Chaining Options with orElse

A simple but handy use for Option is to select the first valid option from a selection of possible choices. Sound vague? Well it is because it can be used in many different situations. The one presented here is: the program needs a directory that can be set by the user either as a system variable, and environment variable or the default value. The java code is a nightmare of if (xxx == null) statements. The Scala code is beautiful.

1. scala> val propsTemplates = Option(System getProperty "MVN_CREATOR_TEMPLATES")
2. propsTemplates: Option[java.lang.String] = None
4. scala> val envTemplates = Option(System getenv "MVN_CREATOR_TEMPLATES")
5. envTemplates: Option[java.lang.String] = None
7. scala> val defaultHome = Some(System getProperty "user.home")
8. defaultHome: Some[java.lang.String] = Some(/Users/jeichar)
10. /* 
11. chain the different options together in order of priority and get the value
13. I am taking a small liberty here because I am assuming that user.home is always available
14. */
16. scala> propsTemplates.orElse(envTemplates).orElse(defaultHome).get
17. res0: java.lang.String = /Users/jeichar
19. // alternative form:
20. scala> propsTemplates orElse envTemplates orElse defaultHome get
21. res1: java.lang.String = /Users/jeichar