AMPscript help for using DataObject repeat for alternating content blocks

Question

I have an Order Confirmation email that lists out the order items. The DE for the email send has a text field for the order items, which stores a json array of the items, as below:

[
{"ProductImageUrl":"www.xyz.com/productaimage","ProductName":"Product A","ProductPrice":"$20"},
{"ProductImageUrl":"www.xyz.com/productbimage","ProductName":"Product B","ProductPrice":"$30"},
{"ProductImageUrl":"www.xyz.com/productcimage","ProductName":"Product C","ProductPrice":"$40"},
{"ProductImageUrl":"www.xyz.com/productdimage","ProductName":"Product D","ProductPrice":"$50"}
]

AMPscript using DataObject parses these out into items to be repeated in the email. All is working fine.

Importantly I am using a pre-built custom content block for the repeat, which is referenced within the #each tags. This content block has the image on the left and text details on the right:

Current state:

{{#each ItemsData}} 
    
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
    
{{/each}}

Which is effectively this:

%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%

Which renders like...

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT A IMAGE | Product A Name   |
|                 | Product A Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT B IMAGE | Product B Name   |
|                 | Product B Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT C IMAGE | Product C Name   |
|                 | Product C Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT D IMAGE | Product D Name   |
|                 | Product D Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

However, I now want to use two blocks, where the second one is reversed (ie text details on the left and image on the right) - basically the list of products alternates between block A and block B, so on. Eg:

{{#each ItemsData}} 
    
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("5678")=%%
    
{{/each}} 

Which is effectively this:

%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("5678")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
%%=ContentBlockById("5678")=%%

To render this:

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT A IMAGE | Product A Name   |
|                 | Product A Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| Product B Name  | PRODUCT B IMAGE  |
| Product B Price |                  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| PRODUCT C IMAGE | Product C Name   |
|                 | Product C Price  |
|_________________|__________________|

 ____________________________________
|                 |                  |
| Product D Name  | PRODUCT D IMAGE  |
| Product D Price |                  |
|_________________|__________________|

Is this possible to do using my current setup? I'm not sure how to approach this. I have a feeling I might need to count rows and then check for an odd/even rowCount number, but hoping there is an easier way.

Thanks

Answer 1

I'd count the rows as you suggested -- then you can alternate them using the mod AMPscript function:

%%[ set @count = 0 ]%%

{{#each ItemsData}} 

  %%[ set @count = add(@count,1) ]%%

  %%[ if mod(@count,2) == 0 then ]%%

    %%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%
    %%=ContentBlockById("5678")=%%

  %%[ else ]%%

    %%=ContentBlockById("5678")=%%
    %%=ContentBlockById("1234")=%%

  %%[ endif ]%%

{{/each}} 

I echo @Rafel's sentiment -- I avoid GTL for limitations such as this. If it's a JSON payload I'm using SSJS.

Update

Here's my test:

%%[

set @json = '[{"sku":"123","name":"Square","url":"https://example.com?sku=123"},{"sku":"456","name":"Circle","url":"https://example.com/?sku=456"},{"sku":"789","name":"Triangle","url":"https://example.com/?sku=789"}]'

set @count = 0

]%%

%%[ if not empty(@json) then ]%%

{{.dataobject JsonVar type=variable source=@json maxrows=20}}
     {{.data}}
          {"target":"@json"}
     {{/data}}
{{/dataobject}}
{{#each JsonVar}}

  %%[ set @count = add(@count,1) ]%%
  <br>count:%%=v(@count)=%%&nbsp;

  %%[if mod(@count,2) == 0 then ]%%

    %%=ContentBlockByKey("whee")=%%
    %%=ContentBlockByKey("whoa")=%%

  %%[ else ]%%

    %%=ContentBlockByKey("whoa")=%%
    %%=ContentBlockByKey("whee")=%%

  %%[ endif ]%%

{{/each}}

%%[ endif ]%%

Output

Answer 2

I have a feeling I might need to count rows and then check for an odd/even rowCount number, but hoping there is an easier way.

I would honestly recommend doing that either by:

• dropping GTL entirely and switching to SSJS to loop through the JSON which will automatically count which row it is
• or by adding Ampscript inside of the content block

---

The only other solution I can think of is using CSS :nth-child() selectors which would work this way:

• if the block element has an odd number do the following to the elements inside it:
  • hide <div 1> using display: none,
  • display <div 3>
• if the block element has an even number do the following to the elements inside it
  • display <div 1>
  • hide <div 3> using display: none

Example:

The writing of the actual selector is on you and I would rather recommend tp use the row counting approach as it's safe from any CSS issues with various inboxes which you would need to test out.