NetSuite: FreeMarker List Getting Pushed Down - netsuite

Question

I can't figure out why this list is getting pushed down? The list items start at the 4th row. I was hoping the <#compress> directive would truncate any white space but had no affect on the output.
blank line/white space
blank line/white space
blank line/white space
blank line/white space
Ice Cream $50.00
Vanilla
--next page--
Ice Cream $50.00
Chocolate
<hr
style="width: 100%; color: #d3d3d3; background-color: #d3d3d3; height: 1px;" />
<!-- start items -->
<#list record.item as item>
<table style="margin-top: 10px; width: 100%;">
<#if item.custcol_comments?contains("cream")>
<#compress>
<tr>
<td colspan="12" style="text-align: center;"><span
style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 10%; color: #333333;">${item.item}</span><br />${item.description}</td>
<td colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"> </td>
<td colspan="4" style="text-align: center;">${item.amount}</td>
</tr>
</#compress>
</#if>
</table>
</#list>
<!-- end items -->
<hr

Answer 1

You need to swap the order of the table and <#list> tags. What you are doing right now is creating a separate table for every line item, irrespective of whether or not it matches the condition.
<table style="margin-top: 10px; width: 100%;">
<#list record.item as item>
<#if item.custcol_comments?contains("cream")>
<tr>
<td colspan="12" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 10%; color: #333333;">${item.item}</span><br />${item.description}</td>
<td colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"> </td>
<td colspan="4" style="text-align: center;">${item.amount}</td>
</tr>
</#if>
</table>
</#list>
<#compress> will remove whitespace but not empty tables, but in any case the BFO renderer will automatically remove extra whitespace so it's not typically needed in NetSuite templates.