Overview
Document structure refers to the standard layout that frames every document Azure Documenter generates, regardless of document type. The data within each section varies by type — an Executive summary surfaces billing totals, a Rightsizing recommendations report lists SKU-level recommendations, a Security compliance report shows policy adherence — but the structural elements surrounding that data are identical across all reports. Understanding this structure helps you navigate generated documents efficiently and present them consistently to any audience.
Business value
- Find information faster in long reports using a consistent, clickable table of contents
- Confirm document context at a glance — every section identifies the subscription, billing period, and generation time
- Share and cite reports accurately with consistent page numbering across all document types
How it works
Every document Azure Documenter generates is built around six structural elements. These elements appear in every report and in the same order, regardless of which document type was selected or which subscriptions were included.
| Element | What it contains | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Cover page | Document name, document type, subscription scope, generation date, and branding (accent colour and logo) | Identifies the report at a glance and applies your organization's visual identity |
| Table of contents | A clickable list of every section in the document, organized by subscription | Lets you jump directly to the data you need without scrolling through the full report |
| Context banner | Subscription name, generation date-time, billing or evaluation period, and subscription state | Opens each subscription section with the scope and time window the data covers, so the figures are never ambiguous |
| Data tables | Structured tabular data with a labeled header row, presented per section | Surfaces resource, cost, access, and compliance data in a consistent, comparable format regardless of document type |
| Back to TOC links | A link to the table of contents at the end of each subscription section | Provides one-click navigation back without manual scrolling in long, multi-subscription reports |
| Page numbering | Page X of Y footer on every page | Supports precise cross-referencing when sharing, printing, or reviewing downloaded documents |
The content that populates each section and data table varies by document type. The structural elements above remain the same across all of them. The cover page reflects any branding settings — accent colour and logo — you configured in the wizard. The table of contents and context banners scale automatically to the number of subscriptions included in the document.