Template Syntax Reference¶

This is a complete reference guide for Templify's template syntax. Use this as a quick lookup when creating templates.

Table of Contents¶

Placeholders
Conditionals
Loops
Operators
Format Specifiers
Loop Variables
Markdown Formatting
Line Breaks in Data

Placeholders¶

Placeholders are replaced with data from your JSON file. They're wrapped in double curly braces: {{...}}

Simple Placeholder¶

{{VariableName}}

JSON:

{
  "CustomerName": "Alice Johnson"
}

Template:

Customer: {{CustomerName}}

Output:

Customer: Alice Johnson

Nested Properties (Dot Notation)¶

Access nested data using dots (.):

{{Parent.Child.Property}}

JSON:

{
  "Customer": {
    "Name": "Bob Smith",
    "Address": {
      "City": "New York",
      "Zip": "10001"
    }
  }
}

Template:

Name: {{Customer.Name}}
City: {{Customer.Address.City}}
ZIP: {{Customer.Address.Zip}}

Array Indexing¶

Access specific array items by index (starting at 0):

{{ArrayName[Index]}}
{{ArrayName[0].Property}}

JSON:

{
  "Colors": ["Red", "Green", "Blue"],
  "Users": [
    { "Name": "Alice", "Age": 25 },
    { "Name": "Bob", "Age": 30 }
  ]
}

Template:

First color: {{Colors[0]}}
Second user: {{Users[1].Name}}, age {{Users[1].Age}}

Case Sensitivity¶

JSON keys are case-sensitive. {{Name}} and {{name}} are different. Always match the exact case used in your JSON data.

Placeholder Name Rules¶

No spaces inside the braces: {{Name}} works, {{ Name }} is left unchanged.
Names and keys may contain letters, digits and underscores (_). Dots separate levels, square brackets index arrays or dictionaries ({{Items[0]}}, {{Settings[Theme]}}).
Keys with spaces, hyphens or other special characters ("first-name", "My Key") cannot be used in placeholders, not even in brackets. Rename them in your data.
{{.}} or {{this}} refers to the current item inside a loop.

Conditionals¶

Conditionals let you show or hide content based on data values.

Block markers go in their own paragraphs. When {{#if}}, {{#elseif}}, {{#else}} and {{/if}} are in separate paragraphs, each marker paragraph is removed completely, including any other text in it. When all markers of a conditional are in one paragraph, only that part of the paragraph changes (an inline conditional): Dear {{#if IsVip}}valued {{/if}}customer.

Basic Conditional¶

{{#if VariableName}}
  Content to show if true
{{/if}}

JSON:

{
  "IsVIP": true
}

Template:

{{#if IsVIP}}
Thank you for being a VIP member!
{{/if}}

Conditional with Else¶

{{#if Condition}}
  Content when true
{{#else}}
  Content when false
{{/if}}

JSON:

{
  "Status": "Active"
}

Template:

{{#if Status = "Active"}}
Your account is active.
{{#else}}
Your account is inactive.
{{/if}}

Conditional with ElseIf¶

Use {{#elseif}} for multiple conditions:

{{#if Condition1}}
  Content for condition 1
{{#elseif Condition2}}
  Content for condition 2
{{#elseif Condition3}}
  Content for condition 3
{{#else}}
  Default content
{{/if}}

JSON:

{
  "Score": 75
}

Template:

{{#if Score >= 90}}
Grade: A
{{#elseif Score >= 80}}
Grade: B
{{#elseif Score >= 70}}
Grade: C
{{#else}}
Grade: F
{{/if}}

Output:

Grade: C

Note: The {{#else}} branch must always be last.

