incorrect Choose Using DCHP from the Configure pop up When you give instructions for choosing an item from a pop up menu use the style shown here Choose Wavy Lines from the Effects pop up menu If the pop up menu doesn t have a name simply call it the pop up menu Choose Numeric from the pop up menu port Use to refer to a location for passing data i
82. e to the field of graphic art or graphic design You can use advanced graphics software on the Macintosh Graphite appearance Note capitalization An appearance available in Mac OS X gray Not grey grayed Don t use use dimmed or highlighted in gray depending on the context grayscale n adj One word greater than sign gt Note hyphenation Not greater than symbol You can also use right angle bracket if appropriate in the context grey Don t use use gray grounded outlet Not grounding type outlet grow box Don t use use resize control half duplex adj Note hyphenation half height adj Note hyphenation Not half high halt Refers to what happens when the operation of a program stops Compare abort cancel exit interrupt quit stop handshake handshaking One word See also XON XOFF hang Don t use as a description of the computer s behavior in response to a system error use a phrase such as not responding Correct If the computer does not respond to input from the keyboard or mouse a system error may have occurred Incorrect If the computer hangs a system error has probably occurred happy Macintosh Classic Refers to the startup icon Use quotation marks Not happy Mac hard disk n adj Use hard disk to refer to a disk and its contents or to the icon you see on the desktop or in a Finder window Use hard disk drive or hard drive to refer to the mechanism that holds and accesses the disk
83. e verb is two words player Don t use the when using the full name of a product whose name includes Player Correct Use QuickTime Player to view the movie Correct Open the QuickTime Player application Incorrect Open the QuickTime Player plug Not male connector See also connector plug in n Note hyphen If however the hyphen is not used in something users see in the interface or in a filename match that style for those specific instances Locate the QuickTime Plugin on your hard disk In headings lowercase the i in Plug in exception to the rule that you capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound plug in v Use only when you refer to the specific act of plugging a connector in to a port or outlet For example a power cord plugs in to an electrical outlet you can plug a USB connector in to a USB port See also connect connector plurals a Acronyms and abbreviations To form the plural of an acronym or an abbreviation add an s but no apostrophe ICs RAMs ROMs m Adjectives Don t add s to an adjective unless necessary For example it s electronic circuit but electronics engineer Other words that fall into this class of adjectives are graphic and graphics communication and communications numeric and numerics a Letters and symbols To form the plural of a letter or symbol add an apostrophe and ans p s s a Numbers Form the plural of numbers by adding an s 1s 1930s a Nouns Don t use
84. eCare During startup you can scan the manual that came with your computer See also boot startup disk Preferred term but boot disk is OK in developer documentation Apple Publications Style Guide 127 128 Style and Usage Startup Disk A pane in System Preferences If you need to distinguish between the Mac OS X version and the Mac OS 9 version you can refer to them this way the Startup Disk pane of Mac OS X System Preferences the Classic Startup Disk control panel the Startup Disk control panel included with Mac OS 9 startup display startup screen Not splash screen Startup display startup screen and opening display are all OK startup sound Use to refer to the chord heard during a successful startup sequence Don t use boot chime statement Not necessarily the same as ine One line may contain several statements and one statement may extend over several lines stationery In user documentation not stationery document The checkbox in the Info window is labeled Stationery Pad note capitalization stationery aware program Don t use Use program that works with stationery or program that recognizes stationery step Don t capitalize even in specific references step 1 steps 1 and 2 several steps stereotypes See fair language Stickies The name of an application The things you create with Stickies are called notes Sticky Keys Capped when you refer to the feature that can be set in the Universal Access p
85. elp don t place quotation marks around the names of specific Apple Help books such as Keychain Access Help Do place quotation marks around the names of chapters of an Apple Help book as you would the chapters of a printed book See the Files and Programs topic area of Mac Help See the section New Features in AppleScript Help Ctrl Abbreviation for Control not all caps Use only when space constraints don t allow use of the full term as in column heads in tables otherwise use Control as in Control key or Control S curly brackets Don t use use braces cursor In describing the Macintosh user interface use insertion point or pointer depending on the context Cursor may be appropriate in describing other interfaces and in developer documentation See also arrow insertion point pointer custom installation Not custom install Note lowercase You perform a custom installation you don t do a custom install cut Don t capitalize unless you re referring to the Cut command by name You cut something using the Cut command you don t Cut it DAC Acronym for digital to analog converter Spell out on first occurrence daisy chain n daisy chain v adj daisy chained adj pred adj Hyphenate except when you use the phrase as a noun daisy chain Darwin An operating system that includes some but not all of the components of Mac OS X Darwin comprises the kernel plus the BSD libraries and comm
86. eneral rules of style and usage for Apple publications Entries appear in alphabetical order m Appendix A Units of Measure beginning on page 151 provides preferred style for spelled out and abbreviated forms of units of measurement likely to occur in Apple publications m Appendix B Hardware Product Names beginning on page 159 lists the official names of major recent Apple products Software products are listed in Style and Usage a Appendix C Technical Notation beginning on page 163 provides special style and usage rules that apply largely or exclusively to developer documentation These rules are also included by topic in Style and Usage m Appendix D How to Write a Glossary beginning on page 167 provides guidelines for preparing glossaries m Appendix E How to Develop an Index beginning on page 173 provides guidelines for creating an index a Appendix F International Style beginning on page 177 provides guidelines for creating material for localization This guide includes terms that appear in Mac OS X and its Classic environment Terms that appear only in the Classic environment are designated as such 8 About This Guide Standard Editorial Resources In general follow the style and usage rules in a The American Heritage Dictionary m The Chicago Manual of Style a Words Into Type Exceptions to certain guidelines in these resources are noted in this guide I
87. er line Text connected by a leader line is a callout Labels are embedded in the figure Keep labels brief Capitalization is sentence style See also callouts file Refers to any entity stored on a disk regardless of whether the user can open edit or print it Compare document file formats Abbreviations should be in all caps filename extensions in lowercase In most cases you don t need to spell out on first occurrence The following table shows abbreviations extensions and names for some common file formats Abbreviation Extension Full name AIFF aif Audio Interchange File Format GIF gif Graphics Interchange Format JPEG jpg Joint Photographic Experts Group MP3 mp3 MPEG Audio Layer 3 PDF pdf Portable Document Format RTF tf Rich Text Format TIFF tif Tagged Image File Format WAV WAVE wav Waveform format file locations See pathnames FileMaker Inc Note capitalization Apple Publications Style Guide 59 60 Style and Usage filename One word In specific references capitalization should agree with the way the filename appears in the interface the file system Name the file Paperdoc The file contains CurrencyConverter nib You can find a document by typing its filename in the Search field Note the treatment of these similar terms device name pathname user name volume name file server Two words In user documentation use only when you explain what a file server is a comp
88. es in examples Not always Jones Smith and Johnson Sometimes Wong Scharanski Kawabata Contreras Meyer m Gender Include both female and male names in examples Not always John Jim and Bob Sometimes Jane and Susan better yet sometimes Maria Carlos Yoshiko m Situations Portray both women and men in a variety of occupations and situations not just stereotypical ones a Pronouns Avoid using male pronouns generically Use he or she or switch to the plural when he or she is awkward Sometimes you can use the second person Correct A programmer debugs his or her code Correct Programmers debug their code Or You debug your code Incorrect A programmer debugs his code Fast Ethernet Note capitalization A standard that allows data transmission rates of up to 100 megabits per second See also Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Favorites Capitalize when you refer to the Favorites folder or the Favorites button in the Finder toolbar favorites toolbar The user customizable area at the top of the System Preferences window fax modem card No hyphen or slash felt tip pen Note hyphenation Not fe t tipped pen female connector Don t use use socket See also connector fewer less Use fewer for countable items use less for quantity or bulk The fewer devices in your AppleTalk network system the less cable you need fiber optics n fiber optic adj The adjective is two words no hyphen fiber optic cable
89. example a set of video clips In this context it s OK to use media and multimedia as singular terms Media is played but not stored by the client software Multimedia sent over the Internet is encoded and compressed for transmission Media Eject key Note capitalization megabit See Mbit megabits per second Mbit s Spell out on first occurrence megabyte See MB megabytes per second MB s Spell out on first occurrence memory address memory location OK to use just address or location for brevity Don t use commas in addresses even in numbers of five digits or more menu bar Two words menus Anything that can be chosen in a menu is a menu item some menu items are also menu commands or simply commands Use menu item to refer to items that aren t commands such as window names in the Window menu Don t use menu option A menu item is ina menu not on or under a menu a menu contains items or commands a Pull down menus When you give instructions for choosing an item from a pull down menu a menu in the menu bar use the style shown here Choose menu gt item gt submenu Item Choose Edit gt Find gt Find Next Choose File gt Save As Pop up menus and shortcut menus For pop up menus use the style shown here Choose Intranet LAN from the Connection Speed pop up menu Choose a format from the Format pop up menu If the pop up menu doesn t have a name or if it s a shortcut menu simply call
90. external FireWire drive connected to a Macintosh Incorrect External FireWire Drive Connected to a Macintosh m n text references Each numbered figure should have an in text reference to point the reader to the appropriate figure at the appropriate point You can use various styles for in text references depending on the needs of the sentence An explicit see reference as a separate sentence in parentheses See Figure 6 2 An explicit see reference in parentheses within a sentence Choose Mail gt Mail Preferences see Figure 6 2 Just the figure number in parentheses the Page Setup dialog Figure 3 13 appears A phrase set off by commas the Page Setup dialog shown in Figure 3 13 appears The figure number as the subject of a sentence Figure 3 1 shows You can use more than one style in a project but don t use different styles for what is essentially the same purpose For example don t use both the first and second styles or both the third and fourth styles within a project figures Line art photographs and screen shots are all considered figures You should use figures when their presence will enhance the reader s understanding or will illustrate a procedure or point that is not evident from the text alone Consider your audience when you plan an art program figure text Use figure text also known as labels for any text that accompanies a figure usually line art but is not connected to the figure by a lead
91. form instead Dock Don t use as a verb Items are in the Dock not on the Dock Correct Click the Mail application icon in the Dock Correct Click a minimized window in the Dock Correct To put a window in the Dock click the minimize button Incorrect You can dock any window Incorrect When an item is docked Don t assume that an item is in a user s Dock only the Finder and the Trash can t be removed from the Dock document In user documentation refers to a file the user creates and can open edit and print Don t use when you mean file Correct Back up all your files Incorrect Back up all your documents Compare file document titles When you cite the full title of a document use the capitalization style used in the title The article the is not usually part of the title but for user s manuals user s guide or user s manual often is m Specific references to manual titles Always give the title exactly as it appears on the manual cover but eliminate any trademark symbols Don t change an old title to comply with the current guidelines for naming manuals For more information see the Power Mac G4 User s Guide Apple Publications Style Guide 49 50 Style and Usage m Generic references to manual titles Don t capitalize or use italics for generic references to manuals See the user s guide that came with your computer To connect your display follow the instructions in the setup guide a Editi
92. forms to the International Telecommunications Union ITU V 90 standard and delivers data rates up to 56 kbit s Don t use when you mean 56K modem except when you refer to this specific technology See also 56K modem V 90 V 92 kilobit See kbit kilobits per second kbit s Spell out on first occurrence kilobyte See KB kilobytes per second KB s Spell out on first occurrence See also KB sec labeled labeling Not labelled labelling labels See figure text LAN Acronym for local area network Spell out on first occurrence laptop computer OK to use to refer generically to Apple portable computers When you refer to a specific model such as an iBook or a PowerBook G4 it s preferable to use the model name Notebook computer is also OK to use generically On first occurrence use laptop computer or notebook computer Thereafter it s OK to use laptop or notebook alone as a noun laserdisc One word later See earlier later latest Don t use to refer to a specific software update Instead use only the version number or a date in technical support documents or use or later to indicate a range of updates It s OK to use latest if you re generally instructing users to keep their software up to date Correct Make sure you have installed Firmware Update 4 1 2 Correct To use this feature you must have iPhoto 1 2 5 or later installed Correct For the best results make sure you re using the latest version of Mac OS
93. g to the reader Keep callouts brief both for clarity and for an uncluttered look Capitalization and punctuation Use sentence style caps Use a period for a complete sentence and no ending punctuation for a sentence fragment It s OK to have a mixture of complete sentences and phrases in one illustration can may Use can to express the ability to perform a function Use may or might to express the possibility of an action or event Avoid using may to indicate permission granted by an operating system or program Correct You can select other print options by clicking Options Correct You may want to use a timer to handle actions such as updating a clock Correct If interference is a problem you might need to move your AirPort Base Station to a different location Incorrect You may print single sided or double sided pages cancel In developer documentation an unconditional permanent halt that carries the connotation of undoing something In a dialog Cancel note capitalization is a button the user clicks when he or she doesn t want to proceed with a particular action Compare abort exit halt interrupt quit stop Cancel button Note capitalization canceled canceling Not cancelled cancelling capability If possible avoid capability when you discuss features of software or hardware Reword in terms of what the user can do with the feature Correct With iPhoto you can create slideshows Incorrect iPhoto
94. ginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code BASIC No apostrophe in Beginners lowercase p in purpose Exception to the rule that the second word ina hyphenated compound is capitalized Spell out on first occurrence below You can use below to describe a later element or section of a single page onscreen document such as a single webpage In print documents you can use below for an element such as a table or figure that immediately follows a paragraph if the element doesn t have an element number Otherwise use one of these styles in print documents a Later chapter Use the chapter name and number To learn how to create movies see Chapter 4 Composing Movies m Later section Use the section name followed by the page number For more information see Printing on page 154 Instructional Products and User Publications use this style m Later figure table code listing Use the number of the element followed by the page number For a summary of slot and drive numbers see Table 1 2 page 36 Technical Publications uses this style when referring to a figure table or code listing at a distance If the element is immediately below the page number is omitted See also above earlier later bibliography If you have relied on published sources other than Apple documents in writing your book you should credit those sources in a bibliography You can also use a bibliography to provide suggestions for further readi
95. has the capability to create slideshows capitalization Three styles of capitalization are available all caps title style and sentence style m All caps THIS LINE PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE OF ALL CAPS Don t use all caps for emphasis m Title style caps This Line Provides an Example of Title Style Caps a Sentence style caps This line provides an example of sentence style caps See also capitalization sentence style capitalization title style capitalization sentence style Follow these guidelines for sentence style capitalization m General use When you use sentence style caps capitalize the first letter of the first word as well as the first letter of any proper nouns and proper adjectives Use sentence style caps for callouts in figures table column headings and overview steps Instructional Products and User Publications m Cross references Capitalization in cross references to section heads should match that in the section heads For example if the section head is sentence style the cross reference to it should be sentence style capitalization title style Use title style capitalization for book titles part titles chapter titles disc and disk titles running footers that use chapter titles and cross references to such titles m References to specific book elements In cross references to a specific appendix or chapter capitalize the word Appendix or Chapter exception to Chicago When you refer to appendixes
96. he base station s firmware Incorrect Log in as an admin user to install software AFP Abbreviation for Apple Filing Protocol Spell out on first occurrence AFS Abbreviation for Apple File Service OK to abbreviate as AFS after first occurrence if it won t be confused with Andrew File System Capitalize when you use the spelled out term to refer to the specific protocol Use lowercase when you refer to a generic service afterward Not afterwards AirPort AirPort Extreme Note internal cap AirPort Base Station AirPort Extreme Base Station Note capitalization Lowercase base station if you don t use the full term Correct Avoid placing the base station near sources of interference Correct The AirPort Base Station is an Apple product Incorrect Avoid placing the Base Station near sources of interference AirPort Card AirPort Extreme Card Capitalize Card only when you use the product s full name alert n adj Refers generically to a signal either visual a dialog or auditory a beep that calls the user s attention to an unusual situation Visual alerts such as the one shown here provide messages about error conditions or warn users about potentially hazardous situations or actions Do yru wami by save tare io tin Goer badire risureg G i ee ie ee Ce ee a Doni ine Cone E a Y In user documentation you can use alert sound or alert message to describe generic alerts You hear a sound called the aler
