---
source: https://carbone.io/documentation/design/conditions/smart-conditions.html
title: "Show or hide an entire table, paragraph, ..., row, column with one simple Carbone tag"
description: "Show or hide an entire table, paragraph, ...,  row, column with one simple Carbone tag"
generated_at: "2026-07-13"
---

# Smart conditional blocks

Show or hide an entire table, paragraph, ..., row, column with one simple Carbone tag  
ENTERPRISE FEATURE Available for:  
✓ Carbone Cloud  
✓ Carbone On-premise  
✗ Embedded Carbone JS   v4.0+ 

## Why is it smart?

Why should you use smart conditional blocks instead of `hideBegin/hideEnd` or `showBegin/showEnd` or array filters?

-   Shorter syntax: You only need to write one Carbone tag instead of two (Begin + End).
-   Simpler to use: In some situations, it can be tricky to place hideBegin/hideEnd formatters in the document, such as when hiding a row of a table.
-   Cleaner output: The targeted element is removed without leaving whitespace.

> ℹ️ **Note:** Compatible with DOCX, ODT, ODS, ODP, XLSX, PPTX, and HTML templates.

> ℹ️ **Note:** A Carbone tag using `:drop` or `:keep` does not print anything in the generated report. The tag is removed when executed.

## :drop/:keep(element)

Use the `:drop` formatter to remove elements from a document if the specified condition is true.  
The `:keep` formatter works oppositely. It retains elements if the condition is true.

| Element | Description | Accepted tag position |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `row` | Drop or keep a table row | In a table row |
| `col` | Drop or keep an entire table column | In any cell of the target column |
| `p` | Drop or keep a paragraph | Within a paragraph |
| `img` | Drop or keep an image | Image title, description, or alt text |
| `table` | Drop or keep a table | Inside a table cell |
| `chart` | Drop or keep a chart | Alternative text of the chart |
| `shape` | Drop or keep a shape | Title, description, or alt text |
| `slide` | Drop or keep a slide | Inside a text box (**ODP** only) |
| `item` | Drop or keep a list item | Within a list item (**ODP/ODT** only) |
| `sheet` | Drop or keep a sheet | Inside a table cell (**ODS** only) |
| `h` | Drop or keep a heading or custom style element | Applies within the heading element (**ODT** only) |
| `div` | Drop or keep a div block | Within a div element (**HTML** only) |
| `span` | Drop or keep a span element | Within a span element (**HTML** only) |

A second parameter can be used with `p` and `row` to drop or keep the next **N** paragraphs or rows. This is not supported for `col`. Example:

-   `{d.text:ifEM:drop(p, 3)}`: Drops the current paragraph and the next two paragraphs if `d.text` is empty.
-   `{d.text:ifEM:drop(row, 3)}`: Drops the current row and the next two rows if `d.text` is empty.

**Known limitation:**

-   `ODS` templates only support dropping/keeping `col`, `row`, `img`, and `sheet`.
-   `XLSX` templates only support dropping/keeping `row` and `col`.
-   `PPTX` templates only support dropping/keeping `col`, `row`, `img`, `p`, `shape`, `chart`, and `table`.
-   `HTML` templates only support dropping/keeping `table`, `col`, `row`, `p`, `div`, and `span`.

## Examples

_Drop rows of the table if an item name contains 'Falcon':_

```cdata
[
  { "name": "Falcon 9" },
  { "name": "Model S" },
  { "name": "Model 3" },
  { "name": "Falcon Heavy" }
]
```

**Template:**

| Planes |
| --- |
| {d[i].name}{d[i].name:ifIN('Falcon'):drop(row)} |
| {d[i+1].name} |

**Result:**

| Planes |
| --- |
| Model S |
| Model 3 |

_Delete the entire table if the array length is lower than 6:_

```cdata
[
  { "name": "Bob" }
]
```

**Template:**

| Planes {d:len:ifLT(6):drop(table)} |
| --- |
| {d[i].name} |
| {d[i+1].name} |

```cresult

```

_Drop an entire column if a field is empty:_

```cdata
{ "showDiscount": false, "items": [
  { "name": "Falcon 9",    "price": 1000, "discount": 100 },
  { "name": "Model S",     "price": 800,  "discount": 0   }
]}
```

**Template:**

| Product | Price | Discount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| {d.items[i].name} | {d.items[i].price} | {d.showDiscount:ifEQ(false):drop(col)} {d.items[i].discount} |
| {d.items[i+1].name} | {d.items[i+1].price} |   |

**Result:**

| Product | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Falcon 9 | 1000 |
| Model S | 800 |

**Best practices:**

-   Place the marker in any single row — Carbone detects the column and applies the condition to all rows automatically.
-   Only one `drop(col)` per column is allowed — do not repeat the marker in other rows of the same column.
-   Nested tables inside cells of the same row are not affected.

**Limitations:**

-   Merged cells are not supported (planned).

## Tutorials

-   [Tutorial to drop paragraphs](https://help.carbone.io/en-us/article/how-to-hide-a-paragraph-conditionally-1ocoem4/?bust=1662368759940)
-   [Tutorial to drop table rows](https://help.carbone.io/en-us/article/how-to-hide-a-table-row-conditionally-dqqf22/)
-   [Tutorial to drop images with MS Word or LibreOffice](https://help.carbone.io/en-us/article/how-to-hide-an-image-if-it-is-emptyblank-f09687/)
-   [Tutorial to drop charts](https://help.carbone.io/en-us/article/how-to-hide-charts-conditionally-miaavk/)

Get inspired by one of our real-life examples: [EditorJS JSON output from HTML WYSIWYG Tool to PDF document](/examples/editorjs/index.md)

## Related topics

- [Conditions](/documentation/design/conditions/overview.md)
- [Inline Conditions](/documentation/design/conditions/inline-conditions.md)
- [Conditional blocks](/documentation/design/conditions/conditional-blocks.md)