Simple LZW Compression doesnt work - lua

Question

I wrote simple class to compress data. Here it is:
LZWCompressor = {}
function LZWCompressor.new()
local self = {}
self.mDictionary = {}
self.mDictionaryLen = 0
-- ...
self.Encode = function(sInput)
self:InitDictionary(true)
local s = ""
local ch = ""
local len = string.len(sInput)
local result = {}
local dic = self.mDictionary
local temp = 0
for i = 1, len do
ch = string.sub(sInput, i, i)
temp = s..ch
if dic[temp] then
s = temp
else
result[#result + 1] = dic[s]
self.mDictionaryLen = self.mDictionaryLen + 1
dic[temp] = self.mDictionaryLen
s = ch
end
end
result[#result + 1] = dic[s]
return result
end
-- ...
return self
end
And i run it by:
local compressor = LZWCompression.new()
local encodedData = compressor:Encode("I like LZW, but it doesnt want to compress this text.")
print("Input length:",string.len(originalString))
print("Output length:",#encodedData)
local decodedString = compressor:Decode(encodedData)
print(decodedString)
print(originalString == decodedString)
But when i finally run it by lua, it shows that interpreter expected string, not Table. That was strange thing, because I pass argument of type string. To test Lua's logs, i wrote at beggining of function:
print(typeof(sInput))
I got output "Table" and lua's error. So how to fix it? Why lua displays that string (That i have passed) is a table? I use Lua 5.3.

Answer 1

Issue is in definition of method Encode(), and most likely Decode() has same problem.
You create Encode() method using dot syntax: self.Encode = function(sInput),
but then you're calling it with colon syntax: compressor:Encode(data)
When you call Encode() with colon syntax, its first implicit argument will be compressor itself (table from your error), not the data.
To fix it, declare Encode() method with colon syntax: function self:Encode(sInput), or add 'self' as first argument explicitly self.Encode = function(self, sInput)

Answer 2

The code you provided should not run at all.
You define function LZWCompressor.new() but call CLZWCompression.new()
Inside Encode you call self:InitDictionary(true) which has not been defined.
Maybe you did not paste all relevant code here.
The reason for the error you get though is that you call compressor:Encode(sInput) which is equivalent to compressor.Encode(self, sInput). (syntactic sugar) As function parameters are not passed by name but by their position sInput inside Encode is now compressor, not your string.
Your first argument (which happens to be self, a table) is then passed to string.len which expects a string.
So you acutally call string.len(compressor) which of course results in an error.
Please make sure you know how to call and define functions and how to use self properly!