Basic Guidelines

• Do not anthropomorphize. Do not imply that programs or hardware can think or feel. The following table shows an example.

• Avoid the word "Bad." Try to find a more descriptive term to tell the user what is wrong. For example, avoid messages such as the following:

  bad link          // Avoid!
  bad size          // Avoid!
  bad argument      // Avoid!
  bad address       // Avoid!
  bad CRC           // Avoid!

• Use full sentences. For example, use "Binding is too long." instead of "Binding too long."
• Place a word that is in the index at the start of each message. Avoid starting a message with an article (the, a, or an). Never put a placeholder variable, such as %1 or %2 at the beginning of a message, because these are very difficult for a user to look up. Instead, write the message so that a word that is in the index is at the beginning and the placeholder is embedded in the message. The following table shows some examples.