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<!DOCTYPEsection PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY % BOOK_ENTITIES SYSTEM "Conventions_for_Writers_and_Editors.ent">
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%BOOK_ENTITIES;
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]>
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<sectionid="audience">
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<title>Audience</title>
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<para>
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This guide is the official style guide for technical documentation for Red Hat training and certification content, including how to write for global audiences and translation, common mistakes to avoid, rules for everyday punctuation, and grammar.
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</para>
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<para>
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Other Red Hat technical documentation, including product documentation by Customer Content Services (CCS), follows the Red Hat supplementary style guide for product documentation at <ulinkurl="https://redhat-documentation.github.io/supplementary-style-guide/" /> instead of this Red Hat Technical Writing Style Guide.
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: en-US/Book_Design.xml
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<sectionid="introductions">
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<title>Introductions</title>
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<para>
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The term "introduction" on its own is sufficiently vague, and raises enough questions in translation and with translation memory (TM) tools, that Red Hat technical documentation does not use this term on its own. Instead, use the phrase "Introduction to $productname" near the beginning of the book to introduce the reader to the product. Do not use "Introduction" to introduce the book; that is the task of the Abstract. A further benefit of this usage is that the same introduction can be used across various books to introduce the same product.
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The term "introduction" on its own is sufficiently vague, and raises enough questions in translation and with translation memory (TM) tools, that Red Hat technical documentation does not use this term on its own. Instead, use the phrase "Introduction to <product_name>" near the beginning of the book to introduce the reader to the product. Do not use "Introduction" to introduce the book; that is the task of the Abstract. A further benefit of this usage is that the same introduction can be used across various books to introduce the same product.
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</para>
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</section>
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<formalparaid="about">
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<title>About</title>
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<para>
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Do not use "about" or "about $topic" as a title. The same reasoning applies here as to "overview".
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Do not use "about" or "about <topic>" as a title. The same reasoning applies here as to "overview".
Use title case also when referring to the titles of other publications, even if the title on the publication itself uses different casing.
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</para>
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</para>
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<para>
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The currently accepted reference for determining title case is at <ulinkurl="https://titlecase.com/titlecase">https://titlecase.com/titlecase</ulink>.
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</para>
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Do not use terminating periods.
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</para>
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</formalpara>
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<!-- Commenting out this section following a change of advice.
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<formalpara id="imperative-mood">
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<title>Avoid Imperative Mood</title>
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<formalparaid="verbs-titles">
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<title>Verbs in Titles</title>
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<para>
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Use the gerund form (noun form of verb) for titles, not the imperative mood. For example, "Testing the Product", not "Test the Product".
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Usually, you start a title with the gerund form of a verb, which ends with "-ing", for example "Creating Branches". Choose a verb that refers to specific actions that users take, such as "Configuring", "Creating", "Installing", and "Merging".
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</para>
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</formalpara>
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<para>
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The gerund verb form is not always required. For example, avoid verbs such as "Describing", "Introducing", and "Understanding", because they add little value. Instead, use a more specific verb or omit the verb. For example, instead of "Describing Initial Git Configuration", you can use "Initial Git Configuration".
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</para>
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<para>
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See the <citetitle>IBM Style Guide</citetitle> for more information.
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</para>
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Gerunds should be avoided elsewhere.
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See <xreflinkend="sentence-structure" />.
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</para>
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</important> -->
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</important>
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<formalpara>
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<title>File Names, Commands, and Related Terms</title>
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<para>
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The following sections highlight exceptions or cases that might otherwise cause confusion.
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</para>
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<para>
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When writing about items in a user interface (UI), match the capitalization and spelling of those items from the interface.
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However, if the interface contains a spelling error, then correct the spelling in your writing, and get the interface corrected if possible.
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When writing about items in a user interface (UI), match the capitalization and spelling of those items from the interface.
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However, if the interface contains a spelling error, then correct the spelling in your writing, and get the interface corrected if possible.
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Depending on the context, an option might be to write around an incorrectly spelled interface item rather than naming it specifically.
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</para>
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<sectionid="gui-elements-punctuation">
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</section>
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</section>
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<sectionid="figures-illustrations">
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<title>Figures, Illustrations, and Screen Captures</title>
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<para>
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Refer to the <citetitle>Figures</citetitle> section in the <citetitle>IBM Style Guide</citetitle> for general advice about using figures, illustrations, and screen captures.
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</para>
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<para>
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The following specific conventions apply to using captions and callouts with figures in Red Hat technical documentation, and are generally recommended.
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If the image is well documented and described in the surrounding text, no caption or callouts are required.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If the image is not fully described in the surrounding text, use a caption or legend to complete the information for the reader.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If the image is complex and requires detailed explanation, consider using callouts to describe each of the relevant parts.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<note>
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<para>
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Do not use callouts and captions on the same figure.