97. he computer differently than he does Preferable Her use of the computer is different from his Incorrect She uses the computer differently than him digital video n adj No hyphen See also DV digital to analog converter DAC Note lowercase and hyphenation Spell out on first occurrence DIMM Acronym for dual inline memory module Spell out on first occurrence dimmed Use dimmed not hollow or grayed to describe a shaded icon menu item button or option in a dialog Dimmed options cannot be selected Dimmed menu items cannot be chosen Dimmed icons can represent disks whose contents are displayed in a window disks that have been ejected or files or folders in the window of a disk that has been ejected They can also represent open programs You don t need to say dimmed unavailable because a dimmed object is understood to be unavailable DIN Use all caps when you refer to a type of connector as in DIN 8 Don t use mini DIN direct connect adj Note hyphenation direction keys Don t use use arrow keys directory Refers to a subdivision of a volume available in the file system A directory can contain files and other directories In user documentation use folder directory pathnames See pathnames disable v disabled adj In user documentation avoid disable when you can use turn off or deselect Don t use disabled when you mean unavailable when you refer to menu items Correct Make sure virus pro
98. hernet AppleWorks Note capitalization application A computer program that performs a specific task such as word processing database management and so on Don t use app or apps The terms application program and software can all be used to refer to this type of program application menu In Mac OS X the application menu is the menu to the right of the Apple menu It shows the application name in boldface You don t need to include the word application when you refer to a specific application menu the Mail application menu the iTunes menu Application menu Classic In Mac OS 9 use this name note capitalization for the menu at the far right side of the menu bar even though the name does not appear in the menu bar application names Unless the official product name consists of two words closed up with an internal cap application names made up of more than one word should contain spaces Process Viewer even if the application s filename in the file system appears without a space In general don t use the with application names Correct Open QuickTime Player Incorrect Open the QuickTime Player application programming interface API Not application program interface Applications folder The applications folder located at the top level of the hard disk and accessible to all users of a computer is the Applications folder The Applications folder for an individual user located in the user s home folder is your Applicat
99. his way however make sure it isn t possible to misread the sentence as an expression of temporal relationship Correct Since the address is passed on every call you must Incorrect Using access privileges is a good idea since you probably won t want all users to make changes to the document single inline memory module SIMM Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence single letters See letters as letters size v Don t use use resize or change the size of in reference to a window or an object size box Classic The area in the lower right corner of a window that you drag to resize the window In Mac OS X this item is the resize control sleep An energy saving feature of some computers The computer goes to sleep or the user can put it to sleep the computer is then in sleep or in sleep mode Don t use the computer is sleeping or the computer is asleep slider The widget you drag to set a value on a continuum a range of values The whole control is called the slider control slideshow One word Apple Publications Style Guide 125 126 Style and Usage slot A long thin socket on the main logic board where peripheral cards are inserted Don t use connector to refer to a slot Lowercase slot when followed by a number which is Arabic slot 1 slot 2 Compare connector jack port socket small outline dual inline memory module SO DIMM Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence SMT
100. hyphenation of adjective words as words _Italicize a word when it is used as a word In text that is read only on the screen use quotation marks instead of italics Use an apostrophe and an s to form the plural but don t italicize the apostrophe or the s He had too many and s in the sentence word wrap Not wraparound or word wraparound In documentation written for new users however you may want to mention the term wraparound or include it in your glossary because users may see it elsewhere workflow One word workgroup One word workspace Don t use as a synonym for desktop or Finder workstation n adj One word Don t use when you refer to a desktop computer OK to use when you discuss network administration Apple Publications Style Guide 147 148 Style and Usage World Wide Web Note capitalization No hyphen After first occurrence use web Don t abbreviate as WWW wraparound n Don t use use word wrap write Avoid as a verb in user documentation use copy or burn In developer or server documentation the following are acceptable write to a disk write to disk write on a disk Don t use write a disk User documentation Copy the files to your hard disk Developer documentation The application needs to write to the hard disk Server documentation Give the user permission to write to the disk See also burn WWW Don t use as an abbreviation for World Wide Web Use web instead x Follow these guidelines
101. iate as RFM RAM Acronym for random access memory RAM cache Lowercase c except when you refer specifically to the RAM Cache option in a Mac OS 9 control panel RAM disk Two words Note capitalization random access memory RAM Note hyphenation re prefix Usually closed up even when it forms a double vowel as in reenter and reinstall Exceptions re create as in re create the file re sort as in re sort the database Read Me A document usually in text only or Rich Text Format that accompanies a product and contains information the user needs to read before installing or using the product m Titles In user documentation don t call such documents the Read Me or Read Me file Instead use the document s name enclosed in quotation marks Apple Publications Style Guide 117 118 Style and Usage m Titles for application software For software products use Read Before You Install Product Name for the title of a standalone Read Me one that is a separate file on the user s hard disk or the product CD Read Before You Install iPhoto For a Read Me that appears only in the application s Installer you can delete the title in the Read Me Check with the product team m Titles for other products For Read Me files that contain information other than before you install information for example those that provide the only documentation for a product such as a firmware update downloaded from the web you can
102. ight See also Appendix F International Style on page 177 localize Takes preposition for not to Correct Whether you localize your application for the French language or for French Canada it is essential that you test its interface Incorrect Whether you localize your application to the French language or to French Canada it is essential that you test its interface lock Users lock documents or applications they write protect their disks Disks are copy protected by the manufacturer logical operators Don t use as verbs Correct Using OR to combine x and y produces the result TRUE if either one is true or if both are true Correct The directive uses the logical operator AND to compare the accumulator contents with the contents of memory specified by the operand Incorrect ORing x and y produces the result TRUE if either one is true or if both are true Incorrect The directive logically ANDs the accumulator contents with the contents of memory specified by the operand log in v log out v login n adj You log in not log into to identify yourself as a user Correct You must log in as an administrator Correct You can turn off automatic login in the Users pane of Accounts preferences Incorrect You must log into the computer You log in to a file server not log on you log out of a file server not log off of or log out from Correct You must log out of the server Incorrect You mus
103. ion use it If it doesn t have such a style develop a logical method of your own and use it consistently Develop a method of spacing around punctuation and use it consistently It s often best to use English style spacing because it s easy to remember a Where not to use In user documentation don t use code font for the following Part or chapter titles Text headings Cross references to parts chapters or sections Entries in the table of contents Internet or web addresses Figure captions or callouts Names of files folders or directories Error or system messages If you quote a system or error message exactly as it appears on the screen use body font in quotation marks If you paraphrase a message use body font without quotation marks See also Appendix C Technical Notation on page 163 code names Use exactly the same form for a product s code name throughout a document If the name is sometimes misspelled or otherwise treated inconsistently a global search and replace operation is not possible In final documentation don t refer to a product by its code name unless marketing specifically decides to associate the code name with the product cold start n v cold start adj Not coldstart colons Avoid using colons in text heads If you must use a colon in a head capitalize the first word after the colon regardless of its part of speech Setting Up A Beginner s Guide When possible a
104. ions folder or a user s Applications folder application software Not applications software Comparisons Use application software when you compare application software to other software such as system software a A single program Use application program or software when you refer to a single program or type of program application specific integrated circuit ASIC Note lowercase and hyphen Aqua user interface Note capitalization Arabic adj Always capitalized when you refer to numerals See also Roman roman Apple Publications Style Guide 17 18 Style and Usage arrow In user documentation use pointer in general references use arrow or arrow pointer when you describe this type of pointer R The pointer becomes an arrow or l beam or crosshair and so on Cursor may be appropriate when you describe other interfaces and in developer documentation arrowhead One word Don t use when you mean the tip of the arrow pointer arrow keys Use lowercase in general references Don t use direction keys Capitalize the name of each arrow key Use the arrow keys to move the insertion point from cell to cell Press the Left Arrow key ASCII Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange Spell out on first occurrence The acronym is pronounced ASK ee ASIC Acronym for application specific integrated circuit Spell out on first occurrence assembler Don t use assembler when you mean assem
105. it the pop up menu or the shortcut menu Choose Numeric from the pop up menu Choose Make Alias from the shortcut menu See also choose command names submenus menu titles Note capitalization Edit menu File menu and so on menu types Note hyphenation pop up menu pull down menu The names of menu types used in the Windows interface such as drop down menus are also hyphenated Refer to the Aqua Human Interface Guidelines for a description of each menu type metasymbols Refers to artificial terms that have meaning only in your documentation and are to be replaced by a value or symbol In running text use italic regular text font when you refer to a metasymbol and spell the metasymbol just as it would appear in a syntax description Correct Replace volumeName with a name of up to 12 characters Correct The volume name may have up to 12 characters Incorrect The volumeName may have up to 12 characters See also syntax descriptions and Appendix C Technical Notation on page 163 mice Try to avoid but if you must use the plural of mouse it s OK to use mice or mouse devices MIDI Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface Spell out on first occurrence MIME Acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension not necessary to spell out on first occurrence Use as an adjective a MIME file MIME format Commonly used to distinguish an email format from plain text format mini prefix Hyphenate before a wo
106. it symbol ki oHz or a prefix symbol with a unit name khertz With the exception of degrees Celsius units of measure derived from a proper name are not capitalized when spelled out but their unit symbols are capitalized For example the unit symbol for joule is J Unit symbols and abbreviations are unaltered in the plural forms For example b not bs Use a space between a number and a unit symbol or abbreviation When you use a spelled out unit of measure in a compound adjective hyphenate the compound 17 inch display 3 meter cable When using an SI unit symbol or abbreviation do not hyphenate 20 nA battery 151 Prefixes for Units of Measure Symbol or abbreviation 1024 yotta Y 1021 zetta Z 1018 exa E 1015 peta P 1012 tera T 109 giga G 106 mega M 103 kilo k 102 hecto h 101 deka da 1041 deci d 10 2 centi c 103 milli m 10 micro u 10 9 nano n 10 12 pico p 10 15 femto f 10 18 atto a 10 21 zepto Z 10 24 yocto y 152 Units of Measure Names and Unit Symbols for Units of Measure In the following table when a unit symbol includes a nonalphanumeric character the keystrokes that generate the character are included in brackets after the unit symbol or abbreviation Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity ampere A electric current ampere hour Ah rate of delivery of electricity ampere second See coulomb amperes per meter A
107. kground area of the screen Desktop file Classic Note capitalization Refers to a resource file used by the Finder Desktop Folder Note capitalization device Use to refer to any piece of hardware that connects directly or indirectly through a network to the computer Use peripheral device on first mention device name Two words Note the treatment of these similar terms filename pathname user name volume name diacritical mark Not diacritic dialog Refers to a window like the one below that appears on the screen to request information from the user A dialog appears Don t use dialog box Compare alert i brd Ima Baglce with Replace Al oe Pred Option EA rome ike fale WE genre Cane Mepis e Ai Erri oie Apie Fire Beman iter 4 dialog box Don t use use dialog dialog message Don t use use message dial up Note hyphen Apple Publications Style Guide 45 46 Style and Usage different from Not different than Make sure that the elements being compared are parallel nouns Correct The Macintosh user interface is different from that of a Windows PC Incorrect The Macintosh user interface is different than that of a Windows PC differently than Use when comparing two parallel clauses Don t use different than different from or differently from for this purpose But rewrite whenever possible to set up a construction in which different from is used to compare two parallel nouns Correct She uses t
108. l model name in text For example refer to your computer or the Macintosh computer instead of the Power Mac G4 a Modular models Macintosh computers with a separate display monitor are modular Some models with a built in display have the name all in one computer but don t use this description in documentation instead describe the relevant features m Startup icons When you describe the startup icons in Mac OS 9 use happy Macintosh and sad Macintosh in quotation marks Don t use happy Mac or sad Mac For a list of Macintosh model names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 Macintosh file sharing Note lowercase for file sharing Use when it s necessary to specify the platform otherwise it s preferable to use just file sharing Macintosh operating system Mac OS is preferred See also Mac OS Macintosh PC Exchange OK to shorten to PC Exchange Mac OS Two words Use with an article the Mac OS is except when it includes a version number Mac OS X is Use Mac compatible to refer to software or hardware that can be used with the Mac OS Use Mac OS to refer to any version of Macintosh system software later than 7 6 See also system software version Mac OS Extended format Note capitalization Mention on first occurrence that this is also called HFS Plus not HFS thereafter use Mac OS Extended format See also HFS Plus MacOS9_ Always use the full name don t shorten to OS 9 or 9
109. leShare disc to install client software on another computer Disk Utility Two words display n In most cases use display not monitor to refer to the primary display connected to a desktop computer Also use display to refer to the built in PowerBook eMac iMac or iBook display Don t use when you mean desktop or screen Correct A window appears on the screen Correct Arrange your display so that the top of the screen is slightly below eye level Incorrect A window appears on the display See also monitor screen display v Don t use display when you mean appear Correct The Print dialog appears Incorrect The Print dialog displays Don t use a computer or application displays an item Use appears Correct A list of search results appears Incorrect Sherlock displays a list of search results See also appear display cable Use instead of monitor cable or monitor power cord for displays with an Apple Display Connector display device Refers to a device connected to the computer that displays text or graphics If possible be more specific LCD projector or television display port The port on a computer or video card where you plug in an Apple Display Connector Don t use monitor port display system Refers to a display the monitor and the display card sometimes called a video card that works with it division sign Not division symbol do Don t use in phrases such as do a clean installation Use per
110. losed up without a period and spell out on first occurrence Mac OS X version 10 2 v10 2 On subsequent occurrences it s OK to use Mac OS X v10 2 m The letter x Except in developer documentation don t use x to mean any number as in 10 x use a specific number or range of numbers versus Not vs Rewrite to avoid using versus when possible via OK to use to mean by means of especially in relatively technical documentation Sometimes over through or by using may be more accurate and more easily understood Queue names shared via LPR or SMB You can use shared printers over the network Printers connected to your network using AppleTalk Printers connected to your network via AppleTalk video cable Don t use to describe a cable connecting a display to a computer use display cable or monitor cable OK to use for a cable that connects audio video equipment such as a television or VCR videocamera One word videoconference n videoconferencing adj One word Don t use videoconference as a verb use a phrase such as have a videoconference video editing n video editing adj Note hyphen of adjective video editing application video input port Or composite video input port Not video in port or Video In port Port that connects the computer to most video equipment Compare S video input port video jack Not video connector video output port Or composite video output port Not video out por
111. lso OK to use backside level 2 cache See also level 2 cache level 3 cache backslash One word backspace n v adj One word Backspace key Note capitalization backup n adj back up v No hyphen backward adv Not backwards when you refer to direction But in certain other contexts such as putting a card in backwards it s OK to use backwards backward compatibility Not backwards compatibility backward compatible adj Note hyphenation balloon Classic Lowercase when you refer to an individual balloon Not bubble text balloon or speech balloon See also help tags Balloon Help Classic Note capitalization bandwidth One word Apple Publications Style Guide 19 20 Style and Usage BASIC Acronym for Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code No apostrophe in Beginners lowercase p in purpose Exception to the rule that the second word in a hyphenated compound is capitalized Spell out on first occurrence batteries Describe batteries in terms of the number required size and type a Description Include only the appropriate information lithium ion battery lithium polymer battery eight AAA alkaline batteries one AA rechargeable nickel cadmium battery two nickel metal hydride batteries m Abbreviations Abbreviate the battery type only if space is limited Abbreviations include the following NiCd nickel cadmium Li lithium Li ion lithium ion NiMH nickel metal hydride Be
