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I am translating a technical report from Chinese to English regarding the use of a computer program. I want to remind users to store their data in a specific format. Which of the following instructions is correct?
Be sure that the data to be saved should be in a specific format.
Be sure that the data to save has to be in a specific format.
In some cases (including this), the passive infinitive is an alternative to the infinitive phrase in adjectivals / adverbials:
This is the data to save.
This is the data to be saved.
Is this the pie to eat?
Is this the pie to be eaten?
This is a problem to avoid at all costs.
This is a problem to be avoided at all costs.
BUT not all cases:
He is the man to ask.
*He is the man to be asked. (different meaning)
What a nice car to drive.
*What a nice car to be driven.
You can use both, but neither sentence is entirely correct. Here's my try to rephrase them:
Be sure means you can be certain, while ensure means check. If you use should be or has to be it would mean that the user needs to check if the data needs to be in a specific format or not, so you want to use the infinitive here. Also, all data is in a specific format, so I think you mean it has to be in the format you specified.
The sentence to translate looks incomplete, or at least doesn't fully make sense.
If there is just one correct format for this situation, you can say:
Ensure you save your data in the XYZ format.
If the user has to choose a format before saving, a better way to say this would be:
When saving your data, you must first choose a format.
