The formalization of the architecture of documents and text formatting are the central issues of this paper. Besides a fundamental and theoretical approach toward these topics, an overview is presented of the COBATEF system. The COBATEF system is a context-based text formatting system, for which a software, as well as a hardware, implementation is available. A unique feature of the system is its automatic text-element recognition mechanism, which is context based and consequently takes advantage of the implicit structure of text. A predefined layout for each type of text element then opens the way for a fully automatic text-processing system in which user control information can be reduced to an absolute minimum.