Ruby function to help pick the first available value.

pick_first.rb

# config/initializers/pick_first.rb in a rails app
class Object

  # The pick_first function is a replacement for statements like users_value.present? ? users_value : default_value
  # which using pick first can be replaced with pick_first users_value, default_value
  # This is particularly helpful when you start getting into selecting the first out of three or more
  # available values.
  #
  # pick_first "x", "y", "z" # => "x"
  # pick_first nil, "y", "z" # => "y"
  # pick_first "", "y", "z" # => "y"
  # pick_first nil, "", "z" # => "z"
  # pick_first nil, 1, 2 # => 1
  # pick_first nil, nil # => nil
  def pick_first(*input)
    input.each do |value|
      return value if value.to_s.present?
    end
    nil
  end

end