Division of metatable - lua

got some problem with metatable. This is my simple metatable:
local mt = {}
function mt:add(n)
return setmetatable({n = n}, {__index = mt})
end
function mt:get() return self.n end
Now I want to add some division like:
mt.math
mt.effect
Which each one has some own methods like:
mt.math:floor() return math.floor(self:get()) end
mt.effect:show(args) onMapShowEffect(self:get(), {x = x + (args[1] ~= nil or 0), ...) end
mt.effect:get() return getCurrentPos() end
Any ideas?
OK, trying make all details to share my problem.
Player = {}
function Player:add(this)
return setmetatable({this = this}, {__index = Player})
end
Player:get() return self.this end
Above code works perfectly on this example
function enterToGame(player1, player2)
local p1 = Player:add(player1)
local p2 = Player:add(player2)
print(p1:get()) -- ID1
print(p2:get()) -- ID2
Now I want to create some helpfully methods(functions) for table Player. I want to make it more flexible, so I want divide it for classes. Example:
Player.info = {
id = function() return Player:get() end,
}
Player.pos = {
get = function() return getPosition(Player:get()) end,
set = function(args) setPosition(Player:get(), args) end,
}
Player.speed = {
get = function() return getSpeed(Player:get()) end,
set = function(value) setSpeed(value) end,
improve = function(value) setSpeed(Player.speed.get() + value) end,
}
But its not work exactly what I want:
function enterToGame(player1, player2)
local p1 = Player:add(player1)
local p2 = Player:add(player2)
print(p1:get()) -- ID1
print(p2:get()) -- ID2
print(p1.info.id()) -- ID2 instead of ID1
print(p2.info.id()) -- ID2
When I put Player:get() in my methods its return last object declaration.

Based on what you state, if you do
mt.math = mt:add(123)
You don't need themt:get() because mt is the metatable for mt.math. Then
mt.math.floor = function(self) return math.floor(self.n) end
will work as expected. For example,
print(mt.math:floor())
prints 123.
EDIT 1: So now that I have a better understanding of what you are trying to do: normally you would do
p1:id()
p1:getPos()
p1:setPos()
p1:getSpeed()
p1:improveSpeed()
Note the colon, this is important, so that each method gets a "self" as first parameter, thereby given them the table instance to operate on (p1, in the above example). Instead you want to group methods so
p1.info:id()
p1.pos:get()
p1.pos:set()
p1.speed:improve()
p1.speed:get()
These methods will get a self that points to p1.info, p1.pos, etc. But those sub-tables have no knowledge of the container table (p1). The info and pos tables are in the Player class: they are shared by all instances of Player (p1, p2 etc). You have to make the info and pos tables non-shared:
function Player:add(player)
local pN= setmetatable( {n = player, info={}, pos={}}, {__index = Player})
pN.info.id = function() return pN.n end
pN.pos.set = function(x) return setPosition(pN, x) end
return pN
end
Then you get
> p1=mt:add(player1)
> p2=mt:add(player2)
> print(player1)
table: 0024D390
> print(p1.info.id())
table: 0024D390
> print(player2)
table: 0024D250
> print(p2.info.id())
table: 0024D250
All that said, I don't really like the idea of having to use closures like this, perhaps there are gotchas since not everything will be in Player.

Related

OOP Help - How do I get this code block to recognize one of its arguments?