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</para>
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</note>
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</section>
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<sectionid="starting-apps">
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<title>Starting Applications from the Desktop</title>
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<para>
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<sectionid="refer-object-names">
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<title>Referring to Object Names</title>
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<para>
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Do not use object names as part of normative grammar. A sentence should be complete without the object name.
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When using object names, write a sentence so that it is complete without the object name.
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</para>
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<table>
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<tbody>
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<row>
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<entry> Find the current default <systemitem>StorageClass</systemitem>. </entry>
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<entry> Either: Find the current default storage class. Or: Find the current default <systemitem>StorageClass</systemitem> value. </entry>
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<entry>
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<para>
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Either: Find the current default storage class.
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</para>
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<para>
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Or: Find the current default <systemitem>StorageClass</systemitem> value.
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</para>
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</entry>
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</row>
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</tgroup>
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</table>
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<para>
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Avoid starting or ending a sentence with an object name.
<entry> Unmount the <filename>/mnt/save</filename> directory. </entry>
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</section>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry> Modify the <filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename> file to use this <systemitem>nameserver</systemitem>. </entry>
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<entry> Modify the <filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename> file to use this name server. </entry>
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</row>
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</tbody>
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</tgroup>
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</table>
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<para>
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Place an object name before the noun that it modifies rather than after the noun.
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</para>
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<table>
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<title></title>
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<tgroupcols="2"colsep="1"rowsep="1">
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<colspeccolname="c1"></colspec>
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<colspeccolname="c2"></colspec>
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<thead>
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<row>
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<entry> Example </entry>
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<entry> Improvement </entry>
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</row>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<row>
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<entry> Enable the default module stream for the module <systemitem>python36</systemitem> and install all packages from that stream. </entry>
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<entry> Enable the default module stream for the <systemitem>python36</systemitem> module and install all packages from that stream. </entry>
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</row>
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</tbody>
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</tgroup>
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</table>
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</section>
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</section>
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<sectionid="document-currencies">
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<title>Documenting Currencies</title>
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<para>
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<formalparaid="special-characters">
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<title>Special Characters</title>
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<para>
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Consider pronunciation when referring to file or directory names that begin with special characters, and use the correct indefinite article.
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</para>
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</formalpara>
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<para>
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Consider pronunciation when referring to file or directory names that begin with special characters, and use the correct indefinite article.
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</para>
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</formalpara>
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<para>
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If a file or directory name begins with a special character, such as an underscore, then you need to pronounce that character.
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</para>
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<para>
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<para>
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For example, using "an <filename>_build/</filename> directory" is correct, because you pronounce "an underscore build directory".
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</para>
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</para>
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<para>
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<para>
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Using "a <filename>-compile/</filename> directory" is correct, because you pronounce "a dash compile directory".
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</para>
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</para>
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</section>
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<sectionid="product-names">
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</para>
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</note>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<!-- <itemizedlist>
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<listitem> -->
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<para>
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Restrictions apply to abbreviating Red Hat product or solution names in public-facing documents. Always use the full name on first use. For some products, for example Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, you can omit "Red Hat" after the first use.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<!-- <listitem>
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</listitem> -->
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<para>
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Further restrictions apply to using acronyms and initialisms. In this same example, and only in technical documentation, "RHOCP" is acceptable after the first use of the full product name.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<!-- <listitem>
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</listitem> -->
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<para>
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Do not include "Inc." when referring to Red Hat except in legal documents.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<!-- <listitem>
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</listitem> -->
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<para>
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Do not use articles in front of product names. For example, do not write "the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform was ...".
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</para>
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</note>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<!-- <listitem>
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</listitem> -->
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<para>
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Do not hyphenate or break a product name across lines, as in the following incorrect example:
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Do not hyphenate or break a product name across lines.
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</para>
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<programlisting>
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Open
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-Shift
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</programlisting>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<example>
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<title>Incorrect Example of Line Breaking</title>
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<para>
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<literallayout>
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For advanced management capabilities with Red
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Hat Satellite and cloud management services, use the Red
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Hat Enterprise Linux Smart Management Add
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-On.
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</literallayout>
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</para>
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</example>
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<!-- <listitem>
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</itemizedlist> -->
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</section>
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<sectionid="nonbreaking-spaces">
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Between a numeral and a unit of measurement.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The <systemitem>crashkernel=auto</systemitem> setting requires at least 1{nbsp}GB of memory.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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If you are working with images or other objects where space is especially tight, this rule is more flexible, but "Red Hat" should never be broken over two lines.
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</para>
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<para>
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<para>
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Non-breaking spaces are not needed elsewhere in a product name and might cause undesirable line-breaking behavior.
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In particular, do not use non-breaking spaces between extended components of Red Hat product names. For example, "Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform" does not require a non-breaking space between any of the words after "Red Hat".
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