Statements

A statement on the NLG platform is a content and linguistic unit including branches and sub-branches, static parts and containers. It is not limited to one sentence, but can also consist of multiple sentences. One can refer to different grammatical roles within a statement, but not across statements.

You write and edit your statements into the editor boxes in the center column. The annotations for the statement are also done here. The software automatically suggests containers that can be accepted, modified or rejected. You can insert containers at any place in the statement. The real-time preview shows the current outcome of the annotated statement based on a selected test object.

Statements can be used in different stories. Which statement will appear in each story, as well as the order of the statements within a story, is defined in the Narrate Tab.

Statement Settings

• Name: insert an individual name for the statement. Without this entry, the statements are numbered consecutively: statement1, statement2....
• Style: Headings (different levels) or normal text.
• Trigger:
  1. Always use this statement works like an always-true trigger; the statement is rendered unconditionally (default)
  2. Do not use omits the statement from text production (works like an always-false trigger)
  3. or use any trigger variable you have built in the Transform area.
• Text Shortening:
  • Obligatory: When turned off, allow the entire statement to be trimmed for text length. Shortening will always try to trim individual branchings within the statement first; see collection settings for a detailed explanation.
  • Maximum length: impose a statement-level text length. This operates in addition to the global limit, if both are given. If a statement cannot make the length limit:
    • if obligatory is set, text generation aborts with an error
    • if obligatory is not set, the entire statement text is removed.