---
title: Mapping AsciiDoc conditionals to Jinja
description: One OpenShift source file serves Enterprise, OKD, ROSA and Dedicated. Translating ifdef to Jinja keeps audience selection a render-time choice instead of baking one variant in.
created: "2026-08-20"
author: Gabriel McGoldrick
tags:
  - topic/asciidoc
  - topic/jinja
---

# Mapping AsciiDoc conditionals to Jinja {#mapping-asciidoc-conditionals-to-jinja}

AsciiDoc conditionals and Jinja conditionals express the same idea, so the translation is mostly direct. A templating-based conversion preserves the ability to produce different documents for different audiences.

:::note{title="AsciiDoc to Markdown — part 5 of 7"}
1. [Migrating AsciiDoc to Markdown](/blog/migrating-asciidoc-to-markdown/)
2. [Why existing AsciiDoc converters lose your structure](/blog/why-existing-converters-lose-structure/)
3. [Why Jinja is the right target](/blog/why-jinja-is-the-right-target/)
4. [Mapping AsciiDoc variables to Jinja](/blog/asciidoc-variables-in-jinja/)
5. **Mapping AsciiDoc conditionals to Jinja** — you are here
6. [Mapping AsciiDoc ifeval to Jinja](/blog/asciidoc-ifeval-in-jinja/)
7. [Mapping AsciiDoc includes and level offsets to Jinja](/blog/asciidoc-includes-in-jinja/)
:::

## Why conditionals exist in the first place {#why-conditionals-exist-in-the-first-place}

One OpenShift source file can serve several products — Enterprise, OKD, ROSA, Dedicated. Differences can be a sentence or an entire section, and they are encoded with `ifdef::`. Rendering for Enterprise produces one document. Rendering for OKD produces another, from the same source.

Markdown has no equivalent construct. A conversion that deletes conditionals either merges content for all audiences or keeps one audience and drops the rest. Translating conditionals to `{% if %}` keeps audience selection as a render-time choice.

## The mapping {#the-mapping}

Jinja maps all AsciiDoc boolean logic directly, using `{% if ... %}` and `{% if not ... %}`:

- AsciiDoc:

  ```asciidoc
  ifndef::openshift-rosa,openshift-rosa-hcp,openshift-telco[]
  Welcome to the official {product-title} {product-version} documentation, where you can learn about {product-title} and start exploring its features.
  endif::openshift-rosa,openshift-rosa-hcp,openshift-telco[]
  ifdef::openshift-rosa,openshift-rosa-hcp[]
  Welcome to the official {product-title} documentation, where you can learn about {product-title} and start exploring its features.
  ifdef::openshift-rosa-hcp[]
  xref:../rosa_architecture/about-hcp.adoc#about-hcp[{product-title} overview].
  endif::openshift-rosa-hcp[]
  endif::openshift-rosa,openshift-rosa-hcp[]
  ```
- Jinja:

  ```jinja
  {%- if not (openshift_rosa or openshift_rosa_hcp or openshift_telco) %}
  Welcome to the official {{ product_title }} {{ product_version }} documentation, where you can learn about {{ product_title }} and start exploring its features.
  {% endif %}
  {% if openshift_rosa or openshift_rosa_hcp %}
  Welcome to the official {{ product_title }} documentation, where you can learn about {{ product_title }} and start exploring its features.
  {%- if openshift_rosa_hcp %}
  [{{ product_title }} overview](../rosa_architecture/about-hcp#about-hcp).
  {% endif %}
  {% endif %}
  ```

Note that the `xref:` becomes an ordinary Markdown link, and the `.adoc` extension goes with it.

## The inline form {#the-inline-form}

AsciiDoc also has an inline conditional, with content on the same line as the directive. It is often used to give one reused module a context-dependent **title**:

- AsciiDoc (`modules/cluster-samples-operator.adoc`):

  ```asciidoc
  ifdef::operator-ref[= Cluster Samples Operator]
  ifdef::cluster-caps[= OpenShift samples capability]
  ```
- Jinja:

  ```jinja
  {% if operator_ref %}
  # Cluster Samples Operator
  {% endif %}
  {% if cluster_caps %}
  # OpenShift samples capability
  {% endif %}
  ```

## The mapping table {#the-mapping-table}

| AsciiDoc | Jinja |
| --- | --- |
| `ifdef::name[]` | `{% if name %}` |
| `ifndef::name[]` | `{% if not name %}` |
| `endif::[]` | `{% endif %}` |
| `a,b,c` (comma list) | `a or b or c` (any-of) |
| `a+b+c` (plus list) | `a and b and c` (all-of) |

The comma and plus lists are the two people get wrong. A comma is **or**; a plus is **and**.

Reference: [OpenShift welcome page](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openshift/openshift-docs/refs/heads/main/welcome/index.adoc)

Next: [mapping AsciiDoc ifeval to Jinja](/blog/asciidoc-ifeval-in-jinja/).