Sharing constants in .java and .ftl files

I'd like to store something in the root hashmap and retrieve it in an  
FTL file.

I'd like to avoid 'strings' as keys everywhere so I'd like to abstract  
that out - into a Constants class or something.


CURRENT STYLE: notice the "projects" key in the class file ... and  
rigid reference (not a string) in the FTL file.

.class:
root.put("projects", projectList);

.ftl
<#list projects?[] as p>
<li>${p.name}</li>
</#list>


NEW STYLE: I'd like to do this - but I don't know what to do at  
the ???? below.

Constants.java
public class Constants
{
     public static final String PROJECTS = "projects";
}

.class:
root.put(Constants.PROJECTS, projectList);

.ftl
<#list ?????[] as p>
<li>${p.name}</li>
</#list>


Furthermore, I'd like this Constants class available globally. Maybe I  
can assign it in an FTL I load at the beginning ... but since it is  
not a TemplateMethodModel or TemplateDirectiveModel, I'm not sure how  
to put it into the root scope permanently as a Java object.

I guess - core this is the question - can I put POJOs into the root  
namespace ... and if so, how do I do that? Most of what I'm reading is  
more specific to the above named interfaces and their subsequent  
predefined methods. One the POJO is in the namespace, can I invoke  
arbitrary methods ... or look at arbitrary fields .... and then  
finally,  what syntax allows a string field serve as the 'list'  
parameter of the <#list macro ...

Thanks for all your time parsing this :) Hope it is an easy answer.

-Luther


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