Self-describing portions of text or data are provided for associating with or inserting in a computer-generated document. Portions of a document, such as individual paragraphs or groups of paragraphs or fragments of text, are provided self-describing properties, such as file format type associated with the portion, style, font, list type, and the like. If such a portion of a document is subsequently linked to or copied or moved to a second document or to a different location in a first document, the self-describing properties provided for the portion travel with the portion to the second document or to the different location in the first document. An application receiving the content portion may consume and display the portion according to the properties provided for the portion.