What does "tvb(offset):string()" mean? - lua

this days,I'm learning how to use Lua to write WireShark plugin.But I don't know what the mean of tvb(offset):string. Why is wrong of use tostring(tvb(offset))? thank you for your answer
function weibo.dissector(tvb, pinfo, tree)
local proto_type = tvb(23, 1):uint();
if(proto_type ~= 0x06) then
return
end
local offset = get_payload_offset(tvb, proto_type)
local data = tvb(offset):string();
local i, j = string.find(data, "weibo")
if(i) then
pinfo.cols.protocol = weibo.name
local subtree = tree:add(weibo, tvb(offset+i-1))
subtree:append_text(", ptn_pos: " .. i .. "-" .. j)
end
end

tvb is a Testy Virtual Buffer.
A Tvb ("Testy Virtual Buffer") represents the packet's buffer. It is
passed as an argument to listeners and dissectors, and can be used to
extract information (via TvbRange) from the packet's data. Beware that
Tvbs are usable only by the current listener or dissector call and are
destroyed as soon as the listener/dissector returns, so references to
them are unusable once the function has returned.
A call as tvb(offset) returns a TvbRange
A range of bytes within a Tvb that is used to extract data. A TvbRange
is created from tvb:__call() or tvb:range([offset] [,length]).
Remark:
tvb is a Lua table. If you call it like tvb() the __call() metamethod is invoked.
https://wiki.wireshark.org/LuaAPI/Tvb#tvb:__call.28.29
tvb:__call()
Description
Creates a TvbRange from a subset of this Tvb. Same as tvb:range().
Cannot be directly called.
Returns
userdata : The new TvbRange
One of TvbRange's many methods is tvbrange:string()
tvbrange:string()
Description
Gets a string from the TvbRange
Returns
string : The string, containing all bytes in the TvbRange including
all zeroes (e.g., "a\000bc\000")
tostring() on the other hand is one of Lua's standard functions.
From https://www.lua.org/manual/5.3/manual.html#pdf-tostring
Receives a value of any type and converts it to a string in a
human-readable format. (For complete control of how numbers are
converted, use string.format.) If the metatable of v has a __tostring
field, then tostring calls the corresponding value with v as argument,
and uses the result of the call as its result.
As tvb implements a __tostring() tostring(tvb) would return the return value of that metamethod.
tvb:__tostring()
Description
Gets a string representation of the Tvb. Cannot be directly called.
Returns
string : The string representation

Related

How to create a tables with variable length with string-like keys in lua

I have a file database. Inside that file I have something like:
DB_A = ...
DB_B = ...
.
.
.
DB_N = ...
I would like to parse the data and group them in lua code like this:
data={}
-- the result after parsing a file
data={
["DB_A"] = {...},
["DB_B"] = {...},
.
.
.
["DB_N"] = {...}
}
In other words, is it possible to create a table inside a table dynamically and assign the key to each table without previously knowing what will be the names of the key (that is something I can figure out after parsing the data from a database).
(Just as a note, I am using Lua 5.3.5; also, I apologize that my code resembles C more than Lua!)
Iterating through your input file line-by-line--which can be done with the Lua FILE*'s lines method--you can use string.match to grab the information you are looking for from each line.
#!/usr/bin/lua
local PATTERN = "(%S+)%s?=%s?(%S+)"
local function eprintf(fmt, ...)
io.stderr:write(string.format(fmt, ...))
return
end
local function printf(fmt, ...)
io.stdout:write(string.format(fmt, ...))
return
end
local function make_table_from_file(filename)
local input = assert(io.open(filename, "r"))
local data = {}
for line in input:lines() do
local key, value = string.match(line, PATTERN)
data[key] = value
end
return data
end
local function main(argc, argv)
if (argc < 1) then
eprintf("Filename expected from command line\n")
os.exit(1)
end
local data = make_table_from_file(argv[1])
for k, v in pairs(data) do
printf("data[%s] = %s\n", k, data[k])
end
return 0
end
main(#arg, arg)
The variable declared at the top of the file, PATTERN, is your capture pattern to be used by string.match. If you are unfamiliar with how Lua's pattern matching works, this pattern looks for a series of non-space characters with zero or one spaces to its right, an equal sign, another space, and then another series of non-space characters. The two series of non-space characters are the two matches--key and value--returned by string.match in the function make_table_from_file.
The functions eprintf and printf are my Lua versions of C-style formatted output functions. The former writes to standard error, io.stderr in Lua; and the latter writes to standard output, io.stdout in Lua.
In your question, you give a sample of what your expected output is. Within your table data, you want it to contain keys that correspond to tables as values. Based on the sample input text you provided, I assume the data contained within these tables are whatever comes to the right of the equal signs in the input file--which you represent with .... As I do not know what exactly those ...s represent, I cannot give you a solid example for how to separate that right-hand data into a table. Depending on what you are looking to do, you could take the second variable returned by string.match, which I called value, and further separate it using Lua's string pattern matching. It could look something like this:
...
local function make_table_from_value(val)
// Split `val` into distinct elements to form a table with `some_pattern`
return {string.match(val, some_pattern)}
end
local function make_table_from_file(filename)
local input = assert(io.open(filename, "r"))
local data = {}
for line in input:lines() do
local key, value = string.match(line, PATTERN)
data[key] = make_table_from_value(value)
end
return data
end
...
In make_table_from_value, string.match will return some number of elements, based on whatever string pattern you provide as its second argument, which you can then use to create a table by enclosing the function call in curly braces. It will be a table that uses numerical indices as keys--rather than strings or some other data type--starting from 1.

