How to check if message is defined or not

[BigFan00777]

Hi all
I'm battling to detect if message is defined or not. If it is not defined I get an error in the error log, but the media file is still playing. I have a script that processes my messages and some triggers evaluate to message being an empty string or undefined. I have tried many option. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you in advance

broadcast_my_message:
  alias: Broadcast My Message
  sequence:
    - if: "{{ message != empty }}"
      then:
        - service: chime_tts.say
          data:
            chime_path: chord
            message: >
              {{ message | default("hello") }}
            volume_level: 0.5
            tts_platform: google_translate
          target:
            entity_id:
              - media_player.home_group

[nimroddolev]

Is it possible that message is a series of space characters or line breaks? You could check with the following condition:

- if: "{{ message is defined and message.strip() != '' }}"

[BigFan00777]

Hi Nimrod
Thank you for your reply. It is an empty string. I have tried your solution before and I could not get it to work. I have now changed my template to a sensor. Now I check if the sensor has a value before I call chime_tts.say. I will see if it works now - otherwise I'll be in touch. Thank you for chime_tts!! Good work!