How to Automatically Create an Abbreviation Table with OnStyle

OnStyle provides a dedicated tool for automatically generating a Table of Abbreviations based on abbreviations detected in your document. This is particularly useful when an abbreviation table is missing or needs to be initialized.

Steps to Automatically Create an Abbreviation Table

1. Place the Cursor
   Click where you would like the abbreviation table to be inserted — ideally, place the cursor in an empty paragraph to avoid formatting issues.
2. Open the Create Abbreviation Table Tool
   • Navigate to the OnStyle tab.
   • In the Tools section under References, select Create Abbreviation Table from the drop-down menu.

3. Run the Tool
   OnStyle scans the document for abbreviations, including:
   • Words with three or more uppercase letters (optionally separated by dots or hyphens) that appear at least twice in the document. In the Enterprise edition, the minimum number of uppercase letters and the minimum number of appearances required for abbreviation recognition are configurable.
   • Matches from the frequently used abbreviations list, which includes predefined medical terms and their definitions (the abbreviation and its description).  Abbreviations made up of lowercase letters, or a mix of uppercase and lowercase, are allowed on this list. Additionally, abbreviations with fewer characters than the usual minimum can be included, When an abbreviation from the list appears at least twice (this threshold is adjustable in the Enterprise edition) within a document, it will be recognised as an abbreviation and added to the abbreviation table with its description.
4. Output
   • The abbreviation table is inserted at the current cursor position.
   • Abbreviations are inserted in alphabetical order.
   • Only abbreviations that appear at least twice in the document are included (this setting can be changed in the Enterprise edition).
   • Abbreviations found in the document that match entries in the frequently used abbreviations list appear with their predefined descriptions. These descriptions retain the formatting (e.g., title case) used in the list.
   • If an abbreviation is defined differently in the document than in the list, the description from the list is used. The descriptions can be overwritten later in the table.
   • Abbreviations identified as trivial—as defined in Preferences → Validation Rules → Abbreviations → Trivial Abbreviations—are excluded from the table. You can edit the list of trivial abbreviations in Preferences.
   • Abbreviations found in the document but not in the frequently used abbreviations list are inserted without description.
   • Descriptions coming from the frequently used abbreviations list can be overwritten in the abbreviations table, and future checks and fixes will use those updated descriptions.

You can modify the frequently used abbreviation list using the Import/Export Frequently Used Abbreviations feature. Once you have exported the list, you can modify it in a txt file.

Here are a few recommendations when making changes:

• Avoid including multiple definitions for the same abbreviation (e.g., do not add duplicated abbreviations).
• Adding too many frequently used abbreviations can impact the speed of the module.
• Avoid adding one- and two-letter abbreviations.

How to Automatically Check and Fix Existing Abbreviation Tables with OnStyle

OnStyle offers several Inspection Modules designed to validate abbreviation-related content. These validations identify issues in abbreviation usage and abbreviation tables and provide  options for  automated corrections when available. The abbreviation table and its information serve as the foundation for most validation and correction processes.

Steps to Automatically Validate Existing Abbreviation Tables

• Access Abbreviation Validation Modules
  • In the Validation section, locate the groups related to abbreviations:
    • Abbreviation Table
    • Abbreviation Usage
  • Click the drop-down arrow next to a group name and hover over Inspection Group Modules to view the individual inspection modules included.
• Run the Inspections
  You can choose to execute:
  • The entire inspection set by selecting Execute Set to run all modules (not limited to abbreviations).
  • A specific inspection group, such as Abbreviation Table or Abbreviation Usage.
  • Individual modules, such as e.g., Empty Abbreviation Table Cell.
• Review the Results
  • The Inspection Results pane displays any issues detected during the validation process.
  • The problems found in the document are shown in a tree view where you can see the inspection groups and their inspection modules. Once you open a module, you can view its issues. Detected issues and suggested fixes depend on the settings defined in Preferences for abbreviation recognition rules. These settings include  parameters such as the expected format of abbreviations, their definition in the text, and which document parts should be excluded from the inspection.

• Fix Issues
  • Click on an issue in the results pane.
  • If a fix is available, click the drop-down arrow (˅) next to the issue and select Fix.
  • You can also choose Fix All of Same Type or use Flat View (only available for users of the Professional and Enterprise editions) to multi-select and batch correct similar issues.
• (Optional) Ignore or Comment (only available for users of the Professional and Enterprise editions)
  • You can mark specific issues as Ignored if they are not relevant.
  • Alternatively, you can add a Comment to a finding for team review or further clarification before resolving it.

