$args{dir}     = $DEFAULT_DIRECTORY unless defined( $args{dir} );
$args{log}     = $DEFAULT_LOG_FILE  unless defined( $args{log} );
$args{pattern} = $DEFAULT_PATTERN   unless defined( $args{pattern} );
$args{sendto}  = $DEFAULT_SEND_TO   unless defined( $args{sendto} );
$args{help}    = 0                  unless defined( $args{help} );

##</code><code>##

$args{dir}     //= $DEFAULT_DIRECTORY;
$args{log}     //= $DEFAULT_LOG_FILE;
$args{pattern} //= $DEFAULT_PATTERN;
$args{sendto}  //= $DEFAULT_SEND_TO;
$args{help}    //= 0;