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§10.3.2

The Key-Value List

A form with fields—a table or a list?

✅ NormativeSettled. The requirement holds as written.📄 Page ruleCan be applied from the page alone.Read §10.3.2 in the RFC ↗

The requirement

Fillable form content MUST be rendered as a Markdown key-value list, not as a table. Every field MUST be one list item using the - marker.

Reading the examples. Each one pairs a source page with the output the rule expects. ✅ Sample: the rule applies. ❌ Counter-sample: it looks like it applies and does not, or a rendering got it wrong. A non-conforming output, in red, is shown only for contrast. … marks content left out of an excerpt.

The point, in a small example

Follow printed labels and IDs, preserve the exact values, and explicitly represent the empty field. These pages are made up to isolate the rule.

01

✅ SampleConstructedThe rule applies

Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit

These are labeled fill-in fields, not a table. Keep leading zeros and the ambiguous date exactly as printed; do not infer a currency or expand the date. The third answer line is empty.

Source page
The Key-Value List — Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit. Source page.
Non-conforming output

What the rule rules out.

Markdown
- **Amount:** $12.50
- **Date:** March 4, 2026
Expected output
Markdown
- \[1\] **Amount:** 0012.50
- \[2\] **Date:** 03/04/26
- \[3\] **Reference:** [blank]
The Key-Value List · Source page

Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit

The Key-Value List — Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit. Source page.

The shape

### \[Part I\] Information About the Partnership

- \[A\] **Partnership's employer identification number**: 27-4162308
- \[D\] **Check if this is a publicly traded partnership (PTP)**: [ ]
- **CONTACT NAME:** Melinda Clayton
- **FAX (A/C, No):** [blank]
- \[G\]
  - [x] General partner or LLC member-manager
  - [ ] Limited partner or other LLC member
- **Your signature**: [signature: John Doe]

The line format

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output
- \[id\] **Label**: value
  • The id and the label MUST each appear only when printed. A field with no printed id carries no brackets.
  • An id MUST be written in escaped square brackets — \[1a\] — outside the bold label.
  • An empty fill-in MUST be rendered as [blank]. A checkbox MUST be rendered as [x] (checked) or [ ] (unchecked).
  • An option line MUST be box-first: - [x] Single.
  • A printed section heading MUST be rendered as a Markdown heading. A box whose id covers several fields MUST be rendered as a parent list item with the fields nested beneath it.

Why the id is escaped

\[x\] is a printed field designator "x"; [x] is a checked box. Without the escape the two cannot be told apart, and a field id silently becomes a tick.

Colons

  • When the printed label ends in :, the colon MUST stay inside the bold label: - **CONTACT NAME:** Melinda Clayton.
  • When the value is not printed on the same line as its label — a caption printed under its line, an answer area below its question — the : after the label MUST be omitted: - **SIGNATURE OF DEPONENT** [blank].

Look-alike

Two similar pages that call for different decisions. Synthetic, for teaching the boundary.

Labels with values beside them, lined up in two columns. Table or not?

A

Ungridded key-value fields

Insurer: [blank]
NAIC #: 12345
[x] Renewal [ ] New business
The convention

A key-value list. Never invent a two-column table.

B

A ruled label-value grid

ColumnDescription
(1)Earned premium
(2)Incurred claims
The convention

A table. Missing it is a defect.

Look at the structure. What evidence changes the answer?

More

Rule id forms-the-key-value-list · forms