module Puppet::Parser::Functions newfunction(:pick_default, :type => :rvalue, :doc => <<-EOS This function is similar to a coalesce function in SQL in that it will return the first value in a list of values that is not undefined or an empty string (two things in Puppet that will return a boolean false value). If no value is found, it will return the last argument. Typically, this function is used to check for a value in the Puppet Dashboard/Enterprise Console, and failover to a default value like the following: $real_jenkins_version = pick_default($::jenkins_version, '1.449') The value of $real_jenkins_version will first look for a top-scope variable called 'jenkins_version' (note that parameters set in the Puppet Dashboard/ Enterprise Console are brought into Puppet as top-scope variables), and, failing that, will use a default value of 1.449. Note that, contrary to the pick() function, the pick_default does not fail if all arguments are empty. This allows pick_default to use an empty value as default. EOS ) do |args| fail "Must receive at least one argument." if args.empty? default = args.last args = args[0..-2].compact args.delete(:undef) args.delete(:undefined) args.delete("") args << default return args[0] end end