Conditional with Comparisons¶

{{#if Variable operator Value}}
  Content
{{/if}}

Template:

{{#if Age >= 18}}
You are an adult.
{{/if}}

{{#if Score > 90}}
Excellent!
{{#else}}
Keep trying!
{{/if}}

Multiple Conditions¶

Use and or or to combine conditions:

{{#if Condition1 and Condition2}}
  Both are true
{{/if}}

{{#if Condition1 or Condition2}}
  At least one is true
{{/if}}

JSON:

{
  "Age": 25,
  "HasLicense": true,
  "Country": "USA"
}

Template:

{{#if Age >= 18 and HasLicense}}
You can rent a car.
{{/if}}

{{#if Country = "USA" or Country = "Canada"}}
North American customer
{{/if}}

Negation¶

Use not to negate a condition:

{{#if not IsExpired}}
  Subscription is active
{{/if}}

{{#if not (Age < 18)}}
  You are an adult
{{/if}}

Loops¶

Loops repeat content for each item in an array.

Basic Loop¶

{{#foreach ArrayName}}
  Content to repeat
{{/foreach}}

JSON:

{
  "Products": [
    { "Name": "Widget", "Price": 10 },
    { "Name": "Gadget", "Price": 20 }
  ]
}

Template:

Product List:

{{#foreach Products}}
- {{Name}}: ${{Price}}
{{/foreach}}

Output:

Product List:

- Widget: $10
- Gadget: $20

Nested Loops¶

You can nest loops within each other:

JSON:

{
  "Departments": [
    {
      "Name": "Sales",
      "Employees": [
        { "Name": "Alice" },
        { "Name": "Bob" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "Name": "Engineering",
      "Employees": [
        { "Name": "Charlie" },
        { "Name": "Diana" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Template:

{{#foreach Departments}}
Department: {{Name}}
{{#foreach Employees}}
  - {{Name}}
{{/foreach}}

{{/foreach}}

Loop Markers Need Their Own Paragraphs¶

A loop repeats whole paragraphs (or table rows). Put {{#foreach}} and {{/foreach}} in their own paragraphs, above and below the content. The marker paragraphs are removed, including any other text in them. A loop whose markers are both in one paragraph ({{#foreach Tags}}{{.}}, {{/foreach}}) does not produce any output; to show a list on one line, prepare the joined text in your data (e.g. "TagList": "red, green, blue").

Loops in Tables¶

Loops can repeat table rows. Put {{#foreach}} and {{/foreach}} in their own rows, above and below the row(s) to repeat:

Template (in Word table):

Product	Price
{{#foreach Items}}
{{Name}}	${{Price}}
{{/foreach}}

The rows between the marker rows are repeated for each item; the marker rows themselves are removed.

Note: The loop markers must not share a row with the content to repeat. Putting {{#foreach}} in the first cell and {{/foreach}} in the last cell of the same row is an error (processing fails). A loop whose {{#foreach}} and {{/foreach}} are both inside one cell (in separate paragraphs) repeats paragraphs inside that cell instead.

Conditional Table Rows¶

Table rows can be shown or hidden with {{#if}} / {{#elseif}} / {{#else}} / {{/if}} markers in their own rows:

Item	Amount
Subtotal	{{Subtotal}}
{{#if HasDiscount}}
Discount	{{Discount}}
{{/if}}
Total	{{Total}}

Marker rows are removed; the rows of the matching branch are kept, all other branch rows are removed. Conditional rows also work inside table row loops (evaluated per item). If every row of a table is removed, the table is removed as well.

Operators¶

Comparison Operators¶

Operator	Meaning	Example
`=` or `==`	Equal to	`{{#if Status = "Active"}}`
`!=`	Not equal to	`{{#if Status != "Pending"}}`
`>`	Greater than	`{{#if Age > 18}}`
`<`	Less than	`{{#if Price < 100}}`
`>=`	Greater than or equal	`{{#if Score >= 90}}`
`<=`	Less than or equal	`{{#if Stock <= 10}}`

Logical Operators¶

Operator	Meaning	Example
`and`	Both conditions true	`{{#if Age >= 18 and HasLicense}}`
`or`	At least one true	`{{#if IsVIP or IsPremium}}`
`not`	Negates condition	`{{#if not IsExpired}}`