112. m access memory Pronounced DEE ram Spell out on first occurrence drawer A window that slides out from a parent window when you click a button or choose a command In Mail for example the Mailboxes button opens the mailbox drawer drive A drive holds storage devices hard disk drive CD ROM drive Zip drive Don t capitalize drive or disk drive except when you use a product name such as SuperDrive Don t use drive when you mean disk Use disc disk or hard disk to refer to a disk and its contents See also CD ROM drive DVD ROM drive hard disk Apple Publications Style Guide 51 52 Style and Usage driver Capitalize the word driver in a driver name only if driver is part of the product name for example Sound Driver or Disk Driver In user documentation avoid using driver use software instead printer software When you use the term driver generically as in print driver don t capitalize dual inline memory module DIMM Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence dual processor adj Note hyphen due to Not due to the fact that A phrase beginning with due to must follow a linking verb and must function as a subject complement it cannot function as an independent prepositional phrase Use because of with prepositional phrases Correct The interference was due to a faulty cable Correct Your programs will open faster because of the additional memory DV An industry standard video format Gene
113. m en English m eS Spanish m fr French a it Italian a ja Japanese a nl Dutch m mul Multiple languages In some cases you may need to append an extension to the code to represent a particular Apple localization m en na North American English m en z International English m zh s Simplified Chinese m zh t Traditional Chinese Telephone Numbers Telephone numbers begin with the plus sign and are followed by a space the country code city code and number Freephone toll free numbers are expressed in the local style Always give a toll number if one is available International Authority International Telecommunications Union ITU Standard ITU T E123 1988 Apple Publications Style Guide 179 180 Rationale The plus sign represents any number or numbers a caller must dial to get a line like 9 The caller then dials the remaining digits Freephone numbers are usually impossible to dial globally even between Canada and the United States Providing a toll free number with a toll number allows customers to call no matter where they are from Usage Telephone number notations begin with the plus sign and are followed by a space the country code city code and number Breaks in national numbering plans may be represented by a space Toll free numbers are expressed in the local style You can reach Apple by calling 1 408 996 1010 or 800 692 7753 in North America You can reach Apple France by calling 33 1 69 86 3
114. m magnetic field strength amperes per square meter A m2 current density amperes per volt See siemens angstrom 10 10 meters A Option Shift Al optical wavelength attoampere 10 18 amperes aA electric current baud signal events per second Bd speed of data transmission bel 10 decibels B sound intensity bit bit size of data bits per second bit s speed of data transmission byte B size of data candela cd luminous intensity candela per square inch cd sq in luminance candela per square meter cd m2 luminance centimeter cm length characters per inch cpi letter spacing in type coulomb ampere second C electric charge quantity of electricity coulombs per volt See farad cubic centimeter cms volume cubic foot cu ft volume Apple Publications Style Guide 153 Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity cubic inch cu in volume cubic meter ms volume cubic yard cu yd volume cycle c complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon cycles per second See hertz day d time decibel 0 10 bels dB sound intensity degree Option Shift 8 angular measure degree Celsius C Option Shift 8 temperature degree Fahrenheit F Option Shift 8 temperature degree Kelvin See kelvin degree Rankine R Option Shift 8 temperature dots per inch dpi resolution electromotive force
115. n 159 Servers Macintosh Server G3 with AppleShare IP Macintosh Server G3 with Mac OS X Server Macintosh Server G4 with AppleShare IP Macintosh Server G4 with Mac OS X Server Xserve Note The software used with this product is Mac OS X Server Displays Measurements given are the diagonal screen size not the viewable image size Apple Studio Display 15 inch flat panel Apple Studio Display 17 inch flat panel 17 inch CRT Apple Studio Display 21 inch CRT Apple Cinema Display 20 inch flat panel Apple Studio Display Apple Cinema Display 22 inch flat panel Apple Cinema HD Display 23 inch flat panel Keyboards and Mouse Devices Apple Extended Keyboard Apple Extended Keyboard II Apple Keyboard Apple Keyboard II Apple Desktop Bus Mouse Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II Apple USB Keyboard Apple USB Mouse Apple Pro Keyboard Apple Pro Mouse 160 Hardware Product Names Storage Devices CD ROM drive CD RW drive Combo drive DVD ROM CD RW DVD ROM drive DVD RAM drive SuperDrive DVD R CD RW Apple Drive Module Audio Music Products AppleDesign Powered Speakers AppleDesign Powered Speakers II Apple Headphone Apple Microphone Apple PlainTalk Microphone Apple Pro Speakers iPod Wireless Networking Products AirPort Base Station AirPort Extreme Base Station AirPort Card Apple Publications Style Guide 161 Technical Notation This appendix gives special style and usage rules
116. n and out of a computer Don t capitalize the names of ports printer port modem port Don t use connector to refer to a port Compare connector jack slot socket portable computer Use portable computer laptop computer or notebook computer to refer generically to Apple portable computers See also laptop computer possessives Follow these guidelines for possessives a Singular noun Form the possessive of a singular noun including one that ends in s by adding an apostrophe and an s the computer s power cord the boss s husband m Plural noun Form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in s by adding an apostrophe Form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in s by adding an apostrophe and an s the students curriculum children s requirements m Proper noun or name Form the possessive of a proper noun or a proper name including one that ends in s by adding an apostrophe and an s Form the possessive of a plural proper noun or proper name by adding an apostrophe Steve Jobs s biography singular possessive the Joneses computer plural m Product name Rewrite to avoid forming a possessive of any product name See also trademarks PostScript Note capitalization Don t use small caps Requires a trademark notice on the copyright page pound sign Don t use use number sign for this character PowerBook Note capitalization a Model name Use the full model name for example PowerBook G4
117. n cases where reference sources conflict with each other follow m The Chicago Manual of Style for questions of usage m The American Heritage Dictionary for questions of spelling Also refer to any department specific materials provided by your editor Conventions Used in This Guide Modifiers of two or more words are often hyphenated when they precede a noun but not when they follow the verb as a compound predicate adjective This guide distinguishes the differences as follows a An entry followed by adj in parentheses gives the form to be used when the adjective immediately precedes the noun it modifies a An entry followed by pred adj in parentheses gives the form to be used when the adjective is a predicate adjective For example black and white adj black and white pred adj a Ifa hyphenated compound has no pred adj entry hyphenate the compound wherever it appears in a sentence If a term should be italicized in text the entry for that term explicitly states that the term should be in italics An example of the term in italics is also given If an entry doesn t explicitly call for italics the term is usually not italicized Style and Usage abbreviations and acronyms An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from the initial letter or letters of major parts of a compound term An abbreviation is usually formed in the same way but is not pronounced as a word Acronyms are almost always all caps regardless of the capi
118. n for letters as letters words as words and document and disk titles m Onscreen messages Enclose quotations from the screen such as error messages or system messages in quotation marks a Terms that stand for or define other terms Use italics not quotation marks for terms after called known as labeled stands for termed and so on If a term appears in text to be read only onscreen you can use plain style for elements whose names are in title style caps INIT stands for initialize A folder named New Folder appears a Sentence style onscreen elements Use quotation marks around elements whose names are in sentence style caps Click the checkbox labeled Keep lines together Smart quotation marks Most applications have an option called smart quotation marks which automatically generates curly quotation marks and slanted apostrophes as you type Check your department s guidelines for how to handle quotation marks in HTML racism racist language See fair language radio button Refers to an onscreen button like the ones shown here Use only in developer documentation use button in user documentation No quotation marks around radio no hyphen See also button Radio Button 1 Radio Button 2 radio frequency interference RFI Note hyphenation Spell out on first occurrence radio frequency RF modulator Note hyphenation Use RF modulator only after spelling out on first occurrence Don t abbrev
119. n for gigabit Gbit s Abbreviation for gigabits per second gender stereotypes See fair language General Controls panel Classic Note capitalization and spelling Not General control panel or General Controls contro panel The homologue in Mac OS X is General preferences See also control panel G3 Refers to the PowerPC G3 processor or to Macintosh computers with the PowerPC G3 processor such as the Power Macintosh G3 and the iBook a Fullname The full name is preferred but it s OK to use terms such as G3 processor G3 computer or just G3 as long as the meaning is clear a Variations Don t use variations of the names of products such as G3 Power Macintosh G3 iMac See also Power Macintosh Power Mac PowerPC G4 Refers to the PowerPC G4 processor or to Macintosh computers with the PowerPC G4 processor such as the Power Mac G4 and PowerBook G4 a Fullname The full name is preferred but it s OK to use terms such as G4 processor G4 computer or just G4 as long as the meaning is clear a Variations Don t use variations of the names of products such as G4 Power Mac iMac G4 G4 PowerBook See also Power Macintosh Power Mac PowerPC GIF All caps Pronounced with a hard g Stands for Graphics Interchange Format a bitmapped graphics file format that includes data compression See also file formats Gigabit Ethernet Note capitalization A standard that allows data transmission rates of up to 1 gigabit per second 1000
120. n t capitalize command the Find command the By Icon command Commands used as ordinary verbs Don t capitalize a command name when you use the name as a normal English verb Correct Now cut the selected text from your document Incorrect Now Cut the selected text 36 Style and Usage m Ellipsis points Some commands have three unspaced periods ellipsis points following the command name in the menu Don t include the ellipsis points when you refer to the command name in text Correct Choose File gt Preferences Incorrect Choose File gt Preferences See also choose command menus commas Use the serial comma a comma preceding and or or in a list of three or more items Apple now sells PowerBook computers iPod devices and Final Cut Pro software Common Gateway Interface CGI Spell out on first occurrence communication communications Use the singular to describe the act of communicating the plural to describe the technology communications link Don t use use network connection Company Co Spell out or abbreviate according to the particular company s preference compile time n compile time adj Note hyphenation of adjective comprise A whole comprises parts Parts constitute a whole Don t use is comprised of Your video editing system comprises a Power Mac G4 computer Final Cut Pro software a digital videocamera and an external NTSC monitor Four iMac and two iBook computers cons
121. n the Mail application to see the mailbox drawer main logic board Not motherboard or main circuit board You can also use main board main memory Not central memory main unit Refers to a Macintosh computer with nothing connected don t use central processing unit or CPU for this purpose male connector Don t use use plug See also connector manual Use manual to refer generically to a printed book that comes with a computer or other product You can also use user s manual or user s guide if you know the book has guide in the title See the manual that came with your camcorder See your user s guide for instructions m Electronic delivery If you also plan to deliver a print manual electronically for example as a PDF file don t call the book an electronic manual simply describe it for the user The manual is also available as a PDF file on the installation disc Cross references To refer to documentation that may be either printed or electronic use documentation See the documentation that came with your computer See also document titles mass storage device No hyphen OK in reference to a hard disk drive a tape backup unit or a CD ROM drive but not in reference to a 3 5 inch disk drive maximize Don t use to refer to an item in the Dock use make active To make an item in the Dock active click the item may can See can may MB Abbreviation for megabyte Spell out on first occurrence a Adjecti
122. nch Ipi resolution liter volume liters per second I s change in volume over time lumen Im flux of light lux Ix illumination megabit Mbit computer memory megabits per second Mbit s standard speed of data transmission Mbps some Apple groups megabyte MB computer memory megabytes per second MB s standard speed of data transmission MB sec some Apple groups megahertz MHz frequency meter m length distance meters per second m s velocity micrometer 10 6 meters um Option m length micron See micrometer mil 10 3 inches mil length 156 Units of Measure mile mi except in mph length distance miles per hour mph velocity millimeter 10 3 meters mm length million instructions per second MIPS microprocessor speed millisecond 10 3 seconds ms time millivolt 10 3 volts mV electric potential milliwatt 10 3 watts mW power Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity minute min time month mo time newton kilogram meters per N force second squared newtons per square meter See pascal ohm Q Option Z electric resistance ounce oz volume weight pascal newtons per square meter Pa pressure stress pound Ib weight poundal pdl force radian rad plane angle radians per second rad s angular velocity radians per second squared rad s2 angular acceleration revolutions per minute rom ang
123. ncorrect Lift the printer on to the desk See also into in to open You open icons folders documents and applications In user documentation avoid open a window and open window See also close opening display Not splash screen opening display startup display and startup screen are all OK Open Transport Note capitalization Apple Publications Style Guide 101 102 Style and Usage operating system n operating system adj Note hyphenation of adjective See also Mac OS Option click v adj Note capitalization and hyphenation The hyphen denotes a combined action Option click is equivalent to press the Option key and click Option key Note capitalization See also Alt key option names For options and other onscreen elements of two or more words whose names are capitalized using sentence style use quotation marks in text to avoid misreading Select the checkbox labeled Keep lines together original Macintosh character set Note lowercase Not traditional character set or Apple character set Current Macintosh models use the Standard Roman character set outline font Don t use outlined font output n adj Avoid as a verb use write to display on print on or print to outside Not outside of page See homepage webpage PAL Acronym for Phase Alternating Line a European color video standard or for Programmable Array Logic a type of integrated circuit Spell out on first occurrence pale
124. ndardization ISO currency code International Authority International Organization for Standardization ISO Standard ISO 4217 1990 Rationale Currency codes are specific to a currency and cannot be confused or misinterpreted by the reader Currency symbols like the dollar sign are not unique and are easily misread 177 178 Usage Write the amount followed by a space and the currency code in capitals m Canadian dollar CAD m euro EUR pound sterling GBP a U S dollar USD m yen JPY The iMac Early 2001 computer is priced at 1199 USD The Power Mac G4 Digital Audio computer costs 1980 EUR Dates and Times Dates are expressed as year month day and are separated by a hyphen Times are expressed on a 24 hour clock International Authority International Organization for Standardization ISO Standard ISO 8601 1988 Rationale Date and time formats are represented with the largest units given first From left to right the ranking is year month week day hour minute second This standard in addition to being used in many Asian languages solves ambiguities in the date notations used in Canada the United States and the United Kingdom Usage Dates are expressed numerically as year month day and are separated by a hyphen Times are expressed on a 24 hour clock A colon separates hours minutes and seconds Universal Coordinated Time UTC times are expressed as Z Local time zones are expressed as the num
125. ned on both the right and the left margins is justified Compare alignment K Abbreviation for the number 7024 Never use Kas an abbreviation for the number 1000 Don t use K as an abbreviation for kilobyte use KB KB Abbreviation for kilobyte Spell out on first occurrence In the noun form use the preposition of before the unit quantified by the value 800 KB of memory Don t hyphenate the adjective form a 678 KB file kbit n adj Abbreviation for kilobit and kilobits Spell out on first occurrence Add a space between the numeral and the abbreviation 256 kbit device In the noun form use the preposition of before the unit quantified by the value 256 kbit of memory kbit s Standard abbreviation for kilobits per second Spell out on first occurrence See also kbps kbps Customary abbreviation for kilobits per second still used by some Apple groups Exception to the SI standard of kbit s See also kbit s KB s Standard abbreviation for kilobytes per second Spell out on first occurrence See also KB sec kbit s KB sec Customary abbreviation for kilobytes per second still used by some Apple groups Exception to the SI standard of KB s See also KB s Kbyte Don t use Use KB key keys Use to describe something on the keyboard press the Option key You don t need to say key on the keyboard You press a key you type a character word or phrase Capitalization Capitalize the names of modifier keys Option key Cont
126. ned to change fill color An explanation of color wells appears later in this document See also above below easy installation Not easy install Note lowercase You perform an easy installation you don t do an easy install EBCDIC Acronym for Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code Spell out on first occurrence The acronym is pronounced EB si dik editing Use a hyphen when editing is used in a compound adjective For example video editing application audio editing system edition numbers When you refer in text to an edition number use plain text and lowercase and spell out both the ordinal number and edition Technical Introduction to the Macintosh Family second edition editor Capitalize editor only when using the full name the Property List Editor but the editor e g Don t use use for example or such as 8 pin minicircular connector Note hyphenation Use a numeral don t spell out eight After first mention the shorter minicircular connector is fine Avoid in user documentation describe the connector by its size and shape by its icon or in another way appropriate to the context because it may have fewer than eight pins See also connector 802 11 wireless networking standard Lowercase AirPort and AirPort Extreme are based on this standard eject trans v Don t use as an intransitive verb Correct The disk drive ejects the disk Correct To eject the disk drag its icon to the Trash Inc
