theme('item_list') has a new 'empty' variable

theme('item_list') (or the theme_item_list() function, as it is currently implemented) has a new feature: You can pass in variable 'empty' with a string or render array value, and if there are no list items, this value will be output. This is similar to the 'empty' variable in theme('table').

Simple example using a string as the empty value:

$build['foo'] = array(
  '#theme' => 'item_list',
  '#items' => $results,
  '#empty' => t('There were no results. Try a less restrictive filter.'),
  '#title' => t('Search Results'),
  '#type' => 'ol',
);

Alternative example using a render array as the empty value:

$build['foo'] = array(
  '#theme' => 'item_list',
  '#items' => $results,
  '#empty' => array(
    '#type' => 'markup',
    '#markup' => t('There were no results. Try a less restrictive filter.'),
  ),
  '#title' => t('Search Results'),
  '#type' => 'ol',
);