Matrix: Is there a way to avoid gaps in my source code

Question

Hopefully someone maybe able to help me with an issue I have recently discovered on a site I'm working on.

The outset is that I'm bringing through report data from a matrix field onto the page. Within said matrix is a field which defines what type of report it is, in my case its Land, Sea or Air. This field is using a radio button fieldtype to distinguish. Now in hindsight I could say use a different matrix field for each report type, but that ship has sailed unfortunately. The data is in a single matrix table and there's no going back. Putting the data into two extra matrix fields would take more time than I need to commit to this.

The problem is that when I come to display data on page, I open my matrix tag do the following

{report_articles}

{if report_type=="Land"}

Show the Land data

{/if}

{/report_articles}

This works fine and the correct data gets pulled through. However on looking at my source code, I have noticed a significant gap in my markup. My assumption is that previous rows are being brought through, their data is just not being displayed. So for example my matrix table may have 5 Land Reports, 5 Sea Reports and 5 Air Reports, and in that order too. If I try to load the Air Reports page (ie, the last few rows), it seems to pull through 10 previous rows before it, and this shows in the source code as a gap and will therefore slow down my page. My question is, Is there an easier way to approach this, or a way to avoid the impact that its having on my source code?

Any advice/help is much appreciated

Answer 1

You can use Matrix's search parameter to return only the rows of interest:

{report_articles search:report_type="=Land"}
  Show the Land data
{/report_articles}