FR: publication details - omission of preposition & article

[mingze13]

I am required to translate many English terms into French for use in some computer software. Most of the terms use du, de la, d', or des. Space is extremely short - every letter counts.

Problem: Alas, I have no space to observe rules for gender and number.

I see two possible answers:

1) ignore du, de la, d', des altogether -- results would be e.g. 'details publication' au lieu de 'details de la publication' or 'type coordonnee' au lieu de 'type de coordonnee'

2) use either de or d' for all, since it is shortest

Given that this is in software, where grammatical rules can get odd, which of those choices would sound less strange to users?

Merci en avance,
Anne

 

[Agnès E.]

Bonjour Anne !

Your first solution is very widely used in all technical fields.
Don't hesitate to use it and simply ignore all articles. Détails publication for détails de la publication and type coordonnée instead of type de coordonnée will fit perfectly well.

 

[mingze13]

Merci beaucoup, Agnes. I will get to work.

a bientot
Anne