Exporting
There's no single file format that users should always choose when exporting. Factors to consider include the program that the user will be using at home/office, whether the user brought a disk to save to and whether the file will fit on it.
If the user will definitely be using one of the formats to which the CD will export files, then that is a fine choice. Excel is the most common example of this.
If the user brought a disk and the format of choice fits on it, then that's fine too. If it doesn't fit, the user can export to ASCII text and the reduction in size may do the trick. Since ASCII is non-proprietary, there should be no problems opening the file at home/office. If the file is still too big, then it's no longer a file format issue, but a compression issue.
Printing
Any program written for Windows tends to follow a number of conventions established by Microsoft. One of them is that to print, you almost always go to the File Menu (furthest to the left on the menu bar) and then look about half way down for "Print". If there's a button on the toolbar for printing, it may take you to the same dialog box that you get if you go File->Print, but it may also simply initiate the printing process directly. So, if you have any doubts about printing, it's always better to go File->Print.
Posted by bgi at July 13, 2005 04:26 PM | Email This Entry