get a default value when variable is unset in make

Question

(edit: question more accurate based on @Michael feedback)

In bash, I often use parameter expansion: the following commands print \"default value\" when

Answer 1

Just remove the colon. If you use :- in your substitution the default value will be used if the variable is null, an empty string or it does not exist, but just using - on its own will only substitute the default value if the variable has not been defined.

# var1=default
# var2=

# echo var2 is ${var2:-$var1}
var2 is something
# echo var3 is ${var3:-$var1}
var3 is something

# echo var2 is ${var2-$var1}
var2 is
# echo var3 is ${var3-$var1}
var3 is something