Should Technical Reports Use Present Tense for System Operations?

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Physicist3
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Hi, I know this isn't a technical question but I have to write a technical report based on a data acquisition program which I have created. I am a bit confused about the tenses of one section, namely 'Analysis of System operation' . Although the program has already been made, i feel that it should be written in the present tense as I am explaining how the system works, not how it was made. Any Ideas (sorry if its the wrong section) :)
 
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Physicist3 said:
Hi, I know this isn't a technical question but I have to write a technical report based on a data acquisition program which I have created. I am a bit confused about the tenses of one section, namely 'Analysis of System operation' . Although the program has already been made, i feel that it should be written in the present tense as I am explaining how the system works, not how it was made. Any Ideas (sorry if its the wrong section) :)

I agree that the present tense seems the best match. I'm thinking that much of what you are writing is like a User's Manual for users of your program...
 
berkeman said:
I agree that the present tense seems the best match. I'm thinking that much of what you are writing is like a User's Manual for users of your program...

Its a technical report based on the data acquistion program produced where the system must be discussed, analysed and evaluated. Ill stick with present tense as I am not explaining an experiment that was carried out as such and I think present tense reads better. Thanks :)
 
If you posted an example of your report...a few sentences...or a paragraph, then members here might be better able to advise and or offer opinions.

Bobbywhy