Membership, String, and Existence Operators¶

Operator	Meaning	Example
`in`	Value is in a collection, list literal, or comma-separated string	`{{#if Role in Roles}}`, `{{#if Role in ("Admin", "Editor")}}`
`contains`	Substring check (case-sensitive); on a list: membership	`{{#if Description contains "urgent"}}`, `{{#if Tags contains "urgent"}}`
`startswith`	Prefix check (case-sensitive; always false on a list)	`{{#if Code startswith "US-"}}`
`endswith`	Suffix check (case-sensitive; always false on a list)	`{{#if FileName endswith ".pdf"}}`
`exists`	Variable is present, even if null	`{{#if Notes exists}}`
`is empty`	Missing, null, blank, or an empty collection	`{{#if Notes is empty}}`
`is not empty`	Has a value	`{{#if Notes is not empty}}`

Negate in with not: {{#if not Role in Roles}}.

Word operators (and, or, not, in, contains, ...) are case-insensitive (AND works too). &&, ||, ===, <> and eq/ne/gt/... are not operators: a condition that uses them cannot be parsed, is treated as false and produces an ExpressionFailed warning.

Operator Precedence¶

From loosest to tightest binding:

Level	Operators
1 (loosest)	`or`
2	`and`
3	`not`
4	Comparisons (`=`, `==`, `!=`, `>`, `<`, `>=`, `<=`), `in`, `contains`, `startswith`, `endswith`
5 (tightest)	`exists`, `is empty`, `is not empty` (written after the value)

Parentheses () group explicitly and always win.

and binds tighter than or: A or B and C means A or (B and C).
not binds looser than comparisons: not Status = "Active" means not (Status = "Active"), and not Role in Roles means not (Role in Roles).
not binds tighter than and/or: not A and B means (not A) and B.

Example:

{{#if (Age > 18 or HasParent) and not IsBanned}}
  Can enter
{{/if}}

Format Specifiers¶

Format specifiers control how values are displayed. Add them after a colon (:) in the placeholder.

Basic Syntax¶

{{VariableName:format}}

Common Formats¶

Format	Description	Example Input	Example Output
`:uppercase`	Convert to UPPERCASE	"hello"	HELLO
`:lowercase`	Convert to lowercase	"HELLO"	hello
`:yesno`	true/false → Yes/No	true	Yes
`:raw`	Insert text without markdown	"my_file.docx"	my_file.docx
`:checkbox`	true/false → ☑/☐	false	☐
`:number:N2`	Format number with 2 decimals	1234.5	1,234.50
`:currency`	Format as currency (en-US culture)	1234.5	$1,234.50
`:date:yyyy-MM-dd`	Format date	(date value)	2024-01-15

Examples¶

JSON:

{
  "CustomerName": "alice johnson",
  "IsActive": true,
  "HasDiscount": false,
  "Price": 1234.567,
  "OrderDate": "2024-01-15"
}

Template:

Name: {{CustomerName:uppercase}}
Status: {{IsActive:yesno}}
Discount: {{HasDiscount:checkbox}}
Price: {{Price:currency}}
Date: {{OrderDate:date:MMMM d, yyyy}}

Output (en-US culture):

Name: ALICE JOHNSON
Status: Yes
Discount: ☐
Price: $1,234.57
Date: January 15, 2024

Each specifier applies to one kind of value (text, boolean, number or date); on other values it is ignored. Numbers stored as text ("Price": "1234.5") are not formatted by :currency or :number.

For more format specifier details, see Format Specifiers Guide.

