Passive Voice Is Appropriate For Error Messages
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8.3 / 8.4 / 9.0 PostgreSQL 9.2.18 Documentation Prev Up Chapter 47. PostgreSQL Coding Conventions Next 47.3. Error Message Style Guide This style guide is offered in the hope of maintaining passive voice consider revising word a consistent, user-friendly style throughout all the messages generated by PostgreSQL. 47.3.1. What Goes
Error Messages Examples
Where The primary message should be short, factual, and avoid reference to implementation details such as specific function names. "Short" means "should
A Error Message
fit on one line under normal conditions". Use a detail message if needed to keep the primary message short, or if you feel a need to mention implementation details such as the particular system call that
Turn Off Passive Voice Word 2013
failed. Both primary and detail messages should be factual. Use a hint message for suggestions about what to do to fix the problem, especially if the suggestion might not always be applicable. For example, instead of: IpcMemoryCreate: shmget(key=%d, size=%u, 0%o) failed: %m (plus a long addendum that is basically a hint) write: Primary: could not create shared memory segment: %m Detail: Failed syscall was shmget(key=%d, size=%u, 0%o). Hint: the addendum Rationale: keeping error message guidelines the primary message short helps keep it to the point, and lets clients lay out screen space on the assumption that one line is enough for error messages. Detail and hint messages can be relegated to a verbose mode, or perhaps a pop-up error-details window. Also, details and hints would normally be suppressed from the server log to save space. Reference to implementation details is best avoided since users don't know the details anyway. 47.3.2. Formatting Don't put any specific assumptions about formatting into the message texts. Expect clients and the server log to wrap lines to fit their own needs. In long messages, newline characters (\n) can be used to indicate suggested paragraph breaks. Don't end a message with a newline. Don't use tabs or other formatting characters. (In error context displays, newlines are automatically added to separate levels of context such as function calls.) Rationale: Messages are not necessarily displayed on terminal-type displays. In GUI displays or browsers these formatting instructions are at best ignored. 47.3.3. Quotation Marks English text should use double quotes when quoting is appropriate. Text in other languages should consistently use one kind of quotes that is consistent with publishing customs and computer output of other programs. Rationale: The choice of double quotes over single quotes is somewhat arb
to have forgotten . . . or never really understood in the first place. Microsoft Word’s grammar check consistently places green squiggly lines underneath places where we have used the passive voice. Double-clicking on error messages best practices those errors prompts a “Passive Voice (consider revising)” message from Word's grammar checker. Often, this guidelines for designing effective error messages error is not understood, and therefore we ignore it. It’s time to set the record straight. We decided to take Microsoft up passive voice word list on its suggestion, and to try "consider revising". Subjects and Objects Understanding the difference between objects and subjects will help you understand the passive voice. This can be a tough challenge even for native English speakers. The https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.2/static/error-style-guide.html key lies in the action of the sentence: knowing who/what is performing (subject), and who/what is affected (object). Take the following example sentence: Sam baked the cake. S (Subject) = the person, place or thing that the sentence is about. Sam is the subject, because he performs the action. O (Object) = the person, place or thing which is affected by an event or action. The cake is the http://www.whitesmoke.com/passive-voice-in-english object, because it is affected by the action. The Normal Order of Things: (S-V-O) To tell the difference between S (subjects) and O (objects), it can be helpful to know that English is an SVO language. This is a sort of code to describe the order of things. In English, in most sentences, the order is: Subject-Verb-Object, or SVO. SentenceSubjectVerbObject Sarah traveled to Spain. Sarah traveled Spain Dan throws the ball. Dan throws the ball What do you eat for breakfast? you eat breakfast SVO Languages (a partial list): English, Kashmiri, Arabic, Finnish, Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Khmer, Luganda, Yoruba, Quiche, Javanese, Malay, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Swahili, and Hebrew Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, Norweigan, etc.) use the SVO format, but they switch to VSO when forming a question. Romance languages (French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.) mainly use the SVO format but have some exceptions. Russian uses all possible formats - (SVO, OVS, SOV, OSV, VSO, VOS). German is SVO/VSO. Basically, you can see that depending on your native language, adjusting to SVO format can be a big adjustment. This can lead to grammatical problems, and over-usage of the passive voice. It is also tricky for even native-English speakers, since most people don't "think" about the order in which things come in sentences.