I'm learning Lua and how to implement OOP. Trying out a test example of an object seems to return one of the argument of the object as 'null' despite being assigned one.
function Character(Name, Level, Class) --Constructor
return {GetName = T.GetName, GetLevel = T.GetLevel, GetClass = T.GetClass}
end
end
-- Snippets
Player = Character("Bob", 1, "Novice")
When I try printing Player.GetName() it returns null instead of Bob. Where have I gone wrong?
Here is the full code.
OOP in Lua takes a bit more than what you have done there, you will want to make use of metatables and upvalues.
-- How you could define your character structure.
local Character = {}
function Character.GetName(self)
return self.name
end
function Character.new(Name, Level, Class)
local _meta = {}
local _private = {}
_private.name = Name
_private.level = Level
_private.class = Class
_meta.__index = function(t, k) -- This allows access to _private
return rawget(_private, k) or rawget(Character, k)
end
_meta.__newindex = function(t, k, v) -- This prevents the value from being shaded
if rawget(_private, k) or rawget(Character, k) then
error("this field is protected")
else
rawset(t, k, v)
end
end
return setmetatable({}, _meta) --return an empty table with our meta methods implemented
end
This creates a local table _private when you create a new instance of a Character. That local table is an upvalue to the _meta.__index and it cannot be accessed outside the scope of the Character.new function. _private can be accessed when __index is called because it is an upvalue.
-- How to use the character structure
player = Character.new("Bob", 10, "Novice")
npc = Character.new("Alice", 11, "Novice")
print(player:GetName())
I use player:GetName(), but in all honesty you can just do player.name as well.
Resources for more on this topic:
http://tutorialspoint.com/lua/lua_metatables.htm
http://lua-users.org/wiki/ObjectOrientationTutorial

table.insert doesn't trigger __index?

I made a custom table using metatables that automatically tracks sizing when elements are added. It works very well and removes the need for the # operator or the getn function.
However it has a problem. If you call table.insert, the function apparently never calls __index or __newindex. Thus, my table cannot know when elements are removed this way. I assume the problem is the same with table.remove as well.
How can I either:
Capture the event of insert and use my own function to do so
Throw an error if insert is called on my table.
Thanks
function Table_new()
local public = { }
local tbl = { }
local size = 0
function public.size()
return size
end
return setmetatable(public, {
__newindex = function(t, k, v)
local previous_v = tbl[k]
rawset(tbl, k, v)
if previous_v ~= nil then
if v == nil then
size = size - 1
end
elseif v ~= nil then
size = size + 1
end
end,
__index = tbl
})
end
local t = Table_new()
t[5] = "hi"
t[17] = "hello"
t[2] = "yo"
t[17] = nil
print(t.size()) -- prints 2
local z = Table_new()
table.insert(z, "hey")
table.insert(z, "hello")
table.insert(z, "yo")
print(z.size()) -- prints 1 -- why?
If you print k,v in __newindex, you'll see that k is always 1. This is because table.insert asks for the size of table to find where to insert the value. By default, it's at the end. You should add a __len metamethod. But perhaps this defeats your purposes (which are obscure to me).

attempt to call method 'func' (a nil value)

No matter how I approach Lua, I run into this error all the time, so I must not understand something inherit to the language:
attempt to call method 'func' (a nil value)
I've seen the error here a few times as well but the problem doesn't seem clear to me.
Here's my module:
actor.lua
Actor = {
x = 0,
mt = {},
new = function()
local new_actor = {}
new_actor.x = Actor.x
new_actor.mt = Actor.mt
return new_actor
end,
test = function(self, a, b)
print(a, b)
end
}
I'm using Löve.
main.lua
require "game/actor"
local a = Actor:new() --works fine
function love.load()
a.x = 10
print(a.x) --output: 10
a:test(11, 12) --error: attempt to call method 'test' (a nil value)
end
I'm also not sure when it's appropriate to use the previous styling over this in a module.
Actor = {
x = 0
}
Actor.mt = {}
function Actor.new()
print(42)
end
I'm honestly not sure what is more correct than the other but considering I run into a simple error either way, there's probably something I'm missing entirely?
It looks like you're trying to instance a kind of class made of metatables. You basically need to assign new_actor's metatable with Actor.mt. (Resuming the problem: when you're indexing new_actor you're not indexing Actor in this case)
setmetatable(new_actor, Actor.mt);
Even if the metatable is being added, it won't work until you put the meta "__index" event to index a table containing your class methods/values, in this case:
Actor.mt = {
__index = Actor
};
I'd suggest moving your class methods/values into a new table, like Actor.prototype, Actor.fn, etc... avoiding conflicts:
Actor.fn = {
test = function(self, a, b)
print(a, b)
end
};
Actor.mt = {
__index = Actor.fn
};
More about metatables in Lua 5.3 manual.

