Glossary of technical communication
From StcWiki
Please add the terms of interest to you, with your definition.
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[edit] CDATA
Character data. The SGML parser doesn't do any processing on character data, but includes it in the document.
[edit] character entity
A special SGML or HTML element that represents a special character. For example, use & to produce an ampersand.
[edit] character style
A formatting style that applies to a range of characters, usually a word or two. A character style only controls aspects of character formatting, like bold or italics.
[edit] CMOS
An abbreviation for The Chicago Manual of Style.
[edit] CMS
See also #CMOS. See #content management system.
[edit] content management
Content management is the practice of authoring, maintaining, storing, and organizing content in a central managed location for shared or multiple use.
[edit] content management system
A set of software tools, organizational and workflow processes, and internal policies, procedures, and training that—when coupled with targeted organizational changes, proper research, and planning—can help us automate many manual and repetitive tasks, reduce the time and resources necessary to generate documents and other content, and improve the quality and consistency of the information we provide our customers.
[edit] context-sensitive help
Context-sensitive help (CSH) is online help accessed from within the software interface, usually by pressing the F1 key, or by clicking a button labelled Help. CSH may be at the field level (that is, an explanation of the information stored in a particular field), or at the dialog or form level (that is, an explanation of all fields on a dialog box). CSH opens at the topic where the person is in the software, whereas help accessed from the Help menu on the interface is not context-sensitive because it does not open at the topic relative to the part of the software the person has open.
[edit] Content Manager
[edit] CSH
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[edit] DTD
Document Type Definition. A file that describes the required and optional elements within a document and how they fit together hierarchically. The DTD basically defines the tags that can be used in a document. DTDs are used in SGML and XML.
[edit] DVI
Device Independent. The output from LaTeX, which can be converted to a format suitable for printing (e.g. PostScript).
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[edit] element
See #tag.
[edit] entity
Usually a character entity, but possibly a parameter entity if you're referring to a DTD.
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[edit] glossary
A list of terms and definitions. Typically, the glossary is located before the index at the end of a printed or online document.
[edit] granularity
The extent to which a system contains separate components (like granules). The more components in a system (the greater the granularity) the more flexible it is. (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/g/granularity.html) For example, a document can consist of volumes, chapters, sections, topics, paragraphs, sentences, phrases, words, and letters. It can also contain pictures, figures, tables, equations, diagrams, and so on. The degree to which the document can be broken down into reusable pieces, reflects its granularity. However, there is a level of granularity where the object is so specific that it is next to useless. A word or phrase is probably the lowest you would want to go without reusability becoming unmanageable.
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[edit] Information Architect
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[edit] LaTeX
(Pronounced "Layteck") A language, based on TeX, for formatting printed output. It's supposed to provide a layer of abstraction to TeX, but using it is still like programming in Assembler.
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[edit] marked section
A portion of an SGML file that's marked as either CDATA or IGNORE to tell the SGML parser how to handle it.
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[edit] O
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[edit] paragraph style
A formatting style that applies to an entire paragraph. A paragaph style may include settings such as those used for alignment, indentation, and numbering.
[edit] parameter entity
A macro in a DTD that you can use to make the DTD easier to read and update, for example: <!ENTITY % list "UL | OL">
[edit] parsed character data
In a DTD, any text that isn't inside a tag, plus entities.
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[edit] single sourcing
The act of using a single document source to generate multiple types of document outputs (audience or formats); workflows for creating multiple outputs from a document or database source. There is discussion on the page Defining Single Sourcing, formerly a separate project.
[edit] SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language.
[edit] SME
Subject Matter Expert; in business, Small Medium Enterprise.
[edit] style
See #character style and #paragraph style.
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[edit] tag
A SGML, HTML, or XML element that indicates what something is (SGML) or how it should be formatted (HTML). Tags can include content as well as other tags; the tags form a hierarchy showing the structure of your document.
[edit] technical communication
(1) An activity or artifact that conveys information or a message about technology, science, applied science or engineering and business communication in enterprises in these areas (2) A field of endeavor concerned with conveying information and messages in these areas, with practitioners in many varied professions (3) Technical Communication, an emerging profession evolving from Technical Writing but not necessarily replacing it
[edit] technical communication job titles
[edit] Technical Writer
[edit] TeX
(Tau Epsilon Chi -- pronounced "Teck") A low-level language for formatting printed output.
