How can I get the default value in match case?
//Just an example, this value is usually not known
val something: String = "value"
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case _ => smth(_) //need to reference the value here - doesn't work
}
UPDATE: I see that my issue was not really understood, which is why I'm showing an example which is closer to the real thing I'm working on:
val db = current.configuration.getList("instance").get.unwrapped()
.map(f => f.asInstanceOf[java.util.HashMap[String, String]].toMap)
.find(el => el("url").contains(referer))
.getOrElse(Map("config" -> ""))
.get("config").get match {
case "" => current.configuration.getString("database").getOrElse("defaultDatabase")
case _ => doSomethingWithDefault(_)
}
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case default => smth(default)
}
It is not a keyword, just an alias, so this will work as well:
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case everythingElse => smth(everythingElse)
}
The "_" in Scala is a love-and-hate syntax which could really useful and yet confusing.
In your example:
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case _ => smth(_) //need to reference the value here - doesn't work
}
the _ means, I don't care about the value, as well as the type, which means you can't reference to the identifier anymore.
Therefore, smth(_) would not have a proper reference.
The solution is that you can give the a name to the identifier like:
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case x => smth(x)
}
I believe this is a working syntax and x will match any value but not "val".
More speaking. I think you are confused with the usage of underscore in map, flatmap, for example.
val mylist = List(1, 2, 3)
mylist map { println(_) }
Where the underscore here is referencing to the iterable item in the collection.
Of course, this underscore could even be taken as:
mylist map { println }
here's another option:
something match {
case "val" => "default"
case default@_ => smth(default)
}