If there is no 'template' in frontMatter, does not generate text.

lib/src/main/groovy/com/jessebrault/ssg/SimpleStaticSiteGenerator.groovy

@@ -37,24 +37,11 @@ class SimpleStaticSiteGenerator implements StaticSiteGenerator {
         Collection<Diagnostic> diagnostics = []
         Collection<GeneratedPage> generatedPages = []
 
-        // Generate pages from each text
+        // Generate pages from each text, but only those that have a 'template' frontMatter field with a valid value
         texts.each {
             logger.trace(enter, 'text: {}', it)
             logger.info('processing text: {}', it.path)
 
-            // Render the text (i.e., transform text to html)
-            def textRenderResult = it.type.renderer.render(it, globals)
-            String renderedText
-            if (textRenderResult.v1.size() > 0) {
-                logger.debug('diagnostics for rendering {}: {}', it.path, textRenderResult.v1)
-                diagnostics.addAll(textRenderResult.v1)
-                logger.trace(exit, '')
-                return
-            } else {
-                renderedText = textRenderResult.v2
-                logger.debug('renderedText: {}', renderedText)
-            }
-
             // Extract frontMatter from text
             def frontMatterResult = it.type.frontMatterGetter.get(it)
             FrontMatter frontMatter
@@ -69,14 +56,12 @@ class SimpleStaticSiteGenerator implements StaticSiteGenerator {
             }
 
             // Find the appropriate template from the frontMatter
-            def desiredTemplate = frontMatter['template']
-            logger.debug('desiredTemplate name: {}', desiredTemplate)
-            if (desiredTemplate == null || desiredTemplate.isEmpty() || desiredTemplate.isBlank()) {
-                diagnostics << new Diagnostic('in textFile ' + it.path + ' frontMatter.template must not be empty, blank, or missing', null)
-                logger.trace(exit, '')
+            def desiredTemplate = frontMatter.find('template')
+            if (desiredTemplate.isEmpty()) {
+                logger.info('{} has no \'template\' key in its frontMatter; skipping generation')
                 return
             }
-            def template = templates.find { it.path == desiredTemplate }
+            def template = templates.find { it.path == desiredTemplate.get() }
             if (template == null) {
                 diagnostics << new Diagnostic('in textFile' + it.path + ' frontMatter.template references an unknown template: ' + desiredTemplate, null)
                 logger.trace(exit, '')
@@ -84,6 +69,19 @@ class SimpleStaticSiteGenerator implements StaticSiteGenerator {
             }
             logger.debug('found template: {}', template)
 
+            // Render the text (i.e., transform text to html)
+            def textRenderResult = it.type.renderer.render(it, globals)
+            String renderedText
+            if (textRenderResult.v1.size() > 0) {
+                logger.debug('diagnostics for rendering {}: {}', it.path, textRenderResult.v1)
+                diagnostics.addAll(textRenderResult.v1)
+                logger.trace(exit, '')
+                return
+            } else {
+                renderedText = textRenderResult.v2
+                logger.debug('renderedText: {}', renderedText)
+            }
+
             // Render the template using the result of rendering the text earlier
             def templateRenderResult = template.type.renderer.render(template, frontMatter, renderedText, parts, globals)
             String renderedTemplate

lib/src/main/groovy/com/jessebrault/ssg/text/FrontMatter.groovy

@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ class FrontMatter {
     private final Map<String, List<String>> data
 
     String get(String key) {
-        if (data[key] != null) {
-            data[key][0]
+        if (this.data[key] != null) {
+            this.data[key][0]
         } else {
             logger.warn('in {} no entry for key {} in frontMatter, returning empty string', this.text, key)
             ''
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ class FrontMatter {
         }
     }
 
+    Optional<String> find(String key) {
+        Optional.ofNullable(this.data[key]?[0])
+    }
+
+    Optional<List<String>> findList(String key) {
+        Optional.ofNullable(this.data[key])
+    }
+
     @Override
     String toString() {
         "FrontMatter(text: ${ this.text }, data: ${ this.data })"

lib/src/test/groovy/com/jessebrault/ssg/SimpleStaticSiteGeneratorIntegrationTests.groovy

@@ -113,4 +113,12 @@ class SimpleStaticSiteGeneratorIntegrationTests {
         assertEquals('<p>Hello, World!</p>\n', specialPage.html)
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void doesNotGenerateIfNoTemplateInFrontMatter() {
+        new File(this.textsDir, 'test.md').write('Hello, World!')
+        def result = this.ssg.generate(this.build)
+        assertEquals(0, result.v1.size())
+        assertEquals(0, result.v2.size())
+    }
+
 }