Question

I usually do

 value = input || "default"

so if input = nil

 value = "default"

But how can I do this so instead of nil It also counts an empty string '' as nil

I want so that if I do

input = ''
value = input || "default"
=> "default"

Is there a simple elegant way to do this without if?

Answer 1

Rails adds presence method to all object that does exactly what you want

input = ''
value = input.presence || "default"
=> "default"

input = 'value'
value = input.presence || "default"
=> "value"

input = nil
value = input.presence || "default"
=> "default"