DEC STD 165

This document, DEC Standard 165, Revision A, titled "Standard For Documentation Symbology" and dated September 21, 1978 (with a December 1977 copyright), defines the conventions for character names, special key names, and notation to be used in user documentation produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).

Key aspects of the standard include:

• Purpose: To promote documentation compatibility, define standard usage of symbols and names, and ensure consistency across manuals for customer clarity.
• Scope: Applies to all DEC departments involved in creating or producing manuals.
• Structure: It is divided into three main parts:
  • Part I: Character Naming Standards – Specifies the correct names for individual printing and non-printing characters (e.g., "Period" for '.', "Slash" for '/', "Asterisk" for '*', "Dollar sign" for '$').
  • Part II: Key (Function) Naming Standards – Defines the standard graphic representation and names for terminal keys and key combinations in documentation (e.g., RETURN, LINE FEED, CTRL/X, TAB, DELETE, ESC, SHIFT/X). It provides symbols for printed manuals and notes alternative bracketed representations for drafts.
  • Part III: Notation Conventions Standards – Outlines symbols and practices for command lines to indicate required, variable, optional, or user-chosen elements, and to differentiate user input from machine output. This includes using special square brackets [] for optional information, braces {} for required choices, and underlining (or contrasting colors) to denote user-entered characters.

The standard mandates that new manuals conform, while existing ones undergoing partial updates should maintain consistency.