Wireshark Lua dissector utf16 string

I am writing a custom Wireshark Lua dissector. One field in the dissector is a UTF16 string. I tried to specify this field with
msg_f = ProtoField.string("mydissector.msg", "msg", base.UNICODE)
local getMsg = buffer(13) -- starting on byte 13
subtree:add_le(m.msg_f, getMsg)
However, this only adds the first character rather than the whole string. It also raises an Expert Info warning undecoded trailing/stray characters.
What is the correct way to parse a UTF16 string?
You haven't specified the range of bytes that comprises the string. This is typically determined by either an explicit length field or by a NULL-terminator. The exact method of determining the range is dependent upon the particular protocol and field in question.
An example of each type:
If there's a length field, say of 1 byte in length that precedes the string, then you can use something like:
local str_len = buffer(13, 1):le_uint()
subtree:add_le(m.msg_len_f, buffer(13))
if str_len > 0 then
subtree:add_le(m.msg_f, buffer(14, str_len))
end
And if the string is NULL-terminated, you can use something like:
local str = buffer(13):stringz()
local str_len = str:len()
subtree:add_le(m.msg_f, buffer(13, str_len + 1))
These are just pseudo-examples, so you'll need to apply whatever method, possibly none of these, to fit your data.
Refer to the Wireshark's Lua API Reference Manual for more details, or to the Wireshark LuaAPI wiki pages.
The solution I came up with is simply:
msg_f = ProtoField.string("mydissector.msg", "msg")
local getMsg = buffer(13) -- starting on byte 13
local msg = getMsg:le_ustring()
subtree:add(msg_f, getMsg, msg)

Dumping lua func with arguments

Is it possibly to dump the Lua table including function arguments?
If so, how can I do it?
I have managed to dump tables and function with addresses, but I haven't been able to figure out a way to get function args, i have tried different methods, but no luck.
So I want to receive them truth dumping tables and function plus args of the function.
Output should be something like this: Function JumpHigh(Player, height)
I don't know if it is even possible, but would be very handy.
Table only stores values.
If there's function stored in a table, then it's just a function body, there's no arguments. If arguments were applied, table would store only final result of that call.
Maybe you're talking about closure - function returned from other function, capturing some arguments from a top level function in a lexical closure? Then see debug.getupvalue() function to check closure's content.
Is this something what you're asking?
local function do_some_action(x,y)
return function()
print(x,y)
end
end
local t = {
func = do_some_action(123,478)
}
-- only function value printed
print "Table content:"
for k,v in pairs(t) do
print(k,v)
end
-- list function's upvalues, where captured arguments may be stored
print "Function's upvalues"
local i = 0
repeat
i = i + 1
local name, val = debug.getupvalue(t.func, i)
if name then
print(name, val)
end
until not name
Note that upvalues stored is not necessary an argument to a toplevel function. It might be some local variable, storing precomputed value for the inner function.
Also note that if script was precompiled into Lua bytecode with stripping debug info, then you won't get upvalues' names, those will be empty.

