README.md

@@ -823,17 +823,16 @@ the Development section below, and who ships a register the four above then draw
 3. **Valid by construction** — every value passes the check its real consumer
    applies; facts that belong together come from one draw, within a value and
    across categories.
-4. **Templates are intuitive, and text means what it says** — a template, and every
+4. **Templates are intuitive, and text means what it says** — a template or a path,
-   path in it, renders what every writer reading it would expect, judged by simulated
+   and every path in a template, renders what every writer reading it would expect,
-   writers from the Audience.
+   judged by simulated writers from the Audience. A format renders as written; only `{…}` varies, random characters included
-   A format renders as written; only `{…}` varies, random characters included
    (`{digits(3)}`), and a selected row, `[SE]`, is that row wherever it is written.
    Where two writers could expect different outputs, the template is a load error
    naming a spelling for each. One spelling per result; the wrong one is a load error
    naming the right one.
 5. **Every mistake is a load error** — `New` rejects the data and `NewTemplate`
-   the inline template; on a loaded generator `Fake` fails only for an unknown
+   the inline template; on a loaded generator `Fake` fails only for a path that
-   path, `FakeStruct` only for a non-struct argument or a type its tags do not
+   names nothing or could name two things, `FakeStruct` only for a non-struct argument or a type its tags do not
    describe, with the same error every call, and `Template.Fake` cannot fail at all.
 6. **Zero to a value in one command** — `go install`, then `fejkdata sv_SE.person`:
    no checkout, no flag. Flags are GNU-form (`--seed 42`, `-n 3`) in any position;

docs/decisions.md

@@ -383,16 +383,20 @@ case but the last, where two expected a render and all three accepted the refusa
 ## A link column after a row steps up to the parent row, and a path may not end on it
 
 Decided 2026-09-27 by the maintainer, for goal 4; valid while a link column holds the
-parent's key.
+parent's key. It extends [After a row, a path names a column or a linked
+table](#after-a-row-a-path-names-a-column-or-a-linked-table) from child tables to the
+parent. A row is selected or drawn alike.
 
 - Where a segment follows, the link column's name reads the parent row, one level per
-  step, chained: `city[Oslo].country.name` renders `Norway`, and
+  step, chained: `city[Oslo].country.name` renders `Norway`, `locality.municipality.name`
-  `geo.SE.locality[Lund].municipality.region.name` Lund's region.
+  the drawn locality's municipality, and `geo.SE.locality[Lund].municipality.region.name`
-- A path ending on it is refused, naming the parent's key column and the columns its
+  Lund's region. The parent row of a selected row is fixed as the selection is, so
-  format reads: `city[Oslo].country` could be `NO` or `Norway`, so the error names
+  `city[Oslo].country.city.name` draws a city of Norway, which may not be Oslo.
-  `city[Oslo].country.alpha2` and `city[Oslo].country.name`.
+- A path ending on it is refused at `New`, `NewTemplate` and `Fake` alike, naming the
-- A route through another row is not a second spelling of a selection:
+  parent's key column and the parent's format spelled as paths: with a `country` format
-  `city[Oslo].country.name` and `country[NO].name` both load, as `[1281]` and `[Lund]` do.
+  of `{name} ({alpha2})`, `city[Oslo].country` names `city[Oslo].country.alpha2` and
+  `{/city[Oslo].country.name} ({/city[Oslo].country.alpha2})`. `List` leaves such a path
+  out, and a record's link column still holds the key, since it is a column, not a path.
 
 Checked against three simulated template writers from the Audience: all three read the
 parent row where a segment followed, and they split between the code and the name where

todo.md

@@ -174,8 +174,10 @@ by a `data-import/` script, as README goal 12 asks.
 
 - Step up from a row to its parent as the decision "A link column after a row steps up
   to the parent row, and a path may not end on it" states: `city[Oslo].country.name` is
-  a load error today, and `city[Oslo].country` renders the cell `NO`. Correct the
+  a load error today, and `city[Oslo].country` renders the cell `NO`, as
-  README's `city[Oslo].country` example to match.
+  `locality.municipality` does, which `List` advertises. Replace the README's
+  `city[Oslo].country` example with `fejkdata -d ./mydata 'city[Oslo].country.name'`,
+  rendering `Norway`.
 - Render selected rows as the decision "A selected row is fixed, not drawn, and an
   unnamed read beside it is refused" states: `New` refuses
   `{/misc.territory[SE].capital} / {/misc.territory[FI].capital}` today, and a choice
@@ -225,6 +227,10 @@ by a `data-import/` script, as README goal 12 asks.
 
 ### Open questions to settle
 
+- Decide whether a route through another row is a second spelling of one result:
+  `city[Oslo].country.name` and `country[NO].name` always render `Norway`, and goal 4
+  refuses a second spelling, while `country[NO]` and `country[Norway]` both select one
+  row today.
 - Decide whether a goal 5 violation joins the comprehension gate's exception list: the
   `{/sel}|{/sel}` panic waits behind the whole round at 5.9, and
   `{/geo.SE.locality}|{/geo.SE.municipality}` mispairs the shipped data meanwhile, though a