The format.wwfmt file defines all of the steps necessary to create output, and the relationships that each of these steps has to one another. These steps, called “stages” are grouped in “pipelines” of related stages. When every stage of every pipeline has been executed, the ePublisher Designer engine output is complete. There is no preconceived order in which pipelines fire; the ePublisher Designer engine calculates at run time the order in which each pipeline will fire. Users may create or delete pipelines, add or delete stages, or insert a <Depends /> element that will dictates when a stage or pipeline is executed.