Formatting developer text elements

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Consistent text formatting helps readers locate and interpret information. Follow these formatting conventions for text elements commonly used in content for developers.

For information about referring to UI elements, see Formatting text in instructions.

See also
Capitalization
Formatting common text elements
Procedures and instructions

Element Convention Example
Attributes Bold. Capitalization varies. IfOutputPrecision
Classes (predefined) Bold. Capitalization varies. ios
filebuf
BitArray
Classes (user-defined) Bold. Capitalization varies. BlueTimerControl
Code samples, including keywords and variables within text and as separate paragraphs, and user-defined program elements within text Monospace. #include <iostream.h>
void main ()
Command-line commands Bold. All lowercase. copy
Command-line options (also known as switches or flags) Bold. Capitalize the way the option must be typed. /a
/Aw
Constants Usually bold. Capitalization varies. INT_MAX
bDenyWrite
CS_DBLCLKS
Control classes Often bold. All uppercase. EDIT control class
Data formats Often bold. All uppercase. CF_DIB format
Data structures and their members (predefined) Bold. Capitalization varies. BITMAP
bmBits
CREATESTRUCT
hInstance
Data types Bold. Capitalization follows that of the API. DWORD
float
HANDLE
Database names Bold. The capitalization of database names varies. Contoso database
Directives Bold. #include
#define
Environment variables Often all uppercase. INCLUDE
SESSIONNAME
Error messages Sentence-style capitalization. Enclose in quotation marks when referencing error messages in text. An error occurred during report processing.
If you see the error message, "Placeholder text in a content control contains items that aren't valid," remove floating objects, revision marks, or content controls from placeholder text, and try again.
Event names Bold. Treatment of event names varies. In the OnClick event procedure ....
Fields (members of a class or structure) Bold. Treatment of field names varies. IfHeight
biPlanes
File attributes All lowercase. The attrib command displays, sets, or removes the read-only, archive, system, and hidden attributes assigned to files or directories.
File name extensions All lowercase. .mdb
.doc
File names (user-defined examples) Title-style capitalization. It's OK to use internal capital letters in file names for readability. My Taxes for 2016
MyTaxesFor2016
Folder and directory names (user-defined examples) Sentence-style capitalization. It's OK to use internal capital letters in folder and directory names for readability. Vacation and sick pay
MyFiles\Accounting\Payroll\VacPay
Functions (predefined) Usually bold. Capitalization varies. CompactDatabase
CWnd::CreateEx
FadePic
Handles All uppercase. HWND
Keywords (language and operating system) Bold. Capitalization follows the application programming interface. main
True
void
Logical operators Bold. All uppercase. AND
XOR
Macros Usually all uppercase. Bold if predefined. Might be monospace if user defined. LOWORD
MASKROP
Markup language elements (tags) Bold. Capitalization varies. <img>
<input type=text>
<!DOCTYPE html>
Mathematical constants and variables Italic. a2 + b2 = c2
Members Bold. Capitalization varies. ulNumCharsAllowed
Methods Bold. Capitalization varies. OpenForm
GetPrevious
New terms Italicize the first mention of a new term if you're going to define it immediately in text. Microsoft Exchange consists of both server and client components.
Operators Bold. +, -
sizeof
Parameters Italic. Capitalization varies. Hdc
grfFlagClientBinding
Placeholders (in syntax and in user input) Italic. /v: version
Enter password.
Ports All uppercase. LPT1
Products, services, apps, and trademarks Usually title-style capitalization. Check the Microsoft trademark list for capitalization of trademarked names. Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
Microsoft Word
Surface Pro
Notepad
Network Connections
Makefile
RC program
Properties Usually bold. Capitalization varies. M_bClipped
AbsolutePosition
Message ID
Registers All uppercase. Treatment varies. DS
Registry settings Subtrees (first-level items) all uppercase. Separated by underscores. Usually bold.
Registry keys (second-level items) follow the capitalization of the UI.
Registry subkeys (below the second level) follow the capitalization of the Regedit UI.		 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
ApplicationIdentifier
Microsoft
Statements Bold. Capitalization varies. IMPORTS
LIBRARY
Structures Usually bold. Capitalization varies. ACCESSTIMEOUT
Switches Bold. Usually lowercase. build: commands
UI text or strings Sentence-style capitalization. Import from file
Create a new resource
See all your resources
Manually trigger a flow
Report a bug
URLs All lowercase for complete URLs. If necessary, line-break long URLs before a slash. Don't hyphenate.
See also URLs and web addresses.		 www.microsoft.com
msdn.microsoft.com/downloads
User input Usually lowercase, unless case sensitive. Bold or italic, depending on the element. If the user input string contains placeholder text, use italic for that text. Enter hello world
Enter -p password
Values All uppercase. DIB_PAL_COLORS
Variables Treatment varies. bEmpty
m_nParams
file_name
XML schema elements Bold. Capitalization varies. ElementType element
xml:space attribute