Coding Question

I've searched the PHP manual and can't find an answer for this question I'd like to use the "OR DIE" construct; but instead of "DIE" I'd like to use "RETURN FOO". I haven't found a way to do it. $string= file_get_contents($filename) OR die("Could not read file"); $db_link= mysql_connect($host, $user, $pw)

       OR die("Could not connect: " . mysql_error());

Seems like it would be nice to not have to test first, e.g., if(is_readable($filename)){.... } Thanks....