Validation Modules

Related Validation Modules Module Name	Function
Abbreviation Table Order Issue	Checks whether abbreviations in the table are listed in alphabetical order, excluding  the header row if present.
Empty Abbreviation Table Cell	Identifies blank cells in the abbreviation table, including those that are completely empty or contain only whitespace characters.
Incorrect Abbreviation Table	Checks all potential abbreviation tables in the document. If none meet the required structure or formatting criteria (sanity check), it flags all examined tables as issues and provides an error message.
Incorrect Abbreviation Table Caption	Flags the caption of the abbreviation table if it does not follow the expected format.
Incorrect Abbreviation Table Caption Style	Flags abbreviation tables whose caption uses a style not defined in the configured preferences.
Missing Abbreviation Table Caption	Searches for the abbreviation table’s title or caption based on the predefined style and text parameters. Accepted caption texts and styles can be configured in Preferences.
Missing Abbreviation Table Header Row	Checks for missing header row with columns such as “Abbreviations” and “Descriptions”. The header row’s mandatory status and specifications of the approved column heading texts can be configured in Preferences.
Multiple Abbreviations Listed	Detects abbreviation table cells containing multiple entries or paragraphs. If both abbreviation and description cells in a row have multiple items, the entire row is flagged as a single issue.
Once Used Abbreviation Listed	Identifies abbreviations listed in the abbreviation table that appear only once in the document and highlights the corresponding table row.
Repeating Abbreviation Table Entries	Highlights duplicated entries within the abbreviation table.
Trivial Abbreviation Listed	Warns if unneeded abbreviations, such as “e.g.”, are listed in the abbreviation table. Abbreviations can be identified as trivial in the Trivial Abbreviations list.
Unused Abbreviation Listed	Finds and reports abbreviation table rows where the listed abbreviation is not usedelsewhere in the document.
Abbreviation Could Be Used	Checks whether abbreviation descriptions are unnecessarily repeated in the text. Once an abbreviation has been introduced together with its description (i.e.. it has been defined), it should be used consistently in its abbreviated form. This check compares the document content with the abbreviation table and highlights places where the description is used instead of the abbreviation. Prerequisite for the check is that the abbreviation and its description are listed in the abbreviation table.
Abbreviation Defined Later	Identifies abbreviations whose definitions are included after the abbreviation has already been used in the text. Best practice is to define an abbreviation at its first occurrence so readers immediately understand its meaning. This check flags cases where the abbreviation appears before its definition or where the definition is unnecessarily repeated later. Specific document parts, such as headings or captions, can be excluded from this check through the abbreviation preferences. Prerequisite for the check is that the abbreviation and its description are listed in the abbreviation table.
Missing Abbreviation Definition	This tool identifies abbreviations not defined at their first appearance and flags incorrect formatting of the definition (abbreviation and its corresponding description) based on the settings in Preferences. You can exclude particular document sections, like headings or captions, using abbreviation settings.
Trivial Abbreviation Defined	Checks whether any trivial abbreviations from the predefined list are defined in the document and flags them as issues.
Unlisted Abbreviation	Identifies abbreviations from the text that are missing from the abbreviation table: • At least three uppercase letters with optional dots or hyphens (configurable in the Enterprise edition) • Appear at least twice in the document • Listed in the frequently used abbreviations list (can be fewer characters than the usual minimum, can be lowercase letters, or a mix of uppercase and lowercase).

Correction Modules

Related Correction Modules Module Name	Function
Sort Table	Arranges the rows of the abbreviation table alphabetically based on the abbreviation column of the table.
Delete Table Row	Removes the selected row(s) from the abbreviation table. In cases such as: Once used abbreviation is listedUnused abbreviation is listedTrivial abbreviation listedEmpty rowRepeating entry
Split Table Rows	Separates multiple entries in a row of the abbreviation table into multiple rows.
Remove From Trivial	Deletes the abbreviation from the list of trivial abbreviations.
Use Abbreviation	Replaces the description of the abbreviation with the abbreviation itself.
Delete Description	Removes the description of the abbreviation.
Move Description	Removes the description and adds it to the first occurrence of the abbreviation in the default definition format.
Add Description	Inserts the description to the selected abbreviation in the default format defined in Preferences. The source of the definition is the description found in the table of abbreviations.
Update Abbreviation Table	Adds the abbreviations found and not listed in the abbreviations table to the end of the abbreviation table.
Add as Trivial	Inserts the abbreviation into the list of trivial abbreviations.

Note: Certain validation and correction modules require a DocConfig to be assigned in order to function properly.

You can find detailed descriptions of the modules in the Inspection Results Pane. Select an inspection and expand the additional information section below.

How to Bookmark the Abbreviation Table for Recognition with OnStyle

OnStyle looks for a table in the document that matches the abbreviation table settings defined in Preferences. This recognition includes factors such as whether the table caption contains terms like abbreviation, and whether the number of columns and rows matches the criteria set in Preferences. If multiple tables meet these criteria, OnStyle may require additional context to determine which table to use. In such cases you may need to bookmark the correct abbreviation table to make it obvious for OnStyle which table to work with.