127. nent is attached to a board 100Base T 1000Base T Preferred in user documentation although 700BASE T or 1000BASE T is also correct See also 10Base T on hook off hook n adj Note hyphen online One word Use to describe items to which the user gains access over a network You can search an online database m Connection Avoid online when you refer to the state of being connected to a network Instead use a specific appropriate term Correct connected to the network Correct logged in Incorrect if you re online a Local files Avoid using online to describe items such as tutorials or help files on a local disk online help system Instead substitute a more specific word such as electronic or onscreen Avoid To learn more about the program take the online tutorial Preferable To learn more about the program take the onscreen tutorial on off switch Not on off button Note lowercase onscreen adj adv One word onscreen text Use quotation marks not italics for words as words letters as letters and phrases as phrases and for document and disk titles in text designed to be read only onscreen onsite adj adv One word Exception to American Heritage onto onto Onto indicates motion toward the upper surface of something Avoid substituting onto for on to adverb and preposition Use on to when on is part of the verb Correct Lift the printer onto the table Correct Hang on to the handles I
128. ng In complex documentation you can place a topic specific bibliography at the end of a chapter rather than as part of the back matter The bibliography always begins on a new page bibliography entries Follow these guidelines for entries a Author s name In each entry invert the first author s name last name first with a comma both before and after the first name or names a Titles talicize book and periodical titles Enclose article titles in quotation marks m Publisher s location Don t give the name of the state or country when the place of publication is a well known city If you need to provide a state name use the correct postal abbreviation given in The Chicago Manual of Style Book Norman Donald A and David E Rumelhart Explorations in Cognition San Francisco W H Freeman 1975 Article Harrison Claire Visual Social Semiotics How Still Images Make Meaning Technical Communication February 2003 46 60 For rules on bibliographic citation of other kinds of material refer to The Chicago Manual of Style bidirectional adj Use to refer to a script system in which text is generally flush right and most characters are written from right to left but some text is written from left to right as well Arabic and Hebrew are the only bidirectional script systems in widespread use Compare mixed directional bit Don t use when you mean pixel or dot on the screen bitmap n v bitmapped adj
129. ng an icon causes a window with the contents of that icon to come into view You can then perform further actions in the window when it s active The initial definition of open to make available is one of the meanings given the verb in The American Heritage Dictionary It provides the reader with a conceptual link Matters of Form These guidelines describe how to format and structure glossary entries Design The appearance of glossary entries depends on the document design See your department s design documentation for specs and sample pages Format of an Entry The term to be defined is usually in boldface Do not capitalize the term unless it is a proper noun or usually capitalized such as Finder 168 How to Write a Glossary The definition in plain text starts with a capital letter and ends with a period The first clause of the definition can be a sentence fragment Other parallel phrases in the definition may also be sentence fragments otherwise use complete sentences Alphabetization Alphabetize entries letter by letter up to a punctuation mark spaces do not count For example grayscale comes before gray space Numerical entries are ordered as though they were spelled out For example 32 bit addressing comes between text width and thumbnail Where there are several entries with numerals in a group however order the entries numerically within the group For example PowerBook G4 comes after PowerBook
130. no if space is limited See also number sign numbers Follow these guidelines for numbers Cardinal numbers In general spell out cardinal numbers from zero through ten except when you express numbers as numbers Use a numeral no matter how small to express numbers as numbers The outlines of the four glyphs are aligned Leave at least 12 pixels of space between controls The numeral 8 occurs eight times Use numerals when you refer to a specific address bit byte chapter field key pin sector slot or track or when expressing amounts of memory a Ordinal numbers Spell out ordinal numbers from zero through ten Form ordinal numbers larger than ten by adding st nd rd or th as appropriate Exception to The Chicago Manual of Style a Numbers that appear together Where two numbers appear together consider spelling one of them out There are sixteen 32 bit registers Use numerals for numbers of the same category within a paragraph if any of the numbers is over 10 We have 25 Macintosh computers and 4 LaserWriter printers on the network Computers and printers are the same category There are two kinds of 32 bit registers only one of which needs to be saved Kinds of registers and bits are different categories Ranges of numbers Use an en dash between numbers that represent the endpoints of a continuous range bits 3 17 Use the full span for continuing numbers 7998 1999 not 1998 99 Units of measure U
131. notices and other notices sparingly they lose effectiveness if they appear too often Avoid using an Important notice immediately before or after a Note or Warning notice or immediately after a text head See also Note Warning Incorporated Inc Spell out or abbreviate according to the particular corporation s preference index For information about indexing see Appendix E How to Develop an Index on page 173 and your own department specific guidelines indexes Not indices unless you mean mathematical indices You can use this program to generate indexes indicator See progress indicator submenu indicator indicator light Not LED information Use instead of data in user documentation if it makes sense in the context Info window Not Get Info window or Info box Apple Publications Style Guide 73 74 Style and Usage infrared No hyphen infront Use to explain the term active the active window is in front of other windows subsequently use active You can also use to describe palettes and other windows that float on top of active windows INIT Classic In developer documentation INIT may be used to refer to files that contain INIT resources and thus start up when the user turns on the computer Such files may be but are not necessarily of the INIT file type Compare system extension initialize When you refer to disks initialize and format mean the same thing inkjet One word inline One word
132. ntil an application is ready to process them Compare mouse ahead mouse ahead Type B connector Note capitalization A type of USB connector Use once and describe what it looks like square typeface Use to refer to a distinct design for a particular character set Each typeface has its own name such as Times or Garamond Compare font font family Fonts of the same typeface regardless of font style or point size or whether they are outline or bitmap fonts form a single font family type family Don t use use font family Type 1 font Note capitalization A font that conforms to the ISO 9541 standard type size Don t use use size or font size UFS An abbreviation for UNIX File System One of the file formats available in Disk Utility Not necessary to spell out on first occurrence uncheck Don t use use deselect under Don t use to describe an operating system environment Use in or with in Mac OS X not under Mac OS X underlining Don t use See also italics quotation marks unhighlight v Don t use Use deselect for the action of clicking to remove highlighting unhighlighted adj Don t use use not highlighted Compare unselected Uniform Resource Locator URL See URL unit Don t use to refer to a hardware product Use a different noun as appropriate Correct Take apart the computer Incorrect Take apart the unit UNIX All caps there is no spelled out equivalent Don t use when you refer to the Mac
133. o a single appendix should refer to the Appendix appendixes Not appendices Apple Authorized Reseller Note capitalization Don t shorten to reseller except in passages where using the full term becomes cumbersome or overly repetitive Apple Authorized Service Provider Note capitalization Don t shorten to service provider except in passages where using the full term becomes cumbersome or overly repetitive AppleCare Note capitalization Apple Display Connector A single cable and connector that carries USB signals power and video from the computer to the display ADC is acceptable on second occurrence See also display cable display port Apple event Two words note capitalization Capitalize the names of Apple events but not the word event Open Application event Quit Application event Open Documents event Print Documents event and so on Apple Publications Style Guide 15 16 Style and Usage Apple File Service AFS OK to abbreviate as AFS after first occurrence if the abbreviation won t be confused with Andrew File System Use title style caps when you refer to the specific protocol and lowercase when you refer to a generic service Apple Filing Protocol AFP Spell out on first occurrence Apple Help Apple s method of delivering HTML help in the Mac OS a Help books Apple Help consists of HTML files that are grouped into help books for specific applications and displayed in Help Viewer a simple browser crea
134. o the Internet with your iBook ACGI Abbreviation for Asynchronous Common Gateway Interface Spell out on first occurrence activate deactivate Avoid instead use turn on turn off active Use to refer to the application or window currently being used Preferred to in front because if the active application has no windows open the window in front won t be active See also in front adapter Not adaptor except in WebObjects documents adaptor appears in the WebObjects software address Can refer either to an Internet address or to the location in the computer s memory where a piece of information is stored OK to use just address for either as long as the context is clear See also email addresses Internet addresses memory address memory location Address Book Two words Don t use the Address Book but the Address Book application is OK Capitalize only when you refer to the Address Book application that comes with Mac OS X Use lowercase when you refer to a generic address book application or feature such as the address book on a user s mobile phone addresses Apple Use the following forms for Apple addresses a Apple corporate address Apple 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CA 95014 USA 408 996 1010 www apple com a Specific Apple mailing addresses Department Name Apple 1 Infinite Loop MS xx xx Cupertino CA 95014 USA a Faxand email Elements such as fax numbers and email addresses can be included in Apple
135. ode font for names of files volumes directories and libraries StandardCRunt ime o library MainProg c file Don t use a function or method name as a verb Correct Run 1s on both directories Incorrect 1s both directories Correct Change to the root directory Incorrect cd to the root directory Don t mix fonts within a single word Rewrite to avoid forming the plural of a word in code font Correct values of type integer Incorrect integers Use the regular text font not code font for punctuation following a word or phrase in code font unless the punctuation mark is part of the computer language element represented NAN 004 nan 4 and NaN are examples of acceptable input Metasymbols in Text In running text use italic regular text font when referring to a metasymbol that is an artificial term that has meaning only in your documentation and is to be replaced by a value or symbol Spell the metasymbol just as it would appear in a syntax description Don t use a metasymbol when you can use a regular English term in ordinary prose Correct Replace volumeName with a name of up to 12 characters Correct The volume name can be up to 12 characters long Incorrect The volumeName can be up to 12 characters long 164 Technical Notation Avoid foo bar baz or frobozz to represent hierarchical or ordered metasymbols in code examples Instead use metasymbols that suggest the kind of item that the programmer is to fill in
136. of the most recent Apple trademarks list which is available at web apple com areas trademarkinformation See also trademarks general trademarks usage cord Use only to describe a power cord or a phone cord Compare cable Corporation Corp Spell out or abbreviate according to the particular corporation s preference corrupted Avoid if possible Use damaged instead CPU Abbreviation for central processing unit Spell out and define on first occurrence Don t use when you refer to the computer itself use computer or system See also main unit CR Abbreviation for carriage return Spell out on first occurrence Refers to ASCII character OD or its equivalent Explain the term carriage return if your audience includes first time computer users Use return character when you write about for example searches for return characters Use Return key for the key you press crash Don t use use quits unexpectedly not responding or stops responding If you must use this word put it in quotation marks and reassure the reader that the term crash does not imply damage to hardware or software creator types Use code font for creator type names which must consist of exactly four characters one of which may be a space inside straight single code font quotation marks ttxt MPS crosshair One word Refers to this pointer cross references Follow these guidelines for cross references m To chapter titles Use title style
137. on clearer to the reader m Part titles Since documents are divided into parts when each part deals with a distinct topic part titles indicate that difference in subject matter a Part numbers Roman numerals are usually used for part numbers but an individual publication group s design style may specify Arabic numerals a Chapter numbering In a document with parts chapter numbering continues uninterrupted from part to part m Cross references In references to specific parts of a document italicize the part title along with the document title Use a colon to separate the title from the part title when you refer to both Use an em dash to separate the part number from the part title For more information see the Final Cut Pro 2 User s Manual Part VI Creating Custom Filters Using FXScript See also volume book passive voice Whenever possible don t use use active voice Passive voice is sometimes appropriate and necessary when using the active voice would require highly convoluted sentence structure or excessive anthropomorphism for example but rewrite to avoid passive voice if you can In tutorials a passive construction might be appropriate to avoid miscuing the reader that is when you describe an action that the user is not supposed to try yet Explanation screen An icon is selected by clicking it User try screen You try it Click the icon paste Don t capitalize unless you re referring to the Paste
138. on is filled in Correct When you click the icon it becomes highlighted Incorrect When you click the icon it highlights Don t use unhighlighted or dehighlighted for an item that isn t highlighted use not highlighted highlighting n No hyphen Don t use in user documentation In developer documents don t use highlight as a noun Correct When an application displays a selection range it marks the range with highlighting high order bit n Not hi bit or hi bit High bit is an acceptable short form high resolution n high resolution adj The short form high res n adj is OK in some developer documentation or when space constraints don t allow use of the full phrase as in column heads in tables Hindi Don t use when you refer to the writing system used to represent Hindi and several other Asian languages use Devanagari hit n Don t use to refer to an item found in a search or to the act of connecting to a webpage Correct Many users connect to this website each day Incorrect This website receives many hits per day hit v Don t use to instruct users to press a key use press instead Home button Capitalize when you refer to the button in a Finder toolbar home folder home directory Note lowercase Click the Home button to go to your home folder Your home folder provides a secure place to keep your documents homepage One word lowercase Use to refer to a webpage that serves as the directory
139. on numbers When you refer to an edition number use lowercase and spell out both the ordinal number and the word edition Technical Introduction to the Macintosh Family second edition See also cross references parts volume book document window Don t use use document or window not both In developer documentation document window is OK in reference to the predefined window type dot Use dot not bit when you describe an individual screen pixel See also bullets pixel Mac Use uppercase M Mac in text even though packaging and the interface may use mac On first use give pronunciation Mac pronounced dot Mac dot matrix n dot matrix adj Note hyphenation of adjective The video display is presented in the form of a dot matrix The StyleWriter produced dot matrix output dots per inch dot per inch dpi Spell out on first occurrence OK to use dpi thereafter If used as an adjective preceding a noun hyphenate and use dot per inch The printer provides a resolution of 600 dots per inch dpi it can be upgraded to 1200 dpi The printer provides a 600 dot per inch dpi resolution some printers offer 1200 dpi resolution double byte characters Note hyphen Not 2 byte characters double click n double click v double clicking n v Note hyphenation Small children may have trouble with a double click Adults can double click without difficulty Double clicking allows you to work faster
140. or Garamond A font family may include both bitmap and outline fonts Compare font typeface font size Not type size When the meaning is clear it s OK to use just size font style Not typestyle or typeface attribute Refers to one or more attributes such as boldface underline italic shadow and so on When the meaning is clear it s OK to use just style footnotes See tables Table notes and footnotes format n Refers to the arrangement and appearance of text graphics and other elements such as footers on a page format v When you refer to disks format and initialize mean the same thing form feed n form feed adj Note hyphenation of adjective Fortran Note capitalization forward compatibility Not future compatibility or upward compatibility forward compatible adj Note hyphenation Forward Delete Fwd Del key The key ona keyboard Spell out on first occurrence Compare Delete key fps Abbreviation for frames per second Always lowercase Spell out on first occurrence Include a space between the number and fps 24 fps fractions In user documentation spell out fractions whose denominator is 10 or lower in running text except in specification lists technical appendixes or tables For spelled out forms hyphenate the fractions one tenth one fifth three fourths This application uses one fifth of available memory The other application uses only 1 20th of available of memory When you expre
141. or chapters in general don t capitalize the word appendix or chapter See Chapter 2 QuickTime on the Internet See Appendix B for a list of specifications See the appendix for specifications a References to untitled sections In cross references to sections that never take a title glossary index table of contents and so on don t capitalize the name of the section Apple Publications Style Guide 27 28 Style and Usage a What to capitalize Follow these rules when you use title style caps Capitalize every word except a Articles a an the Coordinating conjunctions and but or nor for yet and so a The word to in infinitives How to Start Your Printer m Prepositions of three letters or fewer at by for in of off on out to and up except when the word is part of a verb phrase or is used as another part of speech such as an adverb adjective noun or verb Starting Up the Computer Logging In to the Server Introduction to the Macintosh Getting Started With Your PowerBook Capitalize the first and last word regardless of the part of speech For New Mac OS X Users What the Finder Is For Capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound Correct High Level Events 32 Bit Addressing Incorrect High level Events 32 bit Addressing Exceptions Built in Plug in a Capitalize Are If Is It Than That and This Caps Lock key Not Shift Lock Note capitalization captions Use sentence style c
