I think it would be very handy if mIRC supported an extra parameter in things like $readini, $hget, etc for returning a value when that topic/item/etc does not exist.

For example. Consider the following table:

Table
Item - Data
Item2 - Data2

$hget(table,item,x) would return Data as "item" exists in the table.
$hget(table,item3,y) would return y as "item3" does not exist in the table.

This is possible already with $iif($hget(table,item3) != $null,$v1,y) but I think it would be a neat and tidy little shortcut.