italics

Introduces new terms that you may not be familiar with and is used occasionally for emphasis.

bold

Emphasizes important information. Also indicates button, menu, and icon names on which you can act. For example, click Next.

UPPERCASE

Indicates the name of a file. For operating environments that use case-sensitive file names, the correct capitalization is used in information specific to those environments.

Also indicates keys or key combinations that you can use. For example, press the ENTER key.

monospace

Indicates syntax examples, values that you specify, or results that you receive.

monospaced italics

Indicates names that are placeholders for values you specify; for example, filename.

forward slash /

Separates menus and their associated commands. For example, Select File / Copy means to select Copy from the File menu.

vertical rule |

Indicates an OR separator to delineate items.

brackets [ ]

Indicates optional items. For example, in the following statement: SELECT [DISTINCT], DISTINCT is an optional keyword.

braces { }

Indicates that you must select one item. For example, {yes | no} means you must specify either yes or no.

ellipsis . . .

Indicates that the immediately preceding item can be repeated any number of times in succession. An ellipsis following a closing bracket indicates that all information in that unit can be repeated.