142. or entry point to a website Don t use to refer to an entire website Correct The Apple homepage has a link to the Apple Store where you can purchase Apple products Correct Visit the Apple website for more information about Apple products Incorrect Visit the Apple homepage to purchase products HomePage When you refer to the Mac service HomePage is one word with an embedded cap hot link Don t use to refer to hypertext links in webpages use hypertext link or just link hot pluggable Avoid in user documentation hot swap v Note hyphen On first use enclose in quotation marks and define In user documentation avoid the adjective form hot swappable HTML Abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language Spell out on first occurrence Use all caps when you refer to the programming language Use all lowercase when part of a URL A file can be in HTML or an HTML file but it is not in HTML format because HTML is not a format Correct If you know HTML you can create webpages Correct You can find the file at the following address http www books com classics html Apple Publications Style Guide 69 70 Style and Usage HTTP Abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Use all lowercase when part of a URL See also Internet addresses humor Humor can enhance documentation by adding to a reader s enjoyment and by helping to lighten the tone Humor usually works best in examples where it is less likely to distr
143. ord Option Command Up Arrow Command Shift double click a Minus sign Use an en dash as a minus sign except in code font where you use a hyphen 1 65 535 m Formatting To generate an en dash press Option hyphen Close up the en dash with the word or number before it and the word or number after it Consult your department s guidelines for instructions on handling en dashes in HTML See also hyphenation Apple Publications Style Guide 43 44 Style and Usage data Singular or plural depending on the context When used as a collective noun data takes a singular verb When the meaning is not collective use a plural verb In user documentation avoid in favor of information if information makes sense in the context Collective and thus singular Data is processed by the CPU Not collective and thus plural Selected data are transferred immediately database n adj One word As a noun database refers to the body of data manipulated by a database program data file Two words data terminal ready DTR signal No hyphens Date amp Time The name of a System Preferences pane Note the ampersand and capitalization date time record Note slash and lowercase daughter board Don t use use expansion board DB 9 connector OK in developer documentation In user documentation describe the connector by its size and shape icon or in another way appropriate to the context because it may have fewer than nine pin
144. orrect The disk ejects electromagnetic interference EMI Spell out on first occurrence Apple Publications Style Guide 53 54 Style and Usage ellipsis points Some command names are followed by ellipsis points three unspaced periods Use the periods in any text head made up solely of the item name and in the corresponding entry in the table of contents Don t use the periods in running text or in the index Ellipsis points are also used to show the omission of words in a quotation an incomplete statement or a break in thought See The Chicago Manual of Style for guidance on these uses eMac Note capitalization email n adj v One word lowercase Send an email to your manager Send an email message to your manager Your manager wants you to email her You can contact Apple by email email addresses Email addresses use this format username location subdomain domain The address mac worm apple com specifies a user named mac at the site worm in the apple subdomain of the com domain ma ntext Use plain text for email addresses in text m Line breaks Avoid end of line breaks in an email address If necessary set the address on a separate line a Punctuation If an email address ends a sentence it s OK to use a period See also Internet addresses embed Not imbed em dash See dash em EMI Abbreviation for electromagnetic interference Spell out on first occurrence enable v
145. ou want See also click enter type v Preview The application you can use to preview documents before you print them print v Not print out Print Center Two words capped Don t use the before Open Print Center printed circuit board Note hyphenation printer port Note lowercase print head Two words printout n One word print out v Don t use use print print server Two words problem Don t use in phrases such as this is a known problem or this version fixes that problem Use condition issue or situation It s OK to use problem in a general way such as f you have a problem registering try again in a few moments product names Follow the capitalization style on the product s packaging Don t capitalize words like card and driver unless they are part of the product name Don t use quotation marks around product names m Trademark symbols When you use a or an symbol the product name must be an adjective QuickTime software Macintosh computer m The company name Use the company name Apple with the product at its first use in both the preface and main text to establish ownership of the product Thereafter it s OK to drop the name of the company For official hardware product names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 See also trademarks program In user documentation when you refer to a single application program it s OK to use application program or software
146. our computer s capabilities Type I Type Il and Type Ill note spelling and capitalization refer to the thickness of the cards PCI Abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect a type of card or slot Spell out on first occurrence but never thereafter P code Stands for pseudocode Note capitalization and hyphenation PDF Stands for Portable Document Format Spell out on first occurrence Capitalize when you refer to the file format lowercase when you refer to the filename extension Installation Guide pdf Don t use a file in PDF format use a PDF file percent One word Always preceded by a numeral no matter how small the value 1 percent m Percent symbol It s OK to use the percent symbol instead of the word percent in technical appendixes specification lists and tables or when the word must appear so many times in a text passage that its use becomes cumbersome a Nonspecific quantities When you describe a nonspecific quantity use percentage as in a small percentage of the population periods See ellipsis points peripheral A device that can be connected to the computer Peripheral devices include printers scanners disk drives modems displays and keyboards OK to use peripheral device peripheral or device The adjective is singular peripheral manufacturer peripheral connections peripheral card Not accessory card When appropriate use the more specific term interface card Peripheral Component
147. owel as in preexisting See also prefixes preface Depending on your department s guidelines you may use a preface to tell the reader about the document to describe conventions such as special notation for example code font and to outline what the reader will find where Discussion of the product itself usually belongs in the document text not in the preface although it is sometimes appropriate to include introductory information about the product in the preface A preface should have a title such as About This Book or Introduction When you refer to a document s preface use the full preface title See the preface About This Book If your department template includes the word Preface you may instead refer to it as the preface preferences For System Preferences the Mac OS X application you can shorten the name of each of the system preferences modules to Name preferences note lowercase preferences as in Universal Access preferences For application preferences use the application name and Preferences both capped Mail Preferences You can change volume settings in Sound preferences Use the Sound pane of System Preferences to choose an alert sound In Mail Preferences click Accounts See also System Preferences prefixes Close up prefixes such as multi non and pre with the following word even when it forms a double vowel Exceptions are compounds that contain proper nouns non Apple
148. p and page breaks can sometimes be affected by extra space characters or a lack of them speed For the speed of disc drives use a lowercase x for example 24x speed Note that there is no space between the numeral and the x spell check v Note hyphen Also OK to use check the spelling of a document spell checker spelling checker Either term is OK spin down v Avoid using Use stop spinning instead OK for use in service related publications spinning gear See progress indicator splash screen Don t use use opening display startup display or startup screen spring loaded Use to describe the ability of a folder to open automatically spring open when an item is dragged onto it Don t use spring open square wave n square wave adj Note hyphenation of adjective standalone adj One word Don t use as a noun Standard Roman character set Note capitalization start Don t use when you mean open open an application program start up v startup n adj In user documentation try to avoid using startup as a noun except when repeated occurrences of when you start up become unwieldy Rewrite when possible to use a more specific term or description For AppleCare and developer documents startup is an acceptable generic term for the period of time it takes the computer to start up Start up the Macintosh Insert the startup disk While the computer is starting up you can check your voicemail Appl
149. parentheses with no capitalization or ending punctuation even if it is a complete sentence Apple Publications Style Guide 133 134 Style and Usage When specific items within a table require footnotes depending on your department s style either number the items consecutively starting with 1 or use the following symbols in this order asterisk dagger t Option T double dagger Option Shift 7 section Option 6 paragraph 4 Option 7 number When more symbols are needed they are doubled in the same order In Technical Publications table notes and footnotes are not used because of problems with HTML conversion tap n v tapping n v Use when you describe the trackpad action that s equivalent to clicking See also click press type TB Abbreviation for terabyte or one trillion bytes Spell out on first occurrence a Adjective Don t hyphenate the adjective form The disk array has a 2 TB storage capacity a Noun In the noun form use a space between the number and the abbreviation Use the preposition of before the unit quantified by the value 2 TB of storage space TCP IP Abbreviation for Transmission Control Protocol Internet Protocol Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence telecommunicate Don t use as a verb Use communicate instead telecommunication Telecommunication refers to the act telecommunications refers to the field When used as an adjective the cor
150. ple Publications Style Guide 63 64 Style and Usage function keys The keys on a keyboard labeled F1 F2 F3 and so on Note that function is lowercase future tense Whenever possible use present not future tense Don t switch unnecessarily from present to future tense when present tense is sufficient to express a sequence of steps or events a Conditional constructions Use present tense for conditional constructions such as those in these examples Correct If the noWait parameter is true play from the disk stops immediately and program control returns to the caller Incorrect If the noWait parameter is true play from the disk will stop immediately and program control will return to the caller m Future events Future tense is sometimes appropriate for example when a product described is not yet available The configuration of the slot connector will change whenever a newer more powerful microprocessor is used in the Macintosh family Interapplication communication will play an increasingly important role in system software Fwd Delkey Abbreviation for Forward Delete Spell out on first occurrence GB Abbreviation for gigabyte Spell out on first occurrence m Adjective Don t hyphenate the adjective form 2 GB hard disk a Noun In the noun form a space separates the numeral and the abbreviation and the preposition of is necessary before the unit that the value quantifies 2 GB of memory Gbit Abbreviatio
151. ppen when clicked you can call it either a button or an icon For example the following interface elements act like buttons but look like icons 2 p i es A toolbar button An iPhoto button A Dock icon a con without a label If an icon does not have a label and there is no established name for the icon consult your editor to determine what to call the icon Lowercase the name of the icon See also button Icon View button The leftmost button in the View control in Finder windows Note capitalization iDisk Note capitalization iDVD Note capitalization i e Don t use use that is IEEE Abbreviation for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Spell out on first occurrence if necessary Avoid in user documentation Describe the circumstance in which the action would be necessary iLife Note capitalization i LINK Don t use use FireWire i LINK is the Sony version of the technology iMac Note capitalization For a list of iMac model names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 imbed Don t use use embed iMovie Note capitalization Avoid using iMovie when you mean a movie Avoid You can make your own iMovie Preferable You can make your own movies using iMovie Important Use an mportant notice to alert the reader to significant potential trouble spots that do not cause bodily injury damage or loss of data Those situations require a Warning notice Use Important
152. program You never exit a program Compare abort cancel halt interrupt quit stop expansion bay The space inside a computer where hardware modules such as CD ROM drives can be inserted and removed OK to use drive bay if the bay in question takes only storage devices expansion board Not daughter board or piggyback board expansion slot Not peripheral slot or accessory slot You can also use slot without the qualifier expansion Lowercase even in specific references slot 1 slot 6 Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code EBCDIC Note hyphenation and capitalization Spell out on first occurrence The acronym is pronounced EB si dik Extensions Manager Classic Note capitalization Not Extension Manager external display Use only to refer to displays connected to portable computers or to computers with a built in display For modular computers or unknown configurations use additional display You can also use external monitor See also display monitor F1 F2 F3 Function keys on a keyboard Capitalize the F and use plain not italic style and Arabic numerals No space between letter and numeral face Don t use use font or font family whichever is appropriate fairlanguage Avoid cultural biases and stereotypes which may offend some users of Apple products Be aware of the variety of people who are potential Apple customers and write consciously to include them a Names Include a variety of ethnic nam
153. r Mac G4 m General references Avoid Mac when you refer generally to a Macintosh computer to avoid confusion with more specific names such as Power Mac or iMac Correct your Macintosh your Macintosh computer Avoid your Mac a Model names Don t use Mac in model names that include the word Macintosh Correct Macintosh PowerBook Incorrect Mac PowerBook a As an adjective You can use Mac judiciously as an adjective the Mac desktop For a list of model names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 See also Mac OS machine Don t use when you mean computer machine language n machine language adj Note hyphenation of adjective Macintosh Use Macintosh to describe computers manufactured by Apple Computer Inc Use Mac compatible to describe hardware or software that works with the Mac OS a Asan adjective Macintosh is most correctly used as an adjective as in Macintosh computer When you use Macintosh as a noun place an article or a possessive before it to avoid anthropomorphizing the Macintosh your Macintosh m Plural and possessive forms Don t use the plural Macintoshes in describing any of the Macintosh family computers If you must describe any Macintosh computer in the plural add the word computers Macintosh computers Rewrite to avoid possessive forms of any Macintosh product name a Model names Use the full Macintosh computer model name on a manual cover and title page Avoid using the ful
154. r countries Balloon Help Disk First Aid eMac Extensions Manager Finder iCal iDVD iLife iMovie iPhoto iPod Keynote Rendezvous Safari SnapBack SuperDrive Velocity Engine and Xserve are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc AppleCare and Mac are service marks of Apple Computer Inc FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker Inc registered in the U S and other countries PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the U S and or other countries PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation used under license therefrom Times is a registered trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG available from Linotype Library GmbH Contents Preface About This Guide 7 What s in This Guide 7 Standard Editorial Resources 8 Conventions Used in This Guide 8 Style and Usage 9 Appendix A Units of Measure 151 Guidelines 151 Prefixes for Units of Measure 152 Names and Unit Symbols for Units of Measure Appendix B Hardware Product Names 159 Macintosh Desktop Computers 159 Macintosh Portable Computers 159 Servers 160 Displays 160 Keyboards and Mouse Devices 160 Storage Devices 161 Audio Music Products 161 Wireless Networking Products 161 153 4 Contents Appendix C Technical Notation 163 General Considerations 163 Code 163 Syntax Descriptions 163 Code Fontin Text 164 Metasymbols in Text 164 Appendix D How to Write a Glossary 167 Audience Considerations
155. rally use DV to refer to the format or to products that use the format Don t use DV to refer to the medium digital video Related terms include DV format DV standard DV camera DV camcorder DVD Don t spell out DVD doesn t stand for a specific term DVD technologies include the following DVD R recordable DVD RAM rewritable DVD ROM read only DVD RW rewritable not DVD R W or DVD RW DVD Video read only Refer to the specific type of disc or drive or use the general term DVD depending on the context a Noun form Don t use DVD R DVD RW or any of the other DVD terms as a noun the term must modify another word such as drive or disc m Plural As the plural don t use DVD Rs DVD RWs and so on instead use DVD R discs DVD RW discs and so on or simply DVDs Use disc not disk to refer to DVD media DVD Audio DVD Video Note capitalization and hyphens DVD ROM drive Not DVD player in reference to a device that s built in to or connected to the computer and reads DVD discs DVD player is OK when you refer to a device connected to a television earlier later Use to refer to versions of software don t use lower higher or newer older Whenever possible avoid using earlier and later to refer to other parts of a document Use specific cross references when you can Sometimes a general reference to another topic is appropriate In such cases it s OK to use earlier and later Earlier in the tutorial you lear
156. rd beginning with a vowel close up before a word beginning with a consonant mini assembler miniwindow minicircular connector minicircular connector Use 8 pin minicircular connector on first occurrence except in user documentation thereafter minicircular connector is fine Don t use minicircular 8 connector See also connector mini DIN Don t use See DIN Apple Publications Style Guide 93 minimize button The middle button of the three window controls at the left of the title bar You click this button to put a window in the Dock minimize the window minimized OK for describing a window in the Dock Windows in the Dock are minimized See also maximize minitower One word no hyphen minus sign Not minus symbol Use an en dash generated by pressing Option hyphen for a minus sign except in code font where a hyphen is used MIPS Acronym for million instructions per second Spell out on first occurrence Don t drop the s when you refer to a single unit one MIPS not one MIP mixed directional adj Note hyphenation Use to refer to a combination of left to right and right to left text within a single line French and Arabic on one line for example Compare bidirectional M JPEG Note hyphenation and capitalization Pronounced em jay peg The M stands for motion and the form Motion JPEG is sometimes used M JPEG extends the JPEG standard to video Not the same as MPEG mode Avoid mode in user documenta
