How do you print nothing from a Field template? (field--field_name.tpl.php)

Question

I need to show a block if a field has a given state, or print nothing if it has a different state. I can get it to work using a field template with the code below, but printing useless html just to stop it from rendering it's default output seems more than a little hacky.

I've tried setting $element = null; - that didn't work. I tried changing #markup to be empty, that didn't work. Even using print ''; means Drupal kicks it's default rendering back in.

Is there a recommended method for telling a field to do nothing?

<?php if($element['#items'][0]['value'] === 1){
    //This is an archive page - show the block.
    $block = module_invoke('customblocks', 'block_view','archive');
    print render($block['content']);
    } else {
        //nothing to do here - not an archive page
        //The only way to stop Drupal rendering something appears to be to get it to print SOMETHING.
        //So we're going to print an invisible hr.
        print '<hr style="display:none;" />';
    }
?>

Answer 1

This tutorial might be helpful http://akyl.net/how-extract-and-theme-drupal-7-fields-out-renderpagecontent