Starting from freemarker 2.3.7, you can use this syntax :
${(object.attribute)!}
or, if you want display a default text when the attribute is null :
${(object.attribute)!"some text”}
OR you can use the ?? test operator:
This checks if the attribute of the object is not null:
<#if object.attribute??></#if>
This checks if object or attribute is not null:
<#if (object.attribute)??></#if>
OR you can use the ?has_content operator :
<#if object.attribute?has_content>
Attribute exist!!
</#if>
OR you can use the _exists operator :
<#if_exists object.attribute>
Attribute exists = ${ object.attribute}
</#if_exists>
Use of Freemarker :
Freemarker is being used massively in the Emailing , SMS, Content Feeder and also the View part of the MVC frameworks like Spring.
Maven Dependency :
<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.freemarker/freemarker -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.freemarker</groupId>
<artifactId>freemarker</artifactId>
<version>2.3.23</version>
</dependency>
Happy to help post your query in the blog.