The power of paragraphs

Sometimes text is just text that needs to be interpreted by a human. But very often, at least when it comes to technical or regulatory documentation, things have a place or a value and is best calculated by a computer. Thankfully, Text Models is here to help you out. Let's go through the different kinds of paragraphs, which will enable automation in your documentation.

Label/body paragraph

Label/body paragraphs are used to organize and structure written text. The label or topic sentence provides a brief overview of the main idea that the paragraph will discuss, while the body of the paragraph expands on that idea with specific details and evidence. The label can be used for cross-references in other parts of the project, as well as configuring columns in Lists and Tables.

When adding a Label/body paragraph to a file, a placeholder text shows the location of the label and the body.

A frame is used to show focus and scope of the paragraph, when the cursor is moved to the paragraph.

Options paragraph

An options paragraph is used to present different options to a field. It is a way to present different choices or selections for the user to consider and help them make a decision. When the Options paragraph has focus the text field changes to a drop-down list below the label, which when expanded, shows the different options of the paragraph.

If the user right-clicks the paragraph, a context menu is shown, with a command available for configuring the options.

An option can be assigned a numerical value such that it can be used in calculations, e.g. if a Risk Priority Number (RPN) should be calculated.

Calculation paragraph

A Calculation paragraph is used to present numerical data and/or calculations. The purpose of the Calculation paragraph is to automate and present the results of calculations or measurements in a way that is easy for the user to understand and interpret.

When a Calculation paragraph has focus the text field changes to a prompt below the label. The prompt accepts Excel-like calculations with variables in curly braces { and }. Labels from other types of paragraphs can be used as variables (e.g. Severity and Likelihood).

Conditional if-then-else expressions are also accepted by the prompt. E.g. an evaluation of acceptable RPN level would be written like this:

=
if {RPN} < 10
then 
    "Acceptable"
else 
    "Not Acceptable"

Reference paragraph

A Reference paragraph is used to cite a source of information used elsewhere in the project. This can be used to include information as read-only text from another file. E.g. if a mitigation to a risk is documented as a requirement in a requirements folder.

When a Reference paragraph has focus the text field changes to a prompt below the label. The prompt accepts a reference to a label in another file in the format [FOLDERNAME\FILENAME]\{NAMEOFLABEL}.

When a reference has been entered in the prompt, the referenced text is then shown below the reference.

Date paragraph

A Date paragraph is typically used to indicate when the file was created, or last modified. The date is automatically updated if the contents of the file is changed.

The date can also be updated by right-clicking the paragraph and selecting the command Update Paragraph.

Normal paragraph

A Normal paragraph is a text field without a label or topic sentence for the body text. It can be used when only a text field is needed in addition to the header of a text or template file.

Query paragraph

A Query paragraph is used to check the level of generality of objects being referred to in a statement. There are two types of query paragraphs: Every and Exists.

The Every query paragraph checks if a statement applies to all files in the project. The Exists query paragraph checks if a statement applies to any of the files in the project.

When a Query paragraph has focus the query text field shows a screw driver button, which opens a configuration wizard.

In the first step of the configuration, the folder to query is selected.

In the second step of the configuration, the label to check for a condition is selected.

In the third and last step of the configuration, the value to check for is written.