Ping Jean - Base Handbook Chapter 1 translated

[Martin_Fox]

Greetings to all

http://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/base-handbook/drafts/introduction-to-base-bh01/at_download/file

note re Mahnung.

A Mahnung is what one receives anytime something is overdue. Typically it will
be a payment of a bill that you forgot. A polite letter comes entitled "First
Mahnung". Typically there is no penalty imposed at this stage. The second
Mahnung and beyond gets messy - nobody wants to go there in Switzerland!!

In the case of our library I receive the Mahnung by email telling me it is
overdue and informing me how much I owe in a fine.

I seem to recall that in the English library system it was called an overdue
notice.

regards
Martin

[RobertG]

Hello Martin,

note re Mahnung.

A Mahnung is what one receives anytime something is overdue. Typically it will
be a payment of a bill that you forgot. A polite letter comes entitled "First
Mahnung". Typically there is no penalty imposed at this stage. The second
Mahnung and beyond gets messy - nobody wants to go there in Switzerland!!

In the case of our library I receive the Mahnung by email telling me it is
overdue and informing me how much I owe in a fine.

I seem to recall that in the English library system it was called an overdue
notice.

Do you think we have to change the term in the databases? In the report
of the database O have called this "Admonition".
If changing is necessary we have to decide, which term I have to use.
In case of this library you get a "Mahnung", when you haven't brought
back the loan media. For every week you have to pay, for example, 0,25 €.

I'm looking only in the www for the terms. And I don't know, if I will
find the right terms at all.

Regards,

Robert

[jeanweber]

Robert, I think we should leave it the way you have it in the
database, and we'll put a note in the Handbook that different terms
may be used in different library systems. What that item is called is
not important for the purpose of explaining how to use Base.

--Jean

[Martin_Fox]

Hi Robert and Jean
This is a problem which arises when multilingual databases are used. What I
normally do is to use forms with labels instead of field names. That way I can
use what I like for field names, but can programatically change the form labels
depending on which language is in use.

For the purpose of the guide/handbook, what is more important is showing the
reader the basics of Base (!). So I agree, we should not worry about table
field names at this stage. The more important thing is to ensure consistency
across the chapters, so that the readers are given one term throughout -
whether it be recall notice, overdue notice or whatever in the case of a
Mahnung.

Enjoy your Boxing Day/Stephanstag usw

regards
Martin

[Tom_Davies]

Hi
+1
Admonition is fine.  I was surprised to find it really is a proper word as i normally hear people use "Admonishment" instead but apparently the 1st known use of "Admonition" was in the 14th century so it's fairly well established!  It's odd that people often tend to try to lengthen words or use longer words than necessary while simultaneously trying to abbreviate everything (not just when txtin).

Also both words are likely to raise a smile or a smirk as they are old fashioned terms now.  The type of thing one might expect from a large established institution, such as one of the well reputed Universities (Oxford or Cambridge in the UK).  Their use in the handbook might be seen as "tongue in cheek" humour.  A good thing.

So, it's all good
Regards from
Tom

[PeeWee]

Hello

Admonition is an old word, but surely we should keep it simple so English and non-English speakers fully understand.

Caution or warning are simpler words to use.

Not knowing where admonition is supposed to be used, I cannot give a more positive suggestion.

A word in another language maybe translated slightly incorrectly into English by a non-English speaker and this is where discussions like this one pop up. I get this problem all the time in Poland where Polish has been translated by a non-English speaker into English.

In my opinion, it is always best to let a native English speaker go through a document or software program after there has been a translation into English.

Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com

[Hazel_Russman1]

It depends on the library. Public libraries issue their loans for short
fixed periods and expect their customers to bring the items back on
time; if an item is not returned, they send out an "overdue notice"
and impose a fine.

Research libraries, like the one I used to work in, often loan
documents for long periods, and issue a "recall notice" when they fall
due for return or renewal. Both types of notice might be called a
"Mahnung" in German. I chose "Recalls" for the field name because that
is what I was accustomed to call them.

As the finer details of library policy are not relevant for people who
only want to learn how to use Base, "Recalls" should serve, except
for one paragraph in the Queries chapter which links the Mahnungen to
the imposition of fines; I have added a couple of lines at this point to
explain that it is up to the library to decide whether to issue these
notices before or after an item becomes overdue.

[Mark_Stanton]

Whilst I'd agree that admonition is a slightly old fashioned word
now, I wouldn't think it very peculiar, although it does appear to be
out of place here.

Might I suggest (on only a very slight understanding of what's going
on) that it might be a good idea to leave things like field names in
their original language if it's not English. Unless it's actually
making it impossible to understand, it would be good to acknowledge
that it is a multi-national world and not everyone speaks English.

Just my tuppeny-ha'penny worth m'lords

Mark Stanton
One small step for mankind...

[jeanweber]

The field names in the database for this particular book have already
been translated and new screenshots taken for most chapters, but it's
something to consider in other situations.

--Jean