Conditional if operator in bash

Question

Set the value of myval to $1 if it is not empty. If it is empty, set value of myval to val. Is this syntax correct in bash?

#!/bin/bash

val=5
myval=""
if [ "$val" != "" ]; then
    myval=("$1" == "" ? $val : $1)
fi
echo $myval

chepner · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-07 19:22:24Z

3

The syntax is incorrect, but there is a parameter expansion operator to do what you want.

myval=${1:-$val}

answered Nov 7, 2016 at 19:22

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