Chain Lua metatables

I am have a situation where two libraries L,M, are trying to set a metatable for _G (named mL, mM respectively). The only thing in the metatables are __index.
How can I chain these two metatables so that if the __index in one fails it calls the index in the other?
Have one metatable that stores both mL and mM, and if one returns nil, check the other:
local metatbl = {}
metatbl.tbls = {mL, mM};
function metatbl.__index(intbl, key)
for i, mtbl in ipairs(metatbl.tbls) do
local mmethod = mtbl.__index
if(type(mmethod) == "function") then
local ret = mmethod(table, key)
if ret then return ret end
else
if mmethod[key] then return mmethod[key] end
end
return nil
end
end
setmetatable(_G,metatbl)
Assuming there's a point where your code can fiddle with _G's metatable itself, after the libraries have mucked about, to fix what L and M did, you can just stick in your own metatable that does the combined search, e.g.:
combined_metatable = {
__index = function (t, k)
return mL.__index (t, k) or mM.__index (t, k)
end
}
setmetatable (_G, combined_metatable)
That has the advantage of not fiddling with mL or mM themselves.
If you don't have the opportunity to correct things after the fact, you could just modify the __index entries of the library metatables to do the combined search:
local original_mM_index = mM.__index
local original_mL_index = mL.__index
local function L_then_M_index (t, k)
return original_mL_index (t, k) or original_mM_index (t, k)
end
mL.__index = L_then_M_index
mM.__index = L_then_M_index
[Note that as both library metatables are modified, this will work whichever gets installed last ("winning" the competition).]
Use __metatable to give them a table that isn't actually the metatable or give the library a different setmetatable: that way they can't change your _G metatable.
getmetatable(getfenv()).__metatable = function ( o ) return { } end
OR
local orig_setmetatable = setmetatable
function setmetatable ( ob , mt )
if ob == getfenv() or ob == _G then
return ob
else
return orig_setmetatable(ob,mt)
end
end
(depending on how the library does things)
If you still want to track the things it does to the metatable; look through mt before the return ob (and if you actually wanted to chain __index lookups; add to a table):
local env_indexes = {}
setmetatable(_G,{__index=function(t,k) for i,m in ipairs(env_indexes) do local v=m[k]; if v then return v end end return nil end } )
local orig_setmetatable = setmetatable
function setmetatable ( ob , mt )
if ob == _G then
table.insert ( env_indexes , mt.__index )
return ob
else
return orig_setmetatable(ob,mt)
end
end
Otherwise this is very bad practice for libraries to be doing; tell the author not to!

How can I change every index into a table using a metatable?

I'm trying to write a metatable so that all indexes into the table are shifted up one position (i.e. t[i] should return t[i+1]). I need to do this because the table is defined using index 1 as the first element, but I have to interface with a program that uses index 0 as the first element. Since reading Programming in Lua, I think that I can accomplish what I want with a proxy table, but I can't seem to get it working. So far, I have this:
t = {"foo", "bar"}
local _t = t
t = {}
local mt = {
__index = function(t, i)
return _t[i+1]
end
}
setmetatable(t, mt)
However, this does not create the expected result. In fact, it doesn't return any values at all (every lookup is nil). Is there a better way to do this, or am I just missing something?
t = {"foo", "bar"}
local _t = t
t = {}
local mt = {
__index = function(t, i)
return _t[i+1]
end
}
setmetatable(t, mt)
print(t[0])
outputs "foo" for me when run here: http://www.lua.org/cgi-bin/demo

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