bash assign default value

Question

${parameter:=word} Assign Default Values. If parameter is unset or null, the expansion of word is assigned to parameter. The value of pa

Answer 1

You can also use := construct to assign and decide on action in one step. Consider following example:

# Example of setting default server and reporting it's status

server=$1
if [[ ${server:=localhost} =~ [a-z] ]]      # 'localhost' assigned here to $server
then    echo "server is localhost"          # echo is triggered since letters were found in $server
else
        echo "server was set" # numbers were passed
fi

If $1 is not empty, localhost will be assigned to server in the if condition field, trigger match and report match result. In this way you can assign on the fly and trigger appropriate action.