Convention | Explanation |
italics | Introduces new terms with which you may not be familiar, and is used occasionally for emphasis. |
bold | Emphasizes important information. Also indicates button, menu, and icon names on which you can act. For example, click Next. |
BOLD UPPERCASE | Indicates keys or key combinations that you can use. For example, press the ENTER key. |
UPPERCASE | Indicates SQL reserved words. |
monospace | Indicates syntax examples, values that you specify, or results that you receive. |
monospaced italics | Indicates names that are placeholders for values that you specify. For example, filename. |
> | Separates menus and their associated commands. For example, Select File > Copy means that you should select Copy from the File menu. |
/ | The slash also separates directory levels when specifying locations under UNIX. |
vertical rule | | Indicates an "OR" separator used to delineate items. |
brackets [ ] | Indicates optional items. For example, in the following statement: SELECT [DISTINCT], DISTINCT is an optional keyword. Also indicates sections of the Windows Registry. |
braces { } | Indicates that you must select one item. For example, {yes | no} means that you must specify either yes or no. |
ellipsis . . . | Indicates that the immediately preceding item can be repeated any number of times in succession. An ellipsis following a closing bracket indicates that all information in that unit can be repeated. |