Any written document in the diplomatic sense contains information transmitted or described by means of rules of representation, which are themselves evidence of the intent to convey information: formulas, bureaucratic or literary style, specialized langua

Any written document in the diplomatic sense contains information transmitted or described by means of rules of representation, which are themselves evidence of the intent to convey information: formulas, bureaucratic or literary style, specialized language, interview technique, and so on. These rules, which we call form, reflect political, legal, administrative, and economic structures, culture, habit, myths, and constitute an integral part of the written document, because they formulate or condition the ideas or fact which we take to be the content of the documents. The form of a document is of course both physical and intellectual.