Lua - get table hex identifier

I want to know how to get the table hex id. I know that doing:
local some_var = {}
print (some_var)
the result is (for instance):
table: 0x21581c0
I want the hex without the table: string. I know that maybe some of you suggest me to make a regular expression (or something similar) to remove those chars, but I want to avoid that, and just get the 0x21581c0
Thanks
This is simpler and works for all types that are associated with pointers:
local function getId(t)
return string.format("%p", t)
end
print("string:", getId("hi"))
print("table:", getId({}))
print("userdata:", getId(io.stdin))
print("function:", getId(print))
print("number:", getId(1))
print("boolean:", getId(false))
print("nil:", getId(nil))
Result:
string: 0x0109f04638
table: 0x0109f0a270
userdata: 0x01098076c8
function: 0x0109806018
number: NULL
boolean: NULL
nil: NULL
In the standard implementation, there is the global 'print' variable that refers to a standard function that calls, through the global variable 'tostring', a standard function described here. The stanard 'tostring' function is the only way to retrieve the hexadecimal number it shows for a table.
Unfortunately, there is no configuration for either of the functions to do anything differently for all tables.
Nonetheless, there are several points for modification. You can create you own function and call that every time instead, or point either of the the global variables print or tostring to you own functions. Or, set a __tostring metamethod on each table you need tostring to return a different answer for. The advantage to this is it gets you the format you want with only one setup step. The disadvantage is that you have to set up each table.
local function simplifyTableToString(t)
local answer = tostring(t):gsub("table: ", "", 1)
local mt = getmetatable(t)
if not mt then
mt = {}
setmetatable(t, mt)
end
mt.__tostring = function() return answer end
end
local a = {}
local b = {}
print(a, b)
simplifyTableToString(a)
print(a, b)
Without complex patterns, you can just search for the first space, and grab the substring of what follows.
function get_mem_addr (object)
local str = tostring(object)
return str:sub(str:find(' ') + 1)
end
print(get_mem_addr({})) -- 0x109638
print(get_mem_addr(function () end)) -- 0x108cf8
This function will work with tables and functions, but expect errors if you pass it anything else.
Or you can use a little type checking:
function get_mem_addr (o)
return tostring(o):sub(type(o):len() + 3)
end
The table id stated by the OP is invalid in the version of Lua I am using (5.1 in Roblox). A valid ID is length 8, not 9 as in your example. Either way, just use string.sub to get the sub-string you are after.
string.sub(tostring({}), 8)
The reason is, 'table: ' is 7 characters long, so we take from index 8 through the end of the string which returns the hex value.

Changing metatable in Lua breaks colon operator

While learning Lua, I borrowed some code from here
to use string indexing, which is exactly this:
getmetatable("").__index = function(str, i) return string.sub(str, i, i) end
After that, I wrote a function to reverse a string as practice.
function reverse_string(str)
local s = ""
for i = string.len(str), 1, -1 do s = s .. str[i] end
return s
end
That works fine, until I change the string.len(str) to str:len(), then I get this error:
reverse.lua:9: bad argument #2 to 'sub' (number expected, got string)
Debugging print()'s tell me that the __index function is being called on str:len(), and that the i argument is becoming the string "len". I know that str:len() works without the metatable there, but as soon as I add it this happens, why?
From Lua 5.2 Refernce Manual:String Manipulation
The string library provides all its functions inside the table string. It also sets a metatable for strings where the __index field points to the string table. Therefore, you can use the string functions in object-oriented style. For instance, string.byte(s,i) can be written as s:byte(i).
So, the object oriented style like str:len() comes from the default metamethod __index, which you have modified.
The index function is passed the table, and the key that is being indexed. so 'str' should be the string and 'i' should be key in your case. Because "len" is not in the meta table it calls __index and passes the string as the first argument and the key ("len") as the second argument. it looks as though you need to check to the type of 'i' to see what to do for better handling of strings
getmetatable("").__index = function(str, key)
if type(key) == "string" then
return string[key]
else
return string.sub(str, key, key)
end
end
str = "hello, world!"
print(str:len())
print(str[5])
see here for more info

Resources