Skip to main content
Gavel gives you precise control over how variable values appear in your generated documents. A client might enter a date as a raw value, but your contract may need it rendered as “the 15th day of January 2025” — or as a short 01/15/2025. A numeric figure might need commas, a currency symbol, or to be written out as words. This page collects all of the formatting functions available for dates, numbers, words, and special number patterns so you can find what you need quickly. Copy the syntax directly into your Word template, replacing variablename or DateVariable with your own variable name.
All formatting shown here uses double curly brackets {{ }} and is placed directly in your Word or PDF document template — not in the questionnaire builder.

​
Formatting dates

Date formatting is applied with the format_date() function. The first argument is your date variable; the second is the format string.

​
Display formats

Output exampleSyntax
January 10, 2020 (default){{ DateVariable }}
Today’s date{{ format_date(today()) }}
Saturday, January 10, 2020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='full') }}
1/10/20{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='short') }}
01/01/2020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='MM/dd/yyyy') }}
1/01/2020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='M/dd/yyyy') }}
10/01/2020 (day/month/year){{ format_date(DateVariable, format='dd/MM/yyyy') }}
January ___, 2020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='MMMM ____, yyyy') }}
01012020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='MMddyyyy') }}
30Nov20{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='ddMMMyy') }}
Just the year: 2020{{ format_date(DateVariable, format='yyyy') }}

​
Ordinal date phrasing

Legal documents frequently require dates written as “the 15th day of January 2025.” Use this pattern: 
The {{ ordinal_number(DateVariable.day, use_word=False) }} day of {{ format_date(DateVariable, format='MMMM yyyy') }}
Output: The 15th day of January 2025

​
Converting text to a date

If you are importing data from another system (such as Clio) where the date field arrives as plain text rather than a date type, use as_datetime() with strftime to convert it: 
{{ as_datetime(variable).strftime("%B %d, %Y") }}
Use %-d instead of %d to suppress the leading zero (e.g., “January 3” instead of “January 03”).

​
Formatting dates using Calculations (Invisible Logic)

You can also format a date variable through Calculations. Create a new Text variable, select your date variable as the source, choose Format Date as the operation, and enter the format code. The resulting text variable can then be referenced anywhere in your document with {{ FormattedDateVariable }}.

​
Calculating dates

These functions derive new date values from existing ones — useful for deadlines, notice periods, and age calculations. 
{{ (date_difference(starting=DateVariable).years|int) }}

{{ (date_difference(starting=StartDate, ending=EndDate).years|int) }}

{{ (relative_date_difference(starting=StartDate, ending=EndDate).months) }}

{{ format_date( (DateVariable) + date_interval(years=2) ) }}
Replace years with months, days, or weeks. Use - instead of + to go back in time.
{{ format_date( (DateVariable) + date_interval(bus_days=10) ) }}

{{ next_business_day(DateVariable) }}
{{ prior_business_day(DateVariable) }}

{{ last_day_of_month(DateVariable) }}
To extract just the day number (e.g., 30):
{{ format_date(last_day_of_month(DateVariable), format='dd') }}

​
Formatting numbers

Use a Number question type for decimal values and an Integer question type for whole numbers. Apply the functions below in your document template.
If you use a Number question type, decimal points display by default. If you use an Integer question type, you get a whole number.

​
Standard number formats

Output exampleSyntax
$100,000.00{{ currency(variablename) }}
100000 (no commas, no decimals){{ Decimals0NoCommas(variablename) }}
100,000.00{{ Decimals2Commas(variablename) }}
100,000{{ Decimals0Commas(variablename) }}
Custom decimals with commas{{ format_decimal(variablename, 2) }}
Custom decimals without commas{{ format_decimal(variablename, 2, False) }}
Replace the 2 in format_decimal with the number of decimal places you want.

​
Ordinal numbers

Write a number as an ordinal (1st, 2nd, 10th, etc.): 
{{ ordinal_number(variablename) }}
By default, first through ninth are written out as words (first, second, … ninth). To use numerals throughout: 
{{ ordinal_number(variablename, use_word=False) }}

​
Numbers written as words

Convert a number to its written-out English form (recommended with the Integer question type): 
{{ numbers_to_words(variablename) }}
Output: One Hundred Thousand

​
International number formatting

{{ format_number_eu(variablename) }}
Output: 1.000.000,00 (European convention — periods as thousand separators, comma as decimal) For Canadian French formatting: 
{{ "{:,.2f} $".format(variablename).replace(",", " ").replace(".", ",") }}
Output: 1 000 000,00$

​
Rounding in document templates

Round down (floor) to two decimal places: 
{{ (variable)|round(2, 'floor') }}
Round up (ceiling) to two decimal places: 
{{ (variable)|round(2, 'ceil') }}
When combining rounding with other number formatting, place the rounding call inside the parentheses: 
{{ "{:,.0f}".format(variablename|round(0,'ceil')) }}

​
Formatting special numbers

Use number_custom() to force specific punctuation patterns on any number. Have the client enter the value as a Number question type, then apply the mask in your template using n for each digit position. 
{{ number_custom(variablename, "(nnn) nnn-nnnn") }}
Output: (555) 555-5555
{{ number_custom(variablename, "nnn-nnn-nnnn") }}
Output: 555-555-5555

​
Formatting words

These functions control capitalization and text transforms. If you want the output to match exactly what the client typed, you do not need any of the functions below.

​
Case transforms

Output exampleSyntax
APPLE (all caps){{ variablename|upper }} or {{ variablename.upper() }}
Apple And Pear (title case){{ title_case(variablename) }}
Apple and pear (capitalize first only){{ capitalize(variablename) }}
apple (all lowercase){{ variablename|lower }} or {{ variablename.lower() }}

​
Articles and plurals

Add “a” or “an” before a variable automatically: 
{{ indefinite_article(variablename) }}
Output: An apple / A pear Pluralize a noun based on a count variable: 
{{ quantity_noun(variablename, "apple") }}
Where variablename is an Integer. Output: 1 apple / 3 apples

​
Punctuation

Add a trailing period only when the text does not already end with one (useful for company names): 
{{ fix_punctuation(variablename) }}

​
Verb conjugation

To conjugate a verb based on whether one person, multiple people, or a third-party singular is acting:
  1. Create a multiple-choice question with variable name conjugation and choices: 1sg, 3sg, pl.
  2. Use this syntax in your template (replacing allege with your verb):
{{ verb_present('allege', conjugation) }}
Output: allege (1sg), alleges (3sg), or allege (pl). Alternatively, use basic conditional logic: 
allege{% if singular %}s{% endif %}

​
Formatting text area questions

Text area variables require special handling to preserve line breaks in the output.
GoalSyntax
Preserve line breaks{{ variablename | manual_line_breaks }}
Output as a numbered list{%p for line in VariableName.split("\n") %}{{ loop.index }}. {{ line }}{%p endfor %}
Output as a bulleted list- {%p for line in VariableName.split("\n") %} then - {{ line }} then - {%p endfor %}
Join lines with commas{{ commalist(VariableName.split("\\n"), "<__str__()>", "") }}
The comma-list format is useful when a client enters a multi-line address and you need to output it inline, such as: Jane Doe, 123 Main Street, Minneapolis, MN 55436.

​
Accepting or rejecting variables in Gavel Blueprint

When you upload a document to Gavel Blueprint, the AI identifies variable placeholders in your template and suggests questions for each one. You review these suggestions and either accept or reject each proposed variable.
1

Review variables in the sidebar

After uploading your document, scroll through the content or use the variable sidebar. Blueprint highlights each location where it detected a variable.
2

Accept or reject each variable

Accept variables that correspond to genuine client-provided data. Reject any that Blueprint identified incorrectly — for example, static text it mistook for a placeholder.
3

Generate the draft workflow

Once you have reviewed all variables, click Draft Workflow. Gavel generates a first draft of the workflow, including all accepted variables as questions. You can then edit question wording, types, and order in the builder, and use the Word add-in or PDF Tagger to fine-tune the template markup.
You can edit all question details — wording, type, variable name — after the workflow is generated. There is no need to get every detail perfect during the Blueprint review step.