Loop Variables¶

Special variables available inside loops (only there: outside a loop, {{@count}} is not replaced; in nested loops they refer to the innermost loop):

`{{@index}}`¶

The current loop iteration index (starts at 0):

Template:

{{#foreach Items}}
Item {{@index}}: {{Name}}
{{/foreach}}

Output:

Item 0: Widget
Item 1: Gadget
Item 2: Doohickey

`{{@number}}`¶

The current item number (starts at 1, i.e. @index + 1; since 1.8.0):

Template:

{{#foreach Items}}
{{@number}}. {{Name}}
{{/foreach}}

Output:

1. Widget
2. Gadget
3. Doohickey

`{{@first}}`¶

True if this is the first iteration:

Template:

{{#foreach Items}}
{{#if @first}}
*** FIRST ITEM ***
{{/if}}
{{Name}}
{{/foreach}}

`{{@last}}`¶

True if this is the last iteration:

Template:

{{#foreach Items}}
{{Name}}{{#if not @last}},{{/if}}
{{/foreach}}

Output (one paragraph per item):

Widget,
Gadget,
Doohickey

`{{@count}}`¶

Total number of items in the loop:

Template:

{{#foreach Items}}
Processing item {{@index}} of {{@count}}...
{{/foreach}}

Output:

Processing item 0 of 3...
Processing item 1 of 3...
Processing item 2 of 3...

Markdown Formatting¶

Apply formatting to text using markdown syntax in your JSON data:

Bold¶

{
  "Message": "This is **bold** text"
}

Or use underscores:

{
  "Message": "This is __bold__ text"
}

Italic¶

{
  "Message": "This is *italic* text"
}

Or use underscores:

{
  "Message": "This is _italic_ text"
}

Strikethrough¶

{
  "Message": "This is ~~strikethrough~~ text"
}

Bold + Italic¶

{
  "Message": "This is ***bold and italic*** text"
}

Combining with Template Formatting¶

The markdown formatting is merged with the template's formatting. If your template has red text, and you add **bold** in the data, the output will be red bold text.

Turning Markdown Off¶

Values such as my_report_final.docx or 2*3*4 contain markdown characters. Use {{FileName:raw}} to insert a value literally; developers can switch markdown off for all placeholders with the EnableMarkdown = false option.

Line Breaks in Data¶

Newline characters in your JSON data are automatically converted to line breaks in Word:

{
  "Address": "123 Main Street\nApartment 4B\nNew York, NY 10001"
}

Supported formats: - \n - Unix/Linux/macOS - \r\n - Windows - \r - Legacy Mac

Combining with Markdown¶

Line breaks work together with markdown formatting:

{
  "Steps": "**Step 1:** Download\n**Step 2:** Install\n**Step 3:** Run"
}

Output will have three lines, each with bold text for "Step X:".

Special Characters¶

Literal Curly Braces¶

To include literal {{ or }} in your document without creating a placeholder, there's currently no escape mechanism. Best practice: avoid using {{ in your document text unless it's a placeholder.

Whitespace¶

Templify preserves the whitespace of your content paragraphs:

{{#if IsActive}}
  This line is indented
{{/if}}

The marker paragraphs are removed; the content paragraph keeps its indentation.

Quick Syntax Summary¶

Feature	Syntax	Example
Placeholder	`{{Name}}`	`{{CustomerName}}`
Nested	`{{Parent.Child}}`	`{{Customer.Address.City}}`
Array	`{{Array[0]}}`	`{{Colors[0]}}`
If	`{{#if ...}}...{{/if}}`	`{{#if IsActive}}...{{/if}}`
If/Else	`{{#if ...}}...{{#else}}...{{/if}}`	See above
If/ElseIf	`{{#if ...}}...{{#elseif ...}}...{{/if}}`	See above
Loop	`{{#foreach ...}}...{{/foreach}}`	`{{#foreach Items}}...{{/foreach}}`
Format	`{{Name:format}}`	`{{Price:currency}}`
Loop Index	`{{@index}}`	`{{@index}}`
Loop Number	`{{@number}}`	`{{@number}}.`
Loop First	`{{@first}}`	`{{#if @first}}...{{/if}}`
Loop Last	`{{@last}}`	`{{#if @last}}...{{/if}}`
Loop Count	`{{@count}}`	`{{@count}}`
Current item	`{{.}}` or `{{this}}`	`{{#foreach Tags}}`…`{{.}}`…`{{/foreach}}`
Inline expression	`{{(expression)}}`	`{{(Age >= 18):yesno}}`

Common Patterns¶

Numbered List¶

{{#foreach Items}}
{{@number}}. {{Name}}
{{/foreach}}

List With Separators¶

{{#foreach Tags}}
{{.}}{{#if not @last}};{{/if}}
{{/foreach}}

Each item is its own paragraph. For a list on a single line, provide the joined text in your data.

