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Bug 312978 - Plug-in Developer Guide says "function" instead of "functions" or "functionality"
Summary: Plug-in Developer Guide says "function" instead of "functions" or "functional...
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Platform
Classification: Eclipse Project
Component: Doc (show other bugs)
Version: 3.6   Edit
Hardware: All All
: P3 trivial (vote)
Target Milestone: 3.6 RC3   Edit
Assignee: Platform-Doc-Inbox CLA
QA Contact:
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Reported: 2010-05-14 16:31 EDT by Trevor Harmon CLA
Modified: 2010-05-26 16:53 EDT (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:

Attachments
Patch to change "function" to "functions" in the appropriate places (28.89 KB, patch)
2010-05-14 16:34 EDT, Trevor Harmon CLA 		no flags Details | Diff
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Description Trevor Harmon CLA 2010-05-14 16:31:51 EDT 
Build Identifier: 20100218-1602

The Eclipse Platform Plug-in Developer Guide uses the word "function" when it should instead use the word "functions" or "functionality". Examples:

"all of our visible function"
"most of the interesting function"
"a logical grouping of function"


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
N/A
Comment 1 Trevor Harmon CLA 2010-05-14 16:34:51 EDT 
Created attachment 168608 [details]
Patch to change "function" to "functions" in the appropriate places

It can be argued that the correct fix would be instead to change "function" to "functionality", but for this patch I used "functions" simply because it is closer to the author's original wording.
Comment 2 John Arthorne CLA 2010-05-15 22:02:24 EDT 
I'm ambivalent about this proposed change. Personally I would use "functionality" in contexts such as these, but I don't really see a problem with the current usage. I think the noun "function" can refer to a set of capabilities. I don't like "functions" here because to a programmer this could be misinterpreted as the programming construct(a declared function in a programming language).
Comment 3 Trevor Harmon CLA 2010-05-16 00:34:43 EDT 
(In reply to comment #2)
> I'm ambivalent about this proposed change. Personally I would use
> "functionality" in contexts such as these, but I don't really see a problem
> with the current usage. I think the noun "function" can refer to a set of
> capabilities.

I'm open to alternate corrections, but the current usage is still a problem. These phrases are simply not grammatically correct:

"all the existing marker function"
"a variety of function"
"define additional function"
"all of our visible function"
"some of the function"

The word "function" (in this context) is a countable noun in the singular form. It refers to one and only one function, not a set of functions.

> I don't like "functions" here because to a programmer this could
> be misinterpreted as the programming construct(a declared function in a
> programming language).

The singular form ("function") can just as easily be confused with the programming construct. So whatever the reason, be it a grammar issue or a synonym issue, it needs to change.
Comment 4 John Arthorne CLA 2010-05-26 16:53:58 EDT 
I have changed these instances of "function" to "functionality".