(m4.info)Ifelse

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6.2 If-else construct, or multibranch
=====================================

The other conditional, 'ifelse', is much more powerful.  It can be used
as a way to introduce a long comment, as an if-else construct, or as a
multibranch, depending on the number of arguments supplied:

 -- Builtin: ifelse (COMMENT)
 -- Builtin: ifelse (STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL, [NOT-EQUAL])
 -- Builtin: ifelse (STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL-1, STRING-3, STRING-4,
          EQUAL-2, ..., [NOT-EQUAL])
     Used with only one argument, the 'ifelse' simply discards it and
     produces no output.

     If called with three or four arguments, 'ifelse' expands into
     EQUAL, if STRING-1 and STRING-2 are equal (character for
     character), otherwise it expands to NOT-EQUAL.  A final fifth
     argument is ignored, after triggering a warning.

     If called with six or more arguments, and STRING-1 and STRING-2 are
     equal, 'ifelse' expands into EQUAL-1, otherwise the first three
     arguments are discarded and the processing starts again.

     The macro 'ifelse' is recognized only with parameters.

   Using only one argument is a common 'm4' idiom for introducing a
block comment, as an alternative to repeatedly using 'dnl'.  This
special usage is recognized by GNU 'm4', so that in this case, the
warning about missing arguments is never triggered.

     ifelse(`some comments')
     =>
     ifelse(`foo', `bar')
     error->m4:stdin:2: Warning: too few arguments to builtin `ifelse'
     =>

   Using three or four arguments provides decision points.

     ifelse(`foo', `bar', `true')
     =>
     ifelse(`foo', `foo', `true')
     =>true
     define(`foo', `bar')
     =>
     ifelse(foo, `bar', `true', `false')
     =>true
     ifelse(foo, `foo', `true', `false')
     =>false

   Notice how the first argument was used unquoted; it is common to
compare the expansion of a macro with a string.  With this macro, you
can now reproduce the behavior of blind builtins, where the macro is
recognized only with arguments.

     define(`foo', `ifelse(`$#', `0', ``$0'', `arguments:$#')')
     =>
     foo
     =>foo
     foo()
     =>arguments:1
     foo(`a', `b', `c')
     =>arguments:3

   For an example of a way to make defining blind macros easier, see
Note: Composition.

   The macro 'ifelse' can take more than four arguments.  If given more
than four arguments, 'ifelse' works like a 'case' or 'switch' statement
in traditional programming languages.  If STRING-1 and STRING-2 are
equal, 'ifelse' expands into EQUAL-1, otherwise the procedure is
repeated with the first three arguments discarded.  This calls for an
example:

     ifelse(`foo', `bar', `third', `gnu', `gnats')
     error->m4:stdin:1: Warning: excess arguments to builtin `ifelse' ignored
     =>gnu
     ifelse(`foo', `bar', `third', `gnu', `gnats', `sixth')
     =>
     ifelse(`foo', `bar', `third', `gnu', `gnats', `sixth', `seventh')
     =>seventh
     ifelse(`foo', `bar', `3', `gnu', `gnats', `6', `7', `8')
     error->m4:stdin:4: Warning: excess arguments to builtin `ifelse' ignored
     =>7

   Naturally, the normal case will be slightly more advanced than these
examples.  A common use of 'ifelse' is in macros implementing loops of
various kinds.