Ruby optional parameters
You are almost always better off using an options hash.
def ldap_get(base_dn, filter, options = {}) options[:scope] ||= LDAP::LDAP_SCOPE_SUBTREE ...endldap_get(base_dn, filter, :attrs => X)
This isn't possible with ruby currently. You can't pass 'empty' attributes to methods. The closest you can get is to pass nil:
ldap_get(base_dn, filter, nil, X)However, this will set the scope to nil, not LDAP::LDAP_SCOPE_SUBTREE.
What you can do is set the default value within your method:
def ldap_get(base_dn, filter, scope = nil, attrs = nil) scope ||= LDAP::LDAP_SCOPE_SUBTREE ... do something ...endNow if you call the method as above, the behaviour will be as you expect.
Time has moved on and since version 2 Ruby supports named parameters:
def ldap_get ( base_dn, filter, scope: "some_scope", attrs: nil ) p attrsendldap_get("first_arg", "second_arg", attrs: "attr1, attr2") # => "attr1, attr2"