if, else, elseif

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Synopsis

<#if condition>
  ...
<#elseif condition2>
  ...
<#elseif condition3>
  ...
...
<#else>
  ...
</#if>

Where:

  • condition, condition2, ...etc.: Expression evaluates to a boolean value.

The elseif-s and the else are optional.

Camel case name variant: elseIf

Description

You can use if, elseif and else directives to conditionally skip a section of the template. The condition-s must evaluate to a boolean value, or else an error will abort template processing. The elseif-s and else-s must occur inside if (that is, between the if start-tag and end-tag). The if can contain any number of elseif-s (including 0) and at the end optionally one else. Examples:

if with 0 elseif and no else:

Template
<#if x == 1>
  x is 1
</#if>

if with 0 elseif and else:

Template
<#if x == 1>
  x is 1
<#else>
  x is not 1
</#if>

if with 2 elseif and no else:

Template
<#if x == 1>
  x is 1
<#elseif x == 2>
  x is 2
<#elseif x == 3>
  x is 3
</#if>

if with 3 elseif and else:

Template
<#if x == 1>
  x is 1
<#elseif x == 2>
  x is 2
<#elseif x == 3>
  x is 3
<#elseif x == 4>
  x is 4
<#else>
  x is not 1 nor 2 nor 3 nor 4
</#if>

To see more about boolean expressions, see: Template Author's Guide/The Template/Expressions.

You can nest if directives (of course):

Template
<#if x == 1>
  x is 1
  <#if y == 1>
    and y is 1 too
  <#else>
    but y is not
  </#if>
<#else>
  x is not 1
  <#if y < 0>
    and y is less than 0
  </#if>
</#if>
Note:

When you want to test if x > 0 or x >= 0, writing <#if x > 0> and <#if x >= 0> is WRONG, as the first > will close the #if tag. To work that around, write <#if x gt 0> or <#if gte 0>. Also note that if the comparison occurs inside parentheses, you will have no such problem, like <#if foo.bar(x > 0)> works as expected.