157. rect term is telecommunications Telecommunication gets simpler by the day though you can t prove it by most manuals on this subject The telecommunications industry is expanding rapidly television Not television set or TV set After the first occurrence TV is OK television monitor Don t use Use video monitor or monitor Telnet Note capitalization Avoid as a verb The UNIX command telnet is all lowercase Correct You use Telnet to connect to another computer as a terminal Correct You use the telnet command to connect to another computer as a terminal Incorrect You Telnet to another computer to use its software 10Base T Preferred in user documentation although 70BASE T is also correct See also 100Base T 1000Base T terabyte See TB Terminal An application for using the command line interface Don t use the before terminal emulation n adj No hyphen TextEdit One word Note capitalization text field See field text file Two words text heads Use different levels of text heads to make the organization of documentation clearer to the reader but remember that too many heads too close together distract the reader and clutter the page Organization In general organize your sections so that level four heads are subordinate to level three heads level three heads to level two heads and so on Don t skip a level of heads When the next logical level of heading seems too prominent for a given usage in
158. rning notice when the reader needs to know that an action may cause bodily injury damage to hardware or software or loss of data Use warning notices and other notices sparingly they lose effectiveness if they appear too often Avoid using a warning notice immediately after a text head See also Important Note waveform n adj One word wavelength n One word we Don t use first person rewrite in terms of the reader or the product Correct For best performance your Macintosh should have at least 256 MB of RAM Incorrect We recommend that your Macintosh have at least 256 MB of RAM See also recommend web Short form of World Wide Web Lowercase See also World Wide Web You use a browser to visit sites on the web web addresses See Internet addresses webpage webcast webcasting One word WebObjects One word note embedded cap webpage One word A self contained document that can be viewed by using a web address A single website can contain many webpages You connect to or go to a page you are then at that page Text graphics and links however are on the page Don t use website and webpage interchangeably See also homepage Internet addresses website Apple Publications Style Guide 145 146 Style and Usage website Refers to a collection of webpages stored in a particular location A website may be organized into several parts sections or areas each of which may contain more than one page U
159. rol key Shift key a Articles In general don t use articles or the word key in references to keys Press Control But ease the user into this construction by using the and key the first time you mention a keystroke Press the Control key m Combination keystrokes In combination keystrokes use hyphens to signify that the user should hold down the first key or keys while pressing the last key Don t use a hyphen if each key should be pressed and released separately Be sure to explain this convention on first use Control Shift N Esc N In combination keystrokes capitalize but do not italicize or use code font for letters used as key names Command C Command X a Two word key names When one of the key names in a combination keystroke is two words or a hyphenated word use en dashes where you would ordinarily use hyphens Option right bracket Option Command Up Arrow Command Shift double click a Punctuation keys When a punctuation key is used in a combination keystroke use lowercase for the punctuation key name Command period Option Shift hyphen Apple Publications Style Guide 79 80 Style and Usage a Key graphics With graphic representations of key combinations in tables for example use the plus sign instead of a hyphen between keys enter s l 2 option o m Escape and Delete It s OK to abbreviate the key names Escape and Forward Delete Esc and Fwd Del Spell ou
160. s In documentation written for new users however you may want to mention the term DB 9 or DB 11 DB 25 or DB 50 or include the term in the glossary because users may see it elsewhere See also connector deactivate See activate deactivate dealer Not dealership Use Apple authorized dealer or authorized Apple dealer Don t shorten to dealer except in passages where using the full term becomes cumbersome or overly repetitive See also Apple authorized dealer default n adj Define on first occurrence In user documentation you may want to use preset See also preset dehighlight dehighlighted Don t use Use deselect as a verb when appropriate otherwise reword Use not highlighted as the adjective DEL character Not DELETE character or rubout character Refers specifically to ASCII character 7F Delete key Not DEL key Compare Forward Delete Fwd Del key depress Don t use use press deselect OK to use when you mean cancel a selection Not uncheck unselect unhighlight or dehighlight Compare unselected desired Try to avoid Correct Make your changes select the folder Incorrect Make the desired changes select the desired folder desk accessory Classic Don t use to refer to small application programs in the Apple menu such as the Scrapbook Correct the Alarm Clock the Calculator the Scrapbook Incorrect the Calculator desk accessory desktop n adj One word lowercase Refers to the bac
161. s Use the Save command to save any changes to your file Use menu item to refer to items that aren t commands such as names of windows in the Window menu and About This Mac in the Apple menu In Classic use menu item to refer to items in the Apple menu and to open programs in the Application menu A command is in a menu not on a menu a menu contains commands Users choose commands they don t select commands See also choose command names menus Command click v adj Note capitalization and hyphenation The hyphen denotes a combined action Command click is equivalent to press the Command key and click Command key On first use in print user documentation identify the Command key with the propeller symbol like this Command 8 key Thereafter just use Command key In print documents you can produce the Command key symbol using an x in Apple Icon Three font Consult your department s guidelines for treatment in HTML Command key equivalent In user documentation keyboard shortcut is preferred Use Command key equivalent only if all the combinations use the Command 3 key In developer documentation keyboard equivalent is preferred command line n command line adj In applications without a graphical user interface you enter commands in the area known as the command line Such applications Terminal for example have a command line interface command names Use title style capitalization for command names do
162. s m Removability of the drive removable or fixed a Flexibility of the medium floppy or hard 100 MB removable disk Include only as much information as is necessary to avoid confusion in the context of each description in many cases disk hard disk or floppy disk is enough See also copy save disk drive n adj Don t use drive when you mean disk Don t hyphenate disk drive when you use the phrase as a compound adjective See also drive Apple Publications Style Guide 47 48 Style and Usage diskette Don t use use disk Disk First Aid In Mac OS X this application was replaced by Disk Utility but Disk First Aid may be included on a Mac OS X CD with the Mac OS 9 software disk name Use when you refer to the name that appears beneath a disk s icon on the desktop don t use disk title for this purpose disk or disc titles Use title style caps and italics for the full title of a disk or disc The word disk CD or DVD may not be part of the title Follow the usage on the official label The is usually not part of the disk title Mac OS X Install Disc 1 Disc is part of the title Use the Final Cut Pro 3 CD to start up your computer CD and the are not part of the title Use lowercase when you refer to a disk or disc by less than its full title or for disks or discs with generic titles Insert the system software disc into the CD ROM drive Install the software from the installation disc Use the App
163. s to indicate that a noun can be either singular or plural Spell out the singular and plural forms if necessary if possible rewrite to avoid either construction Acceptable Initializing your hard disk or disks Preferable Initializing hard disks Incorrect Initializing your hard disk s m Trademarked product names Form the plural of trademarked product names by adding the plural generic noun to the singular product name used as an adjective Correct Macintosh computers PowerBook computers iMac computers Incorrect Macintoshes PowerBooks iMacs If a product name includes a generic noun as well as a trademarked adjective form the plural as you would with any noun AirPort Cards AppleCare Service Parts Kits a Words as words Form the plural of a word italicized to show that it is used as a word by adding an apostrophe and an s Do not italicize the apostrophe or the s He had too many and s in the sentence plus sign Not plus symbol P M Note small caps and periods Exception to the rule that abbreviations do not include periods In documents to be read only onscreen don t use small caps use full caps PM point n Use only when writing about font sizes Don t use as a synonym for dot or to describe a place or spot on the screen point v When you describe the desktop interface don t use point as a verb without first defining it for the reader First occurrence Move the mouse to position the pointer on th
164. s first time computer users catalog Refers to a list of all files and folders stored on a volume Don t use this term in user documentation cathode ray tube CRT Note hyphenation Spell out on first occurrence Don t use when you mean display or screen CD Abbreviation for compact disc CD technologies include the following CD ROM compact disc read only memory CD R CD recordable CD RW CD rewritable not CD R W or CD RW ma Types Types of CDs include audio CDs or music CDs MP3 CDs and data CDs Refer to the specific type of disc or drive or use the general term CD depending on the context m Usage Don t use CD ROM CD RW or CD R as a noun the term must modify another word such as drive or disc For the plural don t use CD ROMs CD RWs and so on Instead use CD ROM discs CD RW discs and so on or simply CDs a Discand disk Use disc not disk to refer to CD media CD ROM drive Not CD ROM player The speed of a CD ROM drive is measured in terms of a standard speed of 150 kbit s CD ROM drives transfer data at double speed 4x speed 6x speed and so on Hyphenate the adjective form 24x speed CD ROM drive Don t leave out the x cell phone Two words Short for cellular phone Don t shorten to cell You can also use mobile phone central memory Don t use use main memory Apple Publications Style Guide 29 30 Style and Usage central processing unit CPU Spell out on first occurrence Don t use to
165. se numerals for units of measure inches feet seconds no matter how small the number is For a list of units of measure see Appendix A Units of Measure on page 151 Pins Don t spell out the numerals preceding connectors 8 pin minicircular connector 9 pin connector Starting a sentence Rephrase to avoid starting a sentence with a number If you must start a sentence with a number spell out the number Always spell out numbers to express an approximation Larger smaller When you refer to the size of numbers use larger and smaller not higher and lower Software version numbers When you refer to software version numbers use ater and earlier For example refer to Mac OS X version 10 2 or later See also version Commas in numbers Use a comma to set off numbers of five digits or more Express the number in its smallest form If your editor has asked you to follow international style see Decimals in Appendix F International Style on page 177 1024 65 536 3 7 million Don t use a comma in memory addresses or numbers representing microprocessors SFFFF FFFF 68020 microprocessor Plural Form the plural of a number by adding an s 1s and 5s the 60s Code values in text Use numerals for numeric values in text except for zero in the same sentence as nonzero ord blue returns 0 The function fseek returns nonzero for improper seeks otherwise it returns zero Apple Publications Style Guid
166. se part section or area to refer to such an entity Use page to refer to a single webpage Use website or site to refer to the entire collection You can browse visit or go to a website but don t use such phrases as point your browser at the website and surf the website See also homepage webpage Welcome to Mac OS message Classic Not box or screen well behaved Don t use to describe software use compatible well constructed and the like which Use only to introduce a nonrestrictive clause clauses beginning with which are always set off with commas The newest computer in the lab which is a Power Mac G4 is also the students favorite There is only one newest computer the phrase which is a Power Mac G4 although it provides more information does not restrict the subject of the sentence This is the computer that has network access There are many computers the phrase that has network access restricts narrows the meaning of the subject of the sentence to one computer Compare that whir Not whirr But whirring The disk drive whirs in a moment you see the opening display on the screen who whom Who should always be used as the subject of a verb or as a subject complement Whom should always be used as the object of a verb or preposition Who is the new system administrator This manual is intended for the person who manages the network Be selective about the people to whom you give network access
167. should probably assume that some readers will not be familiar with Apple terminology Such terms as Apple event Finder or Code Fragment Manager should probably be in the glossary if your document uses them 167 Content Guidelines A glossary is more than a list of definitions Entries should explain meanings by providing examples and context Make Definitions Explanatory Give an example where appropriate If possible make that example specific to the product about which you re writing Where helpful refer to other glossary terms for further information or contrast Make the Context Clear Is your definition general to all computers specific to Apple products specific to a particular device or system or somewhere in between If a term has two or more meanings that are relevant such as format the noun referring to page appearance and format the verb referring to the action performed on a blank disk provide all definitions Connect Ordinary Usage With Technical Meaning Many ordinary English words have specific meanings with regard to computer products In documentation for first time users it s helpful to show the connection between the ordinary meaning of the word and its new technical meaning For example here s a definition for open open To make available You open files or documents so that you can work with them You can t read a file or make changes to it until the file is open In the desktop interface openi
168. sk Don t use except in developer documentation Instead use startup disk box Don t use dialog box use dialog See also dialog bps Don t use as the abbreviation for bits per second Use bit s braces Not curly brackets When you need to distinguish between the opening and closing braces use left brace and right brace brackets Not square brackets Don t use brackets when you mean angle brackets lt gt When you need to distinguish between the opening and closing brackets use eft bracket and right bracket bridge Don t use interchangeably with router See also router browsable Not browseable browse v It s OK to use browse as either a transitive verb browse the web or an intransitive verb browse through a website browser Internet browser web browser Lowercase browser Use to refer to an application used to gain access to the World Wide Web and other Internet and intranet services Don t use browser to describe a file selection list Don t use HTML viewer build to order Not built to order Note hyphens and lowercase Always use as an adjective your build to order computer Don t abbreviate as BTO built in adj built in pred adj In headings don t capitalize in exception to the rule of capitalizing the second word of a hyphenated compound The dialog shows the name of the disk in the built in drive The DVD drive is built in The internal modem is built in to the computer built in di
169. sk drive You can use either built in disk drive or internal disk drive built in video card Use to describe video cards that are installed at the factory Don t use onboard video card bullets Use bullet for the character that precedes an item in a list Use also for the symbol in a Window menu that appears next to a document with unsaved changes sayil Prajeci Timeline Use dot to describe the character that appears in the close button of a document with unsaved changes and for the characters that appear when a user types a password in a dialog See also dot burn You burn files on a disc or to a disc but not onto a disc You can also use burn a disc Use iPhoto to burn your photos on a CD Select the playlists you want to burn to a CD If you have a SuperDrive you can burn DVDs See also write bus buses Note spelling of plural Apple Publications Style Guide 23 24 Style and Usage bus powered self powered In user documentation try to avoid when indicating whether devices draw power from a power cord or from another USB device When possible describe the device don t give it a label Correct A device that plugs in to an electrical outlet Correct A device that gets its power from another USB device Incorrect A self powered device Incorrect A bus powered device button Buttons always initiate an action when clicked or pressed You click an onscreen button you press a mechanical button Click the Sa
170. ss a noninteger greater than 1 in fractional form use a mixed numeral rather than an improper fraction Correct 11 6 Correct 1 1 6 Incorrect 7 6 frames per second fps Spell out on first occurrence See also fps free Don t use to refer to available random access memory RAM use available freeze Use to refer to the behavior of a pointer on the screen Put quotation marks around freeze on first use Avoid using freeze as a noun or to refer to something the computer does Instead use a phrase such as not responding If the pointer freezes on the screen or the computer doesn t respond to the mouse or keyboard follow these instructions front frontmost The active window is the front or frontmost window FTP Abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol Avoid as a verb use transfer files instead The UNIX command ftp is all lowercase In the term anonymous FTP the ais lowercase Correct You use FTP software to transfer files from a remote computer to your hard disk Correct You use the tp command to transfer files from a remote computer to your hard disk Incorrect You can FTP files from a remote computer to your hard disk full duplex adj Note hyphenation full height adj Note hyphenation Not full high functional area Apple events Note hyphenation See also Apple event functionality Avoid Use function feature or another appropriate term such as behavior performance speed capacity reliability Ap
171. t energy management software No hyphen energy saving adj Note hyphenation ensure insure Use ensure to mean make sure or guarantee Use insure to describe what an insurance company does Compare assure enter Use enter and type interchangeably when you refer to typing information or entering data Use press not type to refer to pressing keys on the keyboard Compare press type v Enter key Note capitalization Enterprise Objects enterprise objects Use title style caps when you refer to the technology Use lowercase when you refer to objects entitled Don t use use titled named or called EOF Abbreviation for end of file Spell out on first occurrence Apple Publications Style Guide 55 56 Style and Usage equal sign Not equals sign equals sign or equal symbol Esc key Include the word Escape in parentheses on first occurrence First occurrence Press the Esc Escape key Thereafter Press Esc When you describe escape sequences don t use a hyphen between names of keys because the user presses and releases the keys separately Esc 4 Esc F etal Don t use use and others etc Don t use use and so forth or and so on Ethernet One word Note capitalization Refers to one type of cable system used to link computers and peripheral devices OK to use Ethernet network or simply Ethernet depending on the context See also AppleTalk Fast Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet exit You exit from leave or quit a
