'Options' Text ('prompts')

<<*Options*>> Text Prompts

The default action of Pathagoras when it encounters <<*Options*>> text is to present the entire text block to the user, with the individual options presented on the (up to 6) buttons of the selection screen. With just a little more effort, you can provide a more succinct and more meaningful 'text prompts' (or questions) to which the user can respond in order to make a selection. Simply add a list of prompts (as many as you have options) immediately after the word *Options*. Note the end of the prompt with an "*"

Structure:

<<*Options*(prompt1/prompt2)(etc.)* . . .>>

Example:

<<*Options*Ship FedEx/Ship Standard Ground/Hold for Pickup/Out of Stock*As per your request, the widgets will be shipped by Federal Express and we will bill you for the extra cost of shipping./As per your request, we will send the widgets by standard ground transport. This may take 3 to 5 additional days./As per your request, we will hold the widgets for pickup by your courier./The widgets you have ordered are not currently in stock. We will ship them as soon as possible. If we have not shipped within 5 days of this date, you will have the option to cancel the order.>>

When encountered during document assembly, the prompts between the asterisks is presented instead of the default question shown in the previous page. The above will yield the result shown in the figure below:

Options block, with descriptions provided.

NOTES -- "and/or", "he/she" (etc.) and fractions: By default, Pathagoras uses the forward slash '/' character to determine the boundaries of each option in an <<*Options*>> block. However, if you use the forward slash as 'normal text' within an <<*Options*>> text block (e.g., a fraction like '1/2' or a non-variable phrase such as 'he/she' or 'and/or'), you must use "/OR" as the separator within that particular block. Consider the following.

<<*Options*Choose your favorite flavor*Chocolate/Vanilla/Mixed: 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla.>>

In the above example, Pathagoras cannot tell where the 'real' choices end. It will see the above block as 5 choices ("Chocolate", "Vanilla" ,"Mixed: 1", "2 chocolate and 1" and "2 vanilla") and not the intended 3.

As noted above, the workaround requires only that you add the word "OR" to the slash (to create "/OR") to denote the choices. So the above block should read.

<<*Options*Choose your favorite flavor*Chocolate/ORVanilla/ORMixed: 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla.>>

Three more notes:

•	"/OR" must be in CAPS.

•	If you use shorthand text prompts (described at the very top of this page) to depict each option, you must use "/OR" in the prompt as well as in the <<Options>> block body.

•	"/OR" is only required when a natural slash exists within the same <<Options>> block. It is not needed otherwise.