A routine for genera

Util.EmptyFallbacks

public static partial class Utils
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Checks each supplied value for a non-null value, returning first one supplied.  
    /// It is recommend to use EmptyFallbacks(Func&lt;string&gt;) overload for any less than trivial value retrievals.
    /// </summary>
    /// <example>
    /// var value = Util.EmptyFallbacks(dictionary["key"], someothervalue, "default value");
    /// </example>
    /// <param name="values"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string EmptyFallbacks(params string[] values)
    {
        if(values == null) return null;

        foreach(var value in values)
        {
            if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return value;
        }

        return null;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Checks each supplied Func&lt;string&gt; for a non-null value, returning first one supplied.
    /// </summary>
    /// <example>
    /// var value = Util.EmptyFallbacks(()=>Request["value"],()=>ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["value"],()=>"DefaultValue");
    /// </example>
    /// <param name="values"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string EmptyFallbacks(params Func<string>[] values)
    {
        if(values == null) return null;

        foreach(var execfunc in values)
        {
            string value = execfunc();
            if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return value;
        }

        return null;
    }
}