172. t be the number in the designation You may however want to mention these terms in a glossary Other names and descriptors Avoid obscure names such as power input unit in favor of more direct terms such as recessed plug Don t use male or female to describe types of connectors Compare jack port slot socket constitute Parts constitute a whole A whole comprises parts Compare comprise container Avoid in user documentation except when explaining what a folder or disk is use folder or disk contextual menu In user documentation don t use to refer to the menu that appears when you press the Control key and click an item on the screen use shortcut menu See also shortcut menu contractions It s OK to use contractions in most documentation interface text and informal marketing copy avoid in formal materials such as legal documents a Acceptable contractions Form contractions from pronouns and verbs she s you ll we ve and from verbs and the word not isn t don t won t can t Contractions to avoid Don t form contractions from nouns and verbs For example avoid constructions such as this Apple s going to introduce a new computer today Avoid contractions such as it ll that may be difficult for localization a tsand it s Don t confuse it s the contraction for it is with the possessive pronoun its It s important that the department keep track of its iMac computers control character n
173. t log out from the server Incorrect You must log off the server You can use login screen to refer to the dialog that appears when a new user logs in to Mac OS X login items Applications or files that open automatically when you log in In user documentation it s preferable to use descriptive language items that start up automatically for example Capitalize Login Items when you refer to the pane in System Preferences log on log off Don t use use log in and log out look up v lookup n adj Spell the verb as two words close up the noun or adjective lo res Don t use use low resolution n low resolution adj Apple Publications Style Guide 87 88 Style and Usage low bit n low bit adj Note hyphenation of adjective Not lo bit or lo bit Low bit is an acceptable short form of the noun low order bit lowercase n adj One word no hyphen When used in conjunction with uppercase as a noun or to modify a noun use uppercase and lowercase both words spelled out in that order low order bit n Not o bit or o bit Low bit is an acceptable short form low resolution n low resolution adj Not o res The short form low res n adj is OK when space constraints don t allow use of the full phrase as in column heads in tables L2 cache L3 cache See level 2 cache level 3 cache Mac In most cases use Mac only in the term Mac OS or in model names that include the word Mac such as Powe
174. t or Video Out port Port that connects the computer to most video equipment Compare S video output port video port Don t use when you mean the port to which the display is connected use display port or monitor port View control The three button unit for changing views of Finder windows The View control comprises the con View button the List View button and the Column View button virtual memory Not Virtual Memory or VM V 90 V 92 Note capitalization International Telecommunications Union ITU modem serial protocols Don t use V 90 or V 92 when you mean 56K modem unless you re referring specifically to the V 90 or V 92 protocol See also 56K modem K56flex Apple Publications Style Guide 143 144 Style and Usage voicemail One word Don t use as a verb Instead use leave a voicemail or check your voicemail A comparable term is voice messages voiceover One word Don t use as a verb Instead use record a voiceover or something similar voice quality microphone Note hyphen volumes books Books are divided into volumes when page length exceeds manageable limits Different volumes don t have different titles because the division into volumes doesn t represent a difference in subject matter a Volume numbers The type of numeral used Arabic or Roman varies by department Consult your editor for guidelines Mac OS X Server Administrator s Guide Volume 2 Volume VI of Inside Macintosh Final Cut Pro User s Manu
175. t sound when the computer needs your attention An alert message appears if a problem occurs during the installation In specific situations however avoid the word alert if you can simply describe what the user sees or hears A message appears when the installation is finished A message asks you to insert Install Disc 2 alias Lowercase Use for with alias not of or to The alias for the selected file is on the desktop You can also use file alias or folder alias In developer documentation the object that the alias represents is called its target In user documentation the object is called the original item Don t use aliased alignment Use instead of justification to refer to the horizontal placement of lines of text with respect to the left and right edges of the margin Alignment can be flush left flush right centered or justified that is flush on both the left and right margins Compare justification all in one Always use as an adjective all in one computer Avoid in user documentation even if the term appears in the product s name or packaging Instead describe the features of the product a computer with a built in display allow Avoid using allow when you can restructure a sentence to make the reader the subject Weak FileMaker Pro allows you to create a database Preferable You can create a database with FileMaker Pro See also disable disabled enable enabled let Apple Publications Style Gui
176. t the key names on first use Don t abbreviate any other key names except when space is very tight in table heads for example See also specific key names keyboard equivalent Not Command key equivalent unless all the combinations referred to use the Command key In user documentation use keyboard shortcut keyboard icon Not script symbol or script icon Refers to the small icon associated with each keyboard layout These icons are used in the Input menu and the Input Menu pane of International preferences Keyboard menu Classic Not Script menu In Mac OS X the equivalent menu is the Input menu keychain You use the Keychain Access application note capitalization to create keychains lowercase A keychain stores certificates and passwords for servers Internet resources and applications Keychain Access The application name is two words capped You use the application to create keychains lowercase key down adj Note hyphenation Keynote Capitalize the name of the application keypad One word Use keypad or numeric keypad not numeric keyboard keypress One word keystroke One word key up adj Note hyphenation keyword Refers to a special word that identifies a particular type of statement or command such as int or while Follow the capitalization style of the programming language involved K56flex Note capitalization A modem technology developed by Lucent Technologies and Rockwell International that con
177. t use as a verb sentence style A style of capitalization In sentence style caps capitalize only the first letter of the first word proper nouns and proper adjectives See also capitalization sentence style title style service manual Note lowercase Apple Publications Style Guide 123 124 Style and Usage setup n adj set up v One word except as a verb Setup Assistant Two words capitalized Don t use the before Setup Assistant See also Assistant sexism sexist language See fair language shared disk In user documentation use shared disk when you discuss connecting to another Macintosh over the network When you discuss setting up a folder to share on your own computer use shared folder Use file server only when explaining the concept of file servers shared folder In user documentation use shared folder when you discuss setting up a folder to share on your own computer Use shared disk when you discuss connecting to another Macintosh over the network See also shared disk share point Two words sheet Refers to a modal dialog attached to a specific document window When you choose Print the Print sheet appears In user documentation call a sheet a dialog sheet is mainly for marketing and developer purposes Sherlock Note capitalization Don t include the version number when you refer to Sherlock Correct Sherlock Incorrect Sherlock 3 Shift key Note capitalization Shift click v adj
178. t use hex as a shorthand form In developer documentation hex is OK but spell out hexadecimal on first occurrence Use a preceding to designate a hexadecimal number hexagonal head screw Not hex head screw HFS Abbreviation for hierarchical file system Avoid in user documentation use Mac OS Standard format instead Apple Publications Style Guide 67 68 Style and Usage HFS Plus Note capitalization Don t use HFS Avoid in user documentation use Mac OS Extended format instead hierarchical file system HFS Spell out on first occurrence hierarchy Avoid when you mean a series of USB devices connected to one another and to a computer in a branching structure using hubs Use chain or simply describe if possible You can connect many USB devices to one computer using a series of hubs high bit n high bit adj Not hi bit or hi bit High bit is an acceptable short form for the noun high order bit high definition video Note hyphen highlight trans v Don t use in user documentation In developer documents don t use as an intransitive verb Correct Your application should know what the selection range is and highlight it properly Incorrect The icon highlights when you click it Compare highlighted highlighting select highlighted adj No hyphen Not hilighted Don t use inverted except in developer documentation When explaining highlighting use a highlighted icon changes color or a highlighted ic
179. tain both alphabetic and numeric characters ma Allow passwords to be as long as is practical m Never display the password on the screen in clear text not even while the user is typing it m Provide a way for the user to verify the password when it is entered or changed lists multicolumn Use a multicolumn list when you want to present simple data in tabular form without all the formal parameters of a table You can use column heads if you wish A multicolumn list does not have spanners row titles or stubs and it does not use horizontal rules as a table does a Numbers and titles Multicolumn lists do not have numbers or titles If you need to refer to a list in text anywhere other than in the paragraph preceding the list use a standard table a Length Don t use a multicolumn list for very complex sets of information or for very lengthy lists of data The entire list should not exceed one page for best results in page layout it should probably be no more than half a page long Here are some examples of file types APPL MOOV PICIA TEXT GIFF Midi lists numbered Launchable application QuickTime movie QuickDraw picture Stream of ASCII characters Animated GIF MIDI file Use a numbered list when you want to stress the sequential nature of steps rules or instructions Each item in the list should be a complete sentence Use sentence style caps for each item and end each item with closing p
180. talization style of the spelled out form Abbreviation mph for miles per hour Acronym ROM for read only memory m When to spell out Always spell out an abbreviation or acronym on first occurrence if you think your audience may not be familiar with it Define the term if its meaning isn t self evident Consider including acronyms and abbreviations in the glossary In some cases such as reference material that is not likely to be read sequentially you may want to repeat the spelled out form on first occurrence in each chapter or major section a Pronunciation Provide a pronunciation key for acronyms if the pronunciation is not self evident ASCII pronounced ASK ee See also pronunciation m Punctuation Don t use periods except in abbreviations for customary nonmetric units of measurement or in the abbreviations U S A M and P M Don t add an apostrophe before the s when you form the plural ICs RAMs ROMs a Latin Avoid using Latin abbreviations Correct for example and others and so on and that is or equivalent phrases Incorrect e g for example et al and others etc and so on i e that is For abbreviations of units of measurement and guidelines for using them see Appendix A Units of Measure on page 151 Style and Usage able suffix When you add able to a word ending in e drop the e unless the word ends with a soft c or a soft g browsable deletable sharable sizable
181. tection software is turned off and your computer isn t set to go to sleep Avoid Make sure virus protection software and system sleep are disabled In developer documentation it s OK to use enabled and disabled when you describe buttons menu items and the like See also allow enable enabled let disc Use when you refer to a compact disc videodisc optical disc or other laser technology discs otherwise use disk In ongoing references to compact discs disc is preferable to CD or CD ROM See also CD DVD disclosure button The triangle that reveals or hides options when clicked not the detail button You can also call it the disclosure triangle disk Not diskette flexible disk floppy or floppy diskette Use disc when you refer to a compact disc videodisc optical disc or other laser technology discs If the medium is magnetic it s disk Don t use disk as a short form for disk drive a Floppy disk Use floppy disk to distinguish from hard disks or compact discs never use just floppy for this purpose a Disk references In user documentation use disk instead of volume to refer in general to floppy disks hard disks and shared disks a Articles Use an article when appropriate the disk a disk a Descriptions Describe a disk according to the following criteria and in this order m Storage capacity in number of bytes a Physical size in inches or millimeters but always use decimals rather than fraction
182. ted by Apple m Cross references In most cases user documentation should refer only to the help for a specific application such as iMovie Help or Mail Help See also help help book Help Center Apple key Don t use The key with the propeller symbol and Apple logo is the Command key See also Command key Apple menu When you refer to the Apple menu in user documentation use both the word Apple and the symbol on first occurrence The Apple menu contains commands for shutting down your computer Thereafter use the phrase Apple menu without the symbol Don t use the symbol without the word Apple when you refer to the Apple menu Consult your department s guidelines for treatment of the symbol in HTML applet Can be any small application but usually refers to a piece of code that is attached to an HTML document on the World Wide Web AppleTalk Refers to an overall network system and any software that uses it including the resources you turn on and off in Network preferences It s OK to use AppleTalk network m Other uses In addition to AppleTalk network the following terms are appropriate uses of the word AppleTalk AppleTalk developer AppleTalk identification number AppleTalk network architecture AppleTalk software and AppleTalk zone a Shared devices Shared devices used over an AppleTalk network such as an AppleShare file server or a shared printer can be called AppleTalk services See also Et
183. that the System Administrator is also root See also administrator root user system extension Classic In user documentation may be used to describe files for instance files of type INIT appe and seri that extend the abilities of the computer Compare INIT Apple Publications Style Guide 131 132 Style and Usage System file Classic Note capitalization Refers to the specifically named file in the Classic Mac OS 9 System Folder Compare system files system files Lowercase Refers to any files used by the computer to start itself up or to provide systemwide information Compare System file System folder Lowercase f in Mac OS X uppercase F in Mac OS 9 System Preferences Note capitalization The user customizable set of preferences at the top of the System Preferences window is the favorites toolbar When you click a preferences button the button name pane appears for example the Network pane See also preferences system software The software used to operate and maintain a computer system including the operating system and utility programs Note lowercase Not systems software See also version systemwide adj One word See also wide tab ina window In a window the tab itself is called the tab name tab but the content you see when you click a tab is the pane Don t use under the tab name pane or under the tab name tab Correct To set up automatic login click Login and then click the Login
184. tion when you refer to software Correct When you are using the paintbrush Incorrect When you are in paintbrush mode In developer documentation in references to software you enter or leave a mode you don t turn on or turn off a mode model Don t use when you can use computer Correct How you use this feature depends on which model of Macintosh computer you have Correct The setup guide that came with your computer provides instructions Incorrect The setup guide that came with your model provides instructions modem port Note lowercase Not phone port modifier key Use instead of control key in the generic sense for a key that affects the action of other keys such as the Option Control Esc and Shift keys 94 Style and Usage modular Macintosh computer Macintosh computers that have separate displays such as the Power Mac G4 module Classic Don t use when you re discussing the Control Strip in Mac OS 9 use portion the Battery Level portion of the Control Strip monitor In general don t use to refer to the primary display connected to the user s computer use display You can use monitor to refer generically to different kinds of display devices that may be connected to a user s computer such as a CRT monitor or NTSC monitor Correct To connect the display to your Power Mac G4 Correct If you want to show your movie on an external monitor first connect the monitor to your computer Incorrect
185. titute the class s computing resources computer Use when you describe a computer without any peripherals Use system to refer to a computer its peripheral devices and software Don t use machine computer voice See code font configure In user documentation avoid configure use set up if possible Apple Publications Style Guide 37 38 Style and Usage connect Use to refer to the act of hooking devices together don t use attach or hook up You connect USB devices to a computer and you can connect computers to an Ethernet network Connect the USB device to a power source Plug the square end of the USB cable in to the USB device See also into in to connector Use to refer only to an item that can be plugged in to a receptacle such as a slot port or socket Use the following terminology edge connector the connector on the edge of a peripheral card fits into a slot minicircular connector an 8 pin connector Don t use mini DIN plug a connector with prongs and pins a Descriptions In user documentation also describe connectors by their shape and size by the icon that appears on the connector or in another way appropriate to the context The user should be able to identify the connector easily even if she or he doesn t know the terminology a Pins Avoid 9 pin 11 pin 25 pin and 50 pin as well as the corresponding DB 9 DB 11 and so on to describe connectors because the actual number of pins may no
186. tles title style A style of capitalization in which each word except for articles prepositions of three or fewer letters and so on is capitalized See also capitalization title style Apple Publications Style Guide 137 138 Style and Usage toggle v OK to use in developer documentation don t use in user documentation toolbar One word lowercase An area containing buttons such as in Finder windows and Mail Don t call toolbar buttons shortcuts toolkit One word tooltips Don t use Use help tags touch tone adj Note hyphenation touch wheel Two words The touchpad like mechanism on an iPod toward Not towards trackball An input device used as a substitute for a mouse One word trackpad One word trademarks general Any trademarked Apple product or service mentioned in a document must appear in the appropriate credit line for trademarks service marks or registered trademarks e on the copyright page a First text mention On first use of a trademarked name use the name as an adjective Don t use the plural or possessive form a Third party trademarks Certain third party companies have special requirements for the use of their trademarks and for the wording in a trademark notice For a list of those trademarks and their notices see the Special and Licensed Trademarks and or Copyrights section of the Apple trademark list at www apple com legal appletmlist html a Trademark sym
