Conditionals

Statements like if and unless are implemented as built-in helpers. Helpers can be invoked three ways, each of which is illustrated below with conditionals.

The first style of invocation is inline invocation. This looks similar to displaying a property, but helpers accept arguments. For example:

<div>
  {{if isFast "zoooom" "putt-putt-putt"}}
</div>

{{if}} in this case returns "zoooom" when isFast is true and "putt-putt-putt" when isFast is false. Helpers invoked as inline expressions render a single value, the same way that properties are a single value.

Inline helpers don't need to be used inside HTML tags. They can also be used inside attribute values:

<div class="is-car {{if isFast "zoooom" "putt-putt-putt"}}">
</div>

Nested invocation is another way to use a helper. Just like inline helpers, nested helpers generate and return a single value. For example, this template only renders "zoooom" if both isFast and isFueled are true:

<div>
  {{if isFast (if isFueled "zoooom")}}
</div>

The nested helper is called first returning "zoooom" only if isFueled is true. Then the inline expression is called, rendering the nested helper's value ("zoooom") only if isFast is true.

The third form of helper usage is block invocation. Use block helpers to render only part of a template. Block invocation of a helper can be recognized by the # before the helper name, and the closing {{/ double curly brace at the end of the invocation.

For example, this template conditionally shows properties on person only if that it is present:

{{#if person}}
  Welcome back, <b>{{person.firstName}} {{person.lastName}}</b>!
{{/if}}

{{if}} checks for truthiness, which means all values except false, undefined, null, '', 0 or [] (i.e., any JavaScript falsy value or an empty array).

If a value passed to {{#if}} evaluates to falsy, the {{else}} block of that invocation is rendered:

{{#if person}}
  Welcome back, <b>{{person.firstName}} {{person.lastName}}</b>!
{{else}}
  Please log in.
{{/if}}

{{else}} can chain helper invocation, the most common usecase for this being {{else if}}:

{{#if isAtWork}}
  Ship that code!
{{else if isReading}}
  You can finish War and Peace eventually...
{{/if}}

The inverse of {{if}} is {{unless}}, which can be used in the same three styles of invocation. For example, this template only shows an amount due when the user has not paid:

{{#unless hasPaid}}
  You owe: ${{total}}
{{/unless}}