[Kimmie B]

I know this isn't a Word question, but I thought that someone in a community
of Word users might know the answer. I can't find the answser in the MS
Manual of Style.

I'm writing instructions that includes a path with a couple of variables.

First question: How do you handle a file name that will vary, such as the
current user home folder? CurrentUserHomeFolder ?? Is it proper to use
the greater than and lesser than signs to bracket a file that will have a
different name depending on the user?

Second question: In the path, I want to tell the user that they can choose
either of two files. Is there a clearer, or more acceptable way, than this:
" . . .\Library\Preferences\fileABC.xls or fileXYZ.xls"?

Thanks in advance.

[Jay Freedman]

I've struggled with this myself, and I don't think there is a good answer,
especially in a plain-text setting such as these newsgroups.

For variable pieces in paths, I've settled on the same usage you suggest.
For example, we frequently have to refer to the path to the Templates
folder, which I write as C:\Documents and Settings\your name\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates. I always wonder whether people will go looking for
a folder named literally "your name" -- but so far no one has asked for
clarification.

For your second question, I would try to phrase it as something like "in the
folder ...\Library\Preferences, find one of the files fileABC.xls or
fileXYZ.xls".

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.


Kimmie B wrote:
I know this isn't a Word question, but I thought that someone in a
community of Word users might know the answer. I can't find the
answser in the MS Manual of Style.

I'm writing instructions that includes a path with a couple of
variables.

First question: How do you handle a file name that will vary, such as
the current user home folder? CurrentUserHomeFolder ?? Is it
proper to use the greater than and lesser than signs to bracket a
file that will have a different name depending on the user?

Second question: In the path, I want to tell the user that they can
choose either of two files. Is there a clearer, or more acceptable
way, than this: " . . .\Library\Preferences\fileABC.xls or
fileXYZ.xls"?

Thanks in advance.