log in tour help Tour Start here for a quick overview of the site Help Center Detailed answers to any questions you might have Meta Discuss the workings and policies of this site http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16713/an-error-message-should-display-or-should-be-displayed About Us Learn more about Stack Overflow the company Business Learn more about hiring https://prezi.com/kmhtrf5x7ofb/passive-voice-presentation/ developers or posting ads with us English Language & Usage Questions Tags Users Badges Unanswered Ask Question _ English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. Join them; it only takes a minute: Sign up Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question error message Anybody can answer The best answers are voted up and rise to the top An error message should display or should 'be' displayed? up vote 6 down vote favorite If the writer means to say that an error message should 'appear' can he phrase the sentence as 'When user clicks the button, an error message should display' or is it more correct to say 'When user clicks the button, an passive voice word error message should BE displayed'? English is not my native language and I don't know grammar much but I have a feeling that first sentence is wrong i.e. error message should display because 'display' is an action (verb) that has to be performed on an object. I've never seen the use of word display like this. Can someone please point out to an article which supports the argument that we can not say 'error message should display' and it should rather be 'should be displayed'? provided my understanding is right. Please correct me if I'm wrong. grammar verbs sentence-patterns share|improve this question asked Mar 17 '11 at 16:38 Hasan Khan 6005815 5 "Error message should display" is a so-called middle construction. I am not posting this as an answer because I'm not sure how (un)common it is with this particular verb, but generally speaking it is perfectly grammatical. –RegDwigнt♦ Mar 17 '11 at 16:45 add a comment| 3 Answers 3 active oldest votes up vote 11 down vote accepted Reg is right that the middle construction "the message should display" is grammatical and would be understood; but it is not how "display" is usually used in English. "Display" is normally transitive, though the subject can be either t
have a problem!Oops. A firewall is blocking access to Prezi content. Check out this article to learn more or contact your system administrator. Loading presentation... Public & reusable Make a copy Share Embed Liked Like Present Remotely Send the link below via email or IMCopy Present to your audienceStart remote presentationInvited audience members will follow you as you navigate and presentPeople invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi accountThis link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentationA maximum of 30 users can follow your presentationLearn more about this feature in our knowledge base article Do you really want to delete this prezi? Neither you, nor the coeditors you shared it with will be able to recover it again. DeleteCancelMake your likes visible on Facebook? Connect your Facebook account to Prezi and let your likes appear on your timeline. You can change this under Settings & Account at any time. No, thanksConnect with FacebookPassive Voice Presentation No description by Alex Wilson on 18 June 2015 TweetComments (0) Please log in to add your comment. Report abuseTranscript of Passive Voice PresentationWhat is Passive Voice?The passive voice occurs when the subject, found at the beginning of a sentence, is being acted upon rather than performing the action.Active voice: Dave received a phone call.Why Shouldn't We Use It?How to Fix itAlex' ExampleExceptionsScientific writingPassive Voice Savage, D. (2011, November 2). Error Message. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://www.savagechickens.com/2011/11/error-message.html Passive Voice: An error has occurredActive Voice: I have made an errorPassive voice: A phone call was received by DaveSubjectActionThe active voice presents clearer, more direct ideasIn this case, the thing being acted on is more important that the person performing the actionSentences using passive voice tend to be lacking in informationFor example:The telephone was invented in 1876.Who invented it?Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876Active VoicePassive VoiceAlso...The passive voice can be effective in the hands of a good writer. However, It is much easier to avoid it altogether. Active VoicePassive VoicePassive and Active Voice IndicatorsTenseStuart's ExampleThe sentence “It can be solved!” is a passive construction because ‘It’ is the non-active subject; it is being acted on (solved) instead of acting (solving). ‘By’ and its object ‘you’ are implied in this sentence.What’s the error?Add ‘You’ at the beginning of the sentence, move ‘it’ to the end of the