Mark fields and span punctuation

Any span can be punctuated by adding the keyword

Punctuation

to the Business Rule followed by double quoted text which contains the punctuation symbols.

Punctuation {Mark} fields can be placed anywhere within the span and will be replaced by one of the punctuation symbols.

Punctuation symbols

There are 4 punctuation symbols referred to as the first and following symbol, the penultimate symbol, the last symbol and the symbol for two members only. If there are fewer than 4 punctuation symbols in the double-quoted format text then the missing symbols are inferred.

Format Text	First and Following Symbol	Penultimate Symbol	Last Symbol	Symbol for Two Members
", \|, and \|.\| and "	", "	", and "	"."	" and "
", \|, and \|."	", "	", and "	"."	""
", \|; and "	", "	"; and "	""	""
", "	","	""	""	""
""	""	""	""	""

In addition, certain escaped characters (not case sensitive) in the punctuation symbol are interpreted as MS Word controls:

Escaped Character	MS Word Control
^T	tab
^L	paragraph (Return) or manual line-break (Shift-Return)
^M	manual page-break
^N	manual column-break
^\|	vertical bar character
^^	hat character (^)

Punctuation algorithm

The punctuation algorithm depends upon the number of {Mark} fields that remain after the contents of the span have been evaluated.

Number of Marks	Punctuation
0	No punctuation
1	The only {Mark} is replaced by the last symbol
2	The first {Mark} is replaced by the penultimate symbol and the second {Mark} is replaced by the last symbol
3+	The last {Mark} is replaced by the last symbol, the last-but-one {Mark} is replaced by the penultimate symbol and all other {Mark}s are replaced by the first and following symbol

Example 1

In this example there are several termination clauses, some of which are compulsory (C and D) and some of which are optional (A, B, E and F). Note that each termination clause, whether compulsory or optional, has its own {Mark} to indicate where the punctuation symbol is inserted.

[^{Punctuation " ;| ; and|."}

[^TCATermination Clause A{Mark}]

[^TCBTermination Clause B{Mark}]

Termination Clause C{Mark}

Termination Clause D{Mark}

[^TCETermination Clause E{Mark}]

[^TCFTermination Clause F{Mark}]]

If TCA=false, TCB=false, TCE=false and TCF=false then the evaluated span will be:

Termination Clause C {Mark}

Termination Clause D {Mark}

and the punctuated clauses will be:

Termination Clause C ; and

Termination Clause D.

If TCA=true, TCB=true, TCE=true and TCF=true then the evaluated span will be:

Termination Clause A {Mark}

Termination Clause B {Mark}

Termination Clause C {Mark}

Termination Clause D {Mark}

Termination Clause E{Mark}

Termination Clause F {Mark}

and the punctuated clauses will be:

Termination Clause A ;

Termination Clause B ;

Termination Clause C ;

Termination Clause D ;

Termination Clause E ; and

Termination Clause F.

Example 2

In this example the span is repeated. There is only one {Mark} which will itself be repeated.

The company [^{NumberDirectors Is 1}director is][^{NumberDirectors IsMoreThan 1}directors are] [^{Repeat NumberDirectors Punctuation ", | and |"}{DirectorName}{Mark}].

If the only director is John then the punctuated paragraph will be:

The company director is John.

If the directors are John and Mary then the punctuated paragraph will be:

The company directors are John and Mary.

If the directors are John, Mary, Paul and David then the punctuated paragraph will be:

The company directors are John, Mary, Paul and David.

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Mark fields and span punctuation

Punctuation symbols

Punctuation algorithm

Example 1

Example 2

This article applies to:

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