187. tocol capitalize Protocol Name Binding Protocol NBP File Transfer Protocol FTP When you use protocol as a generic term use lowercase standard Internet protocols a Third party products When you refer to protocol names in third party products capitalize according to the third party company s style m Articles Use an article before the spelled out name of the protocol Don t use an article before the abbreviation when it stands alone The Name Binding Protocol resides at the transport layer of the reference model A protocol like NBP resides at the transport layer of the reference model pseudo prefix Close up except before o a proper noun or a proper adjective Hyphenate in those cases pull down adj Note hyphenation punctuation In general a punctuation mark should be in the same type style and font as the preceding word This address called a vector directs program control to a specified destination The second comma is italicized See the glossary for the definition of word wrap The period is boldfaced Note the following exceptions to this rule a Punctuation in code font Punctuation following code font in running text should be in the font of the overall sentence not in code font unless the punctuation mark is part of what actually appears on the screen or in the program listing Avoid punctuation after something the user should type The user may type the punctuation a Parentheses
188. ton or switch which may be labeled with the word Reset or with a triangle symbol resizable Not resizeable resize Not size or grow OK to use change the size of resize control The area in the lower right corner of a window that you drag to resize the window In Mac OS 9 this item is called the size box resolution Use a lowercase letter x not the word by to express screen or other resolution 640 x 480 See also x resources and resource types Classic A resource type name should be in code font and must have exactly four characters inside straight single code font quotation marks for example INIT crsr ICN and snd Resources themselves are often referred to by the same abbreviation as their resource type but in a generic way use regular text font in this case Be sure to explain the abbreviation on first use Avoid using the resource type name abbreviation unnecessarily Correct Format 1 and format 2 sound resources Correct Format 1 and format 2 snd resources Correct All initialization resources or INIT resources are of type INIT Incorrect Format 1 and format 2 snd resources Return key Capitalize when you refer to the key on the keyboard Use lowercase when you refer to the character When you press Return you generate a return character return character Not carriage return or CR except in developer documentation when you re referring to ASCII character OD See also carriage re
189. troubleshooting chapters for example you can use display sentences rather than skipping a level of text heads a Chapter openings Avoid beginning a chapter with a level one head start with an introductory paragraph or two before your first text head Similarly avoid placing a level two head immediately after a level one head and so on When you have limited space and when text serves primarily to separate one head from the next but isn t necessary to the reader it s OK to place a head immediately following the previous level of head a At least two heads of the same level If you use a particular level of head at all in a given chapter or section use at least two Strictly speaking a chapter or section can t be subdivided into only one part Apple Publications Style Guide 135 a Parallelism Keep the wording of parallel heads within a section parallel m Use the same verb forms gerunds imperatives and so on from head to head Comparable terms should all be either singular or plural not a mix m If you use complete sentences for some heads use them for all comparable heads Capitalization Use title style caps for most levels of heads Check with your editor for your department s guidelines a Punctuation within heads Avoid colons in heads wherever possible If a colon in a head is required capitalize the first word after the colon Avoid ellipsis points in heads a Humor Keep heads simple and descriptive Avoid
190. tte Note spelling pane Use to refer to a The parts that result when a user splits a document window a Changeable areas within a window or dialog such as views that can be changed by clicking a tab or choosing an item from a pop up menu and windows that change automatically as in an Installer In many cases in user documentation you can avoid using pane by describing how to get to a particular onscreen item Click System Preferences click Network and click AppleTalk It s OK to refer to a pane within a pane You turn on AppleTalk in the AppleTalk pane in the Network pane of System Preferences Don t use panel to refer to a pane See also tab in a window panel Don t use except to refer to Mac OS 9 control panels or in Cocoa developer documentation Use pane dialog palette or window as appropriate Because panel appears in Cocoa API names make the connection between the API term and the user interface term when necessary See also dialog pane tab in a window window parenthesis sing parentheses pl Note different spelling of singular and plural See also punctuation parts Most printed documents don t need to be divided into parts division into chapters is usually sufficient Good candidates for division into parts are documents that describe two or more separate products or two or more mutually exclusive programs on the same disk or documents so long that division into parts is necessary to make the organizati
191. turn CR RFI Abbreviation for radio frequency interference Spell out on first occurrence Rich Text Format RTF Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence See also file formats Right Arrow key When you refer to more than one of the arrow keys arrow is lowercase as in the arrow keys right hand Avoid except in reference to right hand recto pages use just right whenever possible Apple Publications Style Guide 119 120 Style and Usage rightmost No hyphen right side Not right hand side road map Two words ROM Acronym for read only memory Spell out on first occurrence Roman roman adj Capitalize when you refer to numerals lowercase when you refer to type style See also Arabic ROM disk Two words Note capitalization rootuser The root user has complete and unrestricted access to the entire file system including files belonging to other users In Mac OS X the root user is sometimes referred to as the System Administrator router Don t use interchangeably with bridge A bridge joins two networks to form an expanded network not an internet A router maintains a logical map of the networks and other routers in an internet allowing the networks to retain separate identities RS 232 C Note hyphenation Similar terms are hyphenated in the same way RTF Abbreviation for Rich Text Format Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence run v running adj Don t use running to refer to an
192. tyle caps for all parts of a table including the column headings Headings should be short and descriptive a Table captions Table captions include a table number and a table title In developer documentation most tables are numbered In user documentation many tables have no numbers and no titles When you use table titles keep them short don t exceed a line and a half of text Avoid using complete sentences for table titles m n text references Provide in text references to all tables In general place the reference in the paragraph immediately preceding the table In user documentation you can use below to refer to a table that immediately follows the paragraph In text references can stand alone as a complete sentence with or without parentheses or can occur within a sentence with or without parentheses Use a consistent style throughout a document The following table shows how the tools work and what they do The application provides several tools see the following table See the table below for details Table 3 2 lists the signal and pin assignments for the DVI connector a Table notes and footnotes Information that pertains to an entire table is generally set as a table note before any table footnotes The table note begins with the word Note initial cap only followed by a colon If it is essential that this information be more prominent than a table note allows it can be added instead after the table title in
193. ular velocity second s unit symbol or sec time abbreviation siemens amperes per volt S conductance square foot sq ft area square inch sq in area square meter m2 area square mile sq mi area square yard sq yd area steradian sr solid angle terabyte TB computer memory tesla webers per square meter T magnetic flux density ton tn or ton mass weight Apple Publications Style Guide 157 Unit symbol or Unit abbreviation Quantity volt V electric potential difference electromotive force volts point to point Vop electric potential volts root mean square V ms electric potential volt ampere See watt watt joules per second WwW power watt hour Wh energy weber Wb magnetic flux webers per square meter See tesla yard yd length distance year yr time 158 Units of Measure Hardware Product Names This list shows the names of major recent Apple hardware products Use the spelling and capitalization shown Note that Apple continually introduces products and the list does not include every product in the selected categories Macintosh Desktop Computers m Power Macintosh G3 m Power Mac G4 m Power Mac G4 Cube a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh m iMac a iMac DV m iMac DV a iMac DV Special Edition m iMac Special Edition m eMac Macintosh Portable Computers m Macintosh PowerBook G3 m Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series m PowerBook m PowerBook G4 a iBook a iBook Special Editio
194. unctuation To burna CD 1 Insert a blank CD ROM disc into your computer 2 In iTunes select the playlist you want to put on the disc 3 Click the Burn button Apple Publications Style Guide 85 86 Style and Usage List View button The middle button in the View control in Finder windows Note capitalization lithium ion adj Note hyphenation See also batteries live link Don t use to refer to hypertext links in World Wide Web pages use hypertext link or just link lo bit Don t use use low order bit or low bit as a noun low bit as an adjective local area network LAN Three words no hyphen Spell out on first occurrence thereafter OK to use the acronym LAN localizable Don t use Correct An application that follows the human interface guidelines should be easy to localize Incorrect An application that follows the human interface guidelines should be easily localizable localization Many Apple publications written in English go through the localization process which involves revision and translation for non English speaking users a Idiomatic language To make the localization process easier avoid idiomatic phrases such as these nitty gritty details start from scratch piggy backing a Examples and graphics Avoid examples and graphics that show events or activities specific to any nation or culture Conciseness Remember that text volume expands on translation so keep paragraphs short and t
195. use Clipboard not pasteboard close You close a window or a document Don t refer to an icon as a closed window See also open close button Lowercase In Mac OS X refers to the leftmost button of the three window controls at the left of the title bar In Mac OS 9 the equivalent item is called the close box closed clamshell mode Don t use Use when the computer is closed or when the display is closed CLUT Acronym for color lookup table Spell out on first occurrence coax Don t use when you mean coaxial Cocoa application An application written and compiled using the Cocoa frameworks Use the term Cocoa only in developer documentation code file Two words code font Code font is a fixed width font such as Courier used for code m Uses Use code font for the following m Text the user is to type Code listings m Small pieces of sample code Computer language elements such as reserved words literals variables and routines Commands that appear in running text Apple Publications Style Guide 33 34 Style and Usage a Punctuation and spaces Style any punctuation following a word or phrase in code font as regular body font unless the punctuation mark is part of the computer language element represented or part of something the user is to type Style the spaces that immediately precede or follow text in code font in regular body font If the language with which you re working has a standard style of indentat
196. use hyphens if each key should be pressed and released separately Be sure to explain this convention on first use Control Shift N Esc N When one of the key names in a combination keystroke is itself two words use an en dash wherever you would ordinarily use a hyphen Option right bracket Option Command Up Arrow Shift double click Command Shift double click See also dash en l beam Note capitalization Refers to this pointer I iBook Note capitalization For a list of iBook model names see Appendix B Hardware Product Names on page 159 IC Abbreviation for integrated circuit Spell out on first occurrence No apostrophe for the plural ICs iCal Note capitalization iChat Note capitalization icon An icon is a graphic that represents another item such as a file in a Finder window or an album in iPhoto Apple Publications Style Guide 71 72 Style and Usage a Icons that don t act like buttons If an element in the user interface looks like an icon displays a picture and does not appear three dimensional and doesn t act like a button does not initiate an action when clicked always call it an icon For example always call the following items icons An album icon An iPhoto film roll icon A hard disk icon a Icons that act like buttons If an element in the user interface looks like an icon displays a picture and does not appear three dimensional but acts like a button causes something to ha
197. use the name About Product Name for example About Firmware Update 4 1 2 If a Read Me file is included within the Installer for an application the actual filename may be Read Me rtf or whatever name for which the Installer is designed to look read only memory ROM Note hyphenation Spell out on first occurrence read write adj Note slash as in read write memory real time n real time adj Note hyphenation of adjective recommend Avoid passive or first person constructions that use recommend reword in terms of the user or product In more formal contexts such as a warning tag recommend is acceptable Avoid Apple recommends Correct Restart your computer Incorrect Apple recommends that you restart your computer Correct You can use this product with Mac OS X v10 1 but for the best performance you should upgrade to v10 2 or later Incorrect You can use this product with Mac OS X v10 1 but v10 2 or later is recommended reference Don t use as a verb use refer to register Capitalize names of specific registers but don t capitalize the word register Don t capitalize generic register names such as floating point registers and vector registers regular Don t use when you mean standard as in Use standard settings reinstall No hyphen release Don t use when referring to a system software version number See also system software version Rendezvous Note capitalization and spelling Reset The but
198. uter that is dedicated to holding files shared by users on a network Use shared disk to refer to a file server icon on the desktop See also shared disk file sharing n file sharing adj Two words Note hyphenation of adjective Use lowercase unless you re referring to a specific onscreen element that is capped Turn on file sharing Click the File Sharing icon file system n file system adj Two words as a noun hyphenated as an adjective File Transfer Protocol FTP Note capitalization Spell out on first occurrence See also FTP filetypes A file type name should be in code font and must consist of exactly four characters one of which may be a space inside straight single code font quotation marks for example TEXT APPL BIN Final Cut Final Cut Express Final Cut Pro Note spaces and capitalization Don t shorten Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro to Final Cut Don t abbreviate as FCE or FCP Finder Note capitalization The Finder is the program that keeps track of files and folders and displays the desktop the working area on the screen with disk icons file icons and so on m User documentation In user documentation when you discuss activities the user performs or things the user sees on the desktop use desktop or if necessary for the sake of identification Finder desktop You can also speak of finding items in the Finder or opening a window in the Finder Avoid using go to a location in the Finder
199. ve Don t hyphenate the adjective form 20 MB hard disk a Noun In the noun form a space separates the numeral and the abbreviation and the preposition of is necessary before the unit that the value quantifies 20 MB of memory Mbit n adj Abbreviation for megabit and megabits Spell out on first occurrence a Adjective Don t hyphenate the adjective form 10 Mbit memory m Noun In the noun form the preposition of is necessary before the unit that the value quantifies 10 Mbit of memory Mbit s Standard abbreviation for megabits per second Spell out on first occurrence Mbps Customary abbreviation for megabits per second still used by some Apple groups Exception to the SI standard of Mbit s See also Mbit s MB s Standard abbreviation for megabytes per second Spell out on first occurrence See also MB sec MB sec Customary abbreviation for megabytes per second still used by some Apple groups Exception to the SI standard of MB s See also MB s measurement See Appendix A Units of Measure on page 151 Apple Publications Style Guide 91 92 Style and Usage media medium When you describe a method of delivering information use the singular medium or the plural media The guide is presented in both print and electronic media plural The guide is presented only in print medium singular When you discuss video and audio content however you can use the term media to describe a collection of content for
200. ve As PDF button Press the Reset button m Types of buttons The following screen shot shows two kinds of onscreen buttons push buttons and radio buttons Button 1 Radio Button 1 ORadio Button 2 Button 2 a Button names Write the names of buttons exactly as they appear onscreen If the button s name uses sentence style caps enclose the name in quotation marks Click Cancel Click the Position on screen button a Unlabeled buttons If a button does not have a label and there is no established name for the button consult your editor to determine what to call it Capitalize the name of the button a Click the Lock button Click the Search button Click the Rotate button m Buttons and icons If an element in the user interface looks like a button appears three dimensional and acts like a button causes something to happen when clicked always call it a button do not call it an icon For example the following interface elements look and act like buttons Lt JL e a Icons that act like buttons If an element in the user interface looks like an icon displays a picture and does not appear three dimensional but acts like a button causes something to happen when clicked you can call it either a button or an icon For example the following interface elements act like buttons but look like icons i z p A toolbar button An iPhoto button A Dock icon See also checkbox
201. ync your devices If your devices weren t synced try again You can speed up the process by syncing fewer devices Avoid using sync to refer to the synchronization feature that can be turned on and off use synchronization or syncing Correct Make sure synchronization is turned on for the device Incorrect Make sure sync is turned on for the device syntax descriptions Follow these conventions a Literals Use code font for literals parts of the language values and so on a Metasymbols Use italic regular text font for metasymbols artificial terms that have meaning only in your document and are to be replaced by a value or symbol Use an embedded cap to connect two words that act as a single metasymbol sourceFile Be consistent when you name metasymbols for example don t alternate between commands and commandList m Brackets Use regular text font for brackets that enclose something that s optional Pay close attention to punctuation Read file var system Use to refer to a computer and any peripheral devices accessories and software Don t use system to refer to the computer alone Correct The computer requires a folder named Applications in this location Incorrect The system requires a folder named Applications in this location System Administrator Note capitalization Avoid except when you re referring to the account labeled System Administrator in System Preferences In Mac OS X make it clear

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents

Central ACC-2M (2 Zonas con memoria independiente por zona)  Sennheiser MKE 300  manual de instalación y funcionamiento  総合カタログ  Manual - VTP UP  Panasonic PT-D6000ULS Specification Sheet  Guía de usario  

Copyright © All rights reserved. Failed to retrieve file