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I have already seen many threads with examples of how to do this, the problem is, I still can't do it.
All the examples have tables with extra data. For example somethings like this
lines = {
luaH_set = 10,
luaH_get = 24,
luaH_present = 48,
}
or this,
obj = {
{ N = 'Green1' },
{ N = 'Green' },
{ N = 'Sky blue99' }
}
I can code in a few languages but I'm very new to Lua, and tables are really confusing to me. I can't seem to work out how to adapt the code in the examples to be able to sort a simple table.
This is my table:
local players = {"barry", "susan", "john", "wendy", "kevin"}
I want to sort these names alphabetically. I understand that Lua tables don't preserve order, and that's what's confusing me. All I essentially care about doing is just printing these names in alphabetical order, but I feel I need to learn this properly and know how to index them in the right order to a new table.
The examples I see are like this:
local function cmp(a, b)
a = tostring(a.N)
b = tostring(b.N)
local patt = '^(.-)%s*(%d+)$'
local _,_, col1, num1 = a:find(patt)
local _,_, col2, num2 = b:find(patt)
if (col1 and col2) and col1 == col2 then
return tonumber(num1) < tonumber(num2)
end
return a < b
end
table.sort(obj, cmp)
for i,v in ipairs(obj) do
print(i, v.N)
end
or this:
function pairsByKeys (t, f)
local a = {}
for n in pairs(t) do table.insert(a, n) end
table.sort(a, f)
local i = 0 -- iterator variable
local iter = function () -- iterator function
i = i + 1
if a[i] == nil then return nil
else return a[i], t[a[i]]
end
end
return iter
end
for name, line in pairsByKeys(lines) do
print(name, line)
end
and I'm just absolutely thrown by this as to how to do the same thing for a simple 1D table.
Can anyone please help me to understand this? I know if I can understand the most basic example, I'll be able to teach myself these harder examples.
local players = {"barry", "susan", "john", "wendy", "kevin"}
-- sort ascending, which is the default
table.sort(players)
print(table.concat(players, ", "))
-- sort descending
table.sort(players, function(a,b) return a > b end)
print(table.concat(players, ", "))
Here's why:
Your table players is a sequence.
local players = {"barry", "susan", "john", "wendy", "kevin"}
Is equivalent to
local players = {
[1] = "barry",
[2] = "susan",
[3] = "john",
[4] = "wendy",
[5] = "kevin",
}
If you do not provide keys in the table constructor, Lua will use integer keys automatically.
A table like that can be sorted by its values. Lua will simply rearrange the index value pairs in respect to the return value of the compare function. By default this is
function (a,b) return a < b end
If you want any other order you need to provide a function that returs true if element a comes befor b
Read this https://www.lua.org/manual/5.4/manual.html#pdf-table.sort
table.sort
Sorts the list elements in a given order, in-place, from list[1] to
list[#list]
This example is not a "list" or sequence:
lines = {
luaH_set = 10,
luaH_get = 24,
luaH_present = 48,
}
Which is equivalent to
lines = {
["luaH_set"] = 10,
["luaH_get"] = 24,
["luaH_present"] = 48,
}
it only has strings as keys. It has no order. You need a helper sequence to map some order to that table's element.
The second example
obj = {
{ N = 'Green1' },
{ N = 'Green' },
{ N = 'Sky blue99' }
}
which is equivalent to
obj = {
[1] = { N = 'Green1' },
[2] = { N = 'Green' },
[3] = { N = 'Sky blue99' },
}
Is a list. So you could sort it. But sorting it by table values wouldn't make too much sense. So you need to provide a function that gives you a reasonable way to order it.
Read this so you understand what a "sequence" or "list" is in this regard. Those names are used for other things as well. Don't let it confuse you.
https://www.lua.org/manual/5.4/manual.html#3.4.7
It is basically a table that has consecutive integer keys starting at 1.
Understanding this difference is one of the most important concepts while learning Lua. The length operator, ipairs and many functions of the table library only work with sequences.
This is my table:
local players = {"barry", "susan", "john", "wendy", "kevin"}
I want to sort these names alphabetically.
All you need is table.sort(players)
I understand that LUA tables don't preserve order.
Order of fields in a Lua table (a dictionary with arbitrary keys) is not preserved.
But your Lua table is an array, it is self-ordered by its integer keys 1, 2, 3,....
To clear up the confusing in regards to "not preserving order": What's not preserving order are the keys of the values in the table, in particular for string keys, i.e. when you use the table as dictionary and not as array. If you write myTable = {orange="hello", apple="world"} then the fact that you defined key orange to the left of key apple isn't stored. If you enumerate keys/values using for k, v in pairs(myTable) do print(k, v) end then you'd actually get apple world before orange hello because "apple" < "orange".
You don't have this problem with numeric keys though (which is what the keys by default will be if you don't specify them - myTable = {"hello", "world", foo="bar"} is the same as myTable = {[1]="hello", [2]="world", foo="bar"}, i.e. it will assign myTable[1] = "hello", myTable[2] = "world" and myTable.foo = "bar" (same as myTable["foo"]). (Here, even if you would get the numeric keys in a random order - which you don't, it wouