diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metanorma/stepmod2mn.java b/src/main/java/com/metanorma/stepmod2mn.java
index 4ab8483..06c46d2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/metanorma/stepmod2mn.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metanorma/stepmod2mn.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
  */
 public class stepmod2mn {
 
-    static final String CMD = "java -jar stepmod2mn.jar <resource_xml_file> [options -o or -v]";        
+    static final String CMD = "java -jar stepmod2mn.jar <resource_xml_file> [options -o, -v, -b <path>]";
     static final String CMD_SVGscope = "java -jar stepmod2mn.jar <start folder to process xml maps files> --svg";
     static final String CMD_SVG = "java -jar stepmod2mn.jar --xml <Express Imagemap XML file path> --image <Image file name> [--svg <resulted SVG map file or folder>] [-v]";
     
@@ -121,7 +121,13 @@ public class stepmod2mn {
                     .desc("output file name")
                     .hasArg()
                     .required(false)
-                    .build());  
+                    .build());
+            addOption(Option.builder("b")
+                    .longOpt("boilerplatepath")
+                    .desc("path to boilerplate text storage folder")
+                    .hasArg()
+                    .required(false)
+                    .build());
             addOption(Option.builder("v")
                     .longOpt("version")
                     .desc("display application version")
@@ -140,6 +146,8 @@ public class stepmod2mn {
     
     String resourcePath = "";
     
+    String boilerplatePath = "";
+    
     /**
      * Main method.
      *
@@ -245,6 +253,11 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ParseException {
                     outFileName = cmd.getOptionValue("output");
                 }
 
+                String boilerplatePath = "";
+                if (cmd.hasOption("boilerplatepath")) {
+                    boilerplatePath = cmd.getOptionValue("boilerplatepath") + File.separator;
+                }
+                
                 // if remote file (http or https)
                 if (argXMLin.toLowerCase().startsWith("http") || argXMLin.toLowerCase().startsWith("www.")) {
 
@@ -300,6 +313,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ParseException {
                 try {
                     stepmod2mn app = new stepmod2mn();
                     app.setResourcePath(resourcePath);
+                    app.setBoilerplatePath(boilerplatePath);
                     app.convertstepmod2mn(argXMLin, fileOut);                    
                     System.out.println("End!");
 
@@ -360,6 +374,7 @@ private void convertstepmod2mn(String xmlFilePath, File fileOut) throws IOExcept
             transformer.setParameter("docfile", bibdataFileName);
             transformer.setParameter("pathSeparator", File.separator);
             transformer.setParameter("path", resourcePath);
+            transformer.setParameter("boilerplate_path", boilerplatePath);
 
             transformer.setParameter("debug", DEBUG);
 
@@ -425,7 +440,11 @@ private static void printVersion(boolean print) {
     public void setResourcePath(String resourcePath) {
         this.resourcePath = resourcePath;
     }
- 
+    
+    public void setBoilerplatePath(String boilerplatePath) {
+        this.boilerplatePath = boilerplatePath;
+    }
+    
     private String processLinearizedXML(String xmlFilePath){
         try {
             InputStream xmlInputStream = null;
diff --git a/src/main/resources/stepmod.base_xsl/res_doc/sect_4_express.xsl b/src/main/resources/stepmod.base_xsl/res_doc/sect_4_express.xsl
index 880069d..2909b6f 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/stepmod.base_xsl/res_doc/sect_4_express.xsl
+++ b/src/main/resources/stepmod.base_xsl/res_doc/sect_4_express.xsl
@@ -873,7 +873,8 @@
             <xsl:with-param name="identifier" select="'SC4_xxxx'"/>
             <!-- Example: Put boilerplate for type select, see https://github.com/metanorma/iso-tc184-sc4-directives/blob/master/supplementary-directives.adoc -->
             <xsl:with-param name="text"></xsl:with-param>
-            <xsl:with-param name="file">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/metanorma/stepmod2mn/master/src/main/resources/empty.adoc</xsl:with-param>
+            <!-- Example /src/main/resources/empty.adoc -->
+            <xsl:with-param name="file"></xsl:with-param>
           </xsl:call-template>
         </xsl:if>
     </xsl:if>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/stepmod2mn.adoc.xsl b/src/main/resources/stepmod2mn.adoc.xsl
index 352261c..88fdc82 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/stepmod2mn.adoc.xsl
+++ b/src/main/resources/stepmod2mn.adoc.xsl
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
 	<xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>
 			
 	<xsl:param name="path"/>
+  
+	<xsl:param name="boilerplate_path"/>
 	
 	<!-- placeholders, global variables -->
 	<xsl:variable name="FILE_EXT" select="'.xml'"/>
@@ -656,15 +658,23 @@
 		<xsl:param name="identifier"/>
 		<xsl:param name="text"/>
 		<xsl:param name="file"/>
-		<xsl:text>[</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$folder"/><xsl:text>:</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$identifier"/><xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
-		<xsl:text>&#xa;</xsl:text>
-    <xsl:copy-of select="$text"/>
-    <xsl:if test="normalize-space($file) != ''">
-      <xsl:copy-of select="java:com.metanorma.Util.getFileContent($file)"/>
-    </xsl:if>
-		<xsl:text>&#xa;</xsl:text>
-		<xsl:text>[end_</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$folder"/><xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
-		<xsl:text>&#xa;&#xa;</xsl:text>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="normalize-space($text) != '' or normalize-space($file) != ''">
+        <xsl:text>[</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$folder"/><xsl:text>:</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$identifier"/><xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
+        <xsl:text>&#xa;</xsl:text>
+        <xsl:copy-of select="$text"/>
+        <xsl:if test="normalize-space($file) != ''">
+          <xsl:copy-of select="java:com.metanorma.Util.getFileContent(concat($boilerplate_path, $file))"/>
+        </xsl:if>
+        <xsl:text>&#xa;</xsl:text>
+        <xsl:text>[end_</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$folder"/><xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
+        <xsl:text>&#xa;&#xa;</xsl:text>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:text>Error: boilerplate text is empty.</xsl:text>
+        <xsl:text>&#xa;&#xa;</xsl:text>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
 	</xsl:template>
 	
 	<xsl:template match="b" mode="text">