Conditional with Multiple Checks¶

{{#if Age >= 18 and HasLicense and not IsSuspended}}
Eligible to drive
{{/if}}

Nested Conditionals¶

{{#if IsLoggedIn}}
  {{#if IsPremium}}
    Premium content
  {{#else}}
    Regular content
  {{/if}}
{{#else}}
  Please log in
{{/if}}

Table with Conditional Rows¶

Product	Price	Status
{{#foreach Products}}
{{#if InStock}}
{{Name}}	{{Price}}	Available
{{#else}}
{{Name}}	{{Price}}	Out of Stock
{{/if}}
{{/foreach}}

For a single differing cell, an inline conditional inside the cell is simpler: | {{Name}} | {{Price}} | {{#if InStock}}Available{{#else}}Out of Stock{{/if}} |

Best Practices¶

Match case exactly - {{Name}} must match "Name" in JSON
Test with simple data first - Start with basic JSON and gradually add complexity
Use meaningful names - {{CustomerFirstName}} is better than {{N1}}
Validate JSON - Use jsonlint.com to check JSON syntax
Comment your templates - Add notes in Word comments about complex logic (comments are not processed, so placeholders in them stay as they are)
Keep conditionals simple - Break complex logic into multiple simpler conditionals

Next Steps¶

Placeholders Guide - Deep dive into placeholder usage
Conditionals Guide - Detailed conditional examples
Loops Guide - Advanced loop techniques
Format Specifiers - Complete formatting reference
Examples Gallery - Real-world template examples

Quick Troubleshooting¶

Problem	Solution
Placeholder not replaced	Check that JSON key matches exactly (case-sensitive) and there are no spaces inside the braces
Conditional not working	Verify operator syntax and value types
Loop not repeating	Ensure JSON has an array for the loop variable and the markers are in their own paragraphs
Formatting not applied	Check format specifier syntax: `{{Value:format}}`
Syntax error	Validate JSON at jsonlint.com
Missing data	Check for typos in placeholder names

For more help, see Best Practices or FAQ.

Template Syntax Reference¶

Table of Contents¶

Placeholders¶

Simple Placeholder¶

Nested Properties (Dot Notation)¶

Array Indexing¶

Case Sensitivity¶

Placeholder Name Rules¶

Conditionals¶

Basic Conditional¶

Conditional with Else¶

Conditional with ElseIf¶

Conditional with Comparisons¶

Multiple Conditions¶

Negation¶

Loops¶

Basic Loop¶

Nested Loops¶

Loop Markers Need Their Own Paragraphs¶

Loops in Tables¶

Conditional Table Rows¶

Operators¶

Comparison Operators¶

Logical Operators¶

Membership, String, and Existence Operators¶

Operator Precedence¶

Format Specifiers¶

Basic Syntax¶

Common Formats¶

Examples¶

Loop Variables¶

{{@index}}¶

{{@number}}¶

{{@first}}¶

{{@last}}¶

{{@count}}¶

Markdown Formatting¶

Bold¶

Italic¶

Strikethrough¶

Bold + Italic¶

Combining with Template Formatting¶

Turning Markdown Off¶

Line Breaks in Data¶

Combining with Markdown¶

Special Characters¶

Literal Curly Braces¶

Whitespace¶

Quick Syntax Summary¶

Common Patterns¶

Numbered List¶

List With Separators¶

Conditional with Multiple Checks¶

Nested Conditionals¶

Table with Conditional Rows¶

Best Practices¶

Next Steps¶

Quick Troubleshooting¶

`{{@index}}`¶

`{{@number}}`¶

`{{@first}}`¶

`{{@last}}`¶

`{{@count}}`¶