Chapter 04

Paragraph rules

The words live in Pega Paragraph Rules, and a decision table chooses which ones show. One small trick, the pyWorkPage prefix, causes most of the surprises.

Updated 5 Nov 2026Pega 24 – 26

Words you will meet

Paragraph rule
pyWorkPage
IsParagraphApplicable

On this page3

01Step 10: Create the paragraph rules
02Why pyWorkPage?
03Step 11: Specialise the decision table

Phase 4 · Step 10

Create the paragraph rules.

In Dev Studio: Create → User Interface → Paragraph.
Save each rule to your work class: MyApp-Work-PaymentReminder.
Use the pyWorkPage prefix for every case property reference (explained below).

PR_Salutation

<p>Dear << pyWorkPage.CustomerName >>,</p>

PR_Closing

<p>Yours sincerely,<br/>The ACME Team</p>

PR_BodyStandard

<p>Your bill of << pyWorkPage.AmountDue >> is now overdue. Please pay now.</p>

PR_BodyGold

<p>We note your balance of << pyWorkPage.AmountDue >>. As a Gold member, please pay at your convenience.</p>

Paragraph text is illustrative. The << … >> markers are where a case value is merged into the HTML.

The one trick

Why pyWorkPage?

The same applies to the decision table in the next step. Try it: untick the prefix on either one and watch what the letter does. These are the first two rows of the troubleshooting table, in action.

Break the prefixTry it: untick a pyWorkPage. box and read the letter

MembershipLevel on the case

Make a mistake on purpose

Paragraph rules use pyWorkPage.Untick: they use .CustomerNameDecision table uses pyWorkPage.Untick: its column uses .MembershipLevelHeader Footer Paragraph ID is setTick: shown on screen, not as a PDF

The letter on screen

Dear Sam Rivera,

Your bill of $120.00 is now overdue. Please pay now.

Yours sincerely, The ACME Team

What the engine did

GenerateDocumentContent(DocumentID = DOC0003)
Section LETTER_START: 1 paragraph row
PR_Salutation: not conditional, include
Section LETTER_BODY: 2 paragraph rows
PR_BodyStandard: IsParagraphApplicable, row MembershipLevel = STANDARD is true, include
PR_BodyGold: IsParagraphApplicable, no row matched, otherwise returns false, skip
Section LETTER_END: 1 paragraph row
PR_Closing: not conditional, include

The Paragraph table, and which rows made it in

PAR0101LETTER_START · seq 1PR_SalutationincludedDear << pyWorkPage.CustomerName >>,
PAR0102LETTER_BODY · seq 1PR_BodyStandardincludedYour bill of << pyWorkPage.AmountDue >> is now overdue. Please pay now.
PAR0103LETTER_BODY · seq 2PR_BodyGoldskippedWe note your balance of << pyWorkPage.AmountDue >>. As a Gold member, please pay at your convenience.
PAR0104LETTER_END · seq 1PR_ClosingincludedYours sincerely, The ACME Team

Illustrative: a simulation of the example in this guide, not a real Pega system.

Phase 4 · Step 11

Specialise the decision table.

The IsParagraphApplicable decision table controls which conditional paragraph shows, here based on MembershipLevel. You do not edit the original: you save a copy to your own class and ruleset.

In Dev Studio, search for the rule IsParagraphApplicable.
Click Save as and save to your work class and ruleset.
Add the following rows to your specialised copy:

Rows of the specialised IsParagraphApplicable decision table
Document ID	Section name	Paragraph ID	pyWorkPage.MembershipLevel	Return
DOC0003	LETTER_BODY	PR_BodyStandard	STANDARD	true
DOC0003	LETTER_BODY	PR_BodyGold	GOLD	true
otherwise				false

Your turn

Questions and comments

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