1. Place the Cursor
   Click in the table that you would like to be identified as the abbreviation table in your document.
2. Open the Bookmark Abbreviation Table Tool

In the Tools section under References, select Bookmark Abbreviation Table from the drop-down menu.

3. Run the Tool
   OnStyle places a hidden bookmark to the table which will identify the table as the abbreviation table for the document for OnStyle.

How to Check or Modify Abbreviation Recognition Rules in OnStyle

Abbreviation recognition rules are configured in Preferences → Validation Rules → Abbreviation.

Here you can modify the following default settings related to abbreviations:

Settings for Identifying the Abbreviation Table

General Settings

The number of columns: 2 (read only)

Minimum number of rows: 3

Column probability: 65% (the minimum percentage of rows required to meet abbreviation criteria, such as having three uppercase letters)

If the table is bookmarked as an abbreviation table, the column with shorter words will be marked as “Abbreviation” and the other as “Description.” In this case, column probability specifies how many rows must follow the abbreviation criteria.

Abbreviation Table Caption

If the table isn’t found using the criteria above, these settings let it search by caption and then apply the column probability rule.

Included styles: Table Caption, heading1

Texts to include: Abbreviations, Abbreviation, List of Abbreviations

Header Row

Header row is not mandatory by default but you can check the box to make it mandatory. If a header row is mandatory, than the generated abbreviation table will contain a header row.

Included Abbreviation headers:Abbreviation, Abbrev

Included Description headers:  Description, Desc

You can add more header text if needed. These texts are used to identify or generate header rows in abbreviation tables.

Exclusions

Excluded document parts: Here you can choose document parts where abbreviations should not be recognized. This can be interesting in cases such as the first occurence of an abbreviation is defined. Selectable document parts are: TOC, Headings, Captions, Reference section, Tables. By default these document parts are excluded: TOC, Headings, Captions.

Styles to exclude: You can select styles to exclude when recognizing abbreviations. By default, no styles are excluded.

Definition settings: Here you can define where the abbreviation definitions (the abbreviation and its description together) should be ignored. You can choose document parts such as TOC, headings, captions, where the definitions should be ignored, that means, for example, when checking that the abbreviation is defined at the first occurence, these document parts will be excluded. By default, definitions are ignored in TOC, in headings, and in captions.

Styles to ignore for definition: You can select styles to exclude when recognizing definitions. By default, no styles are excluded.

Frequently Used Abbreviations

You can export the list of frequently used abbreviations, edit it as needed, and then import the updated list to use for creating and validating abbreviation tables.

The list includes the following fields for each abbreviation:

• AbbrevName: The abbreviation itself
• DescName: The full description of the abbreviation
• Trivial: Defaults to false; set to true if the abbreviation is considered trivial
• FrequentlyUsed: Defaults to false; set to true if the abbreviation is frequently used
• AllowedInAbbreviationTable: Defaults to false; set to true if the abbreviation should appear in the abbreviation table

Abbreviations, regardless of letter case or length, may be included in the frequently used list. Abbreviations composed of uppercase or lowercase letters or a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters are permitted in the frequently used list.

Abbreviations with fewer characters than the usual minimum can be included.

Limit the list to your frequently used abbreviations, as unnecessary entries can slow processes.

Trivial Abbreviations

This section allows you to view and manage the list of trivial abbreviations—those you prefer not to include in the abbreviation table by default.

You can:

• Add or remove abbreviations and their descriptions
• Add new entries and enable their inclusion in the abbreviation table by ticking the “Allowed in Table” checkbox next to each item
• Export the list in .txt format for external editing
• Re-import the updated list back into the system

If you wish to include an abbreviation already on the list in the abbreviation table, you can simply edit the AllowedInAbbreviationTable field in the exported file and set it to true.

Function of the “Allowed in Table” Checkbox

When checked:

• The trivial abbreviation is allowed to be included in the Table of Abbreviations; however, OnStyle will not include it automatically when generating the table.
• OnStyle will not report it as an issue during validation (e.g., “Trivial Abbreviation Listed”).

When unchecked:

• The abbreviation should not appear in the Abbreviation Table.
• If it does, OnStyle will flag it as a validation issue, indicating it should be removed.

Format of Abbreviations

Specify how abbreviation definitions (the abbreviation plus its description) should appear in the document. The first format listed becomes the default for automatic corrections, while all formats are accepted during validation.

Examples:  %ABBREV% (%DESC%), (%ABBREV%) %DESC% (The first one is the default.)

Use the Abbrev. Placeholder to insert %ABBREV% and the Desc. Placeholder for %DESC% when defining new formats in the Add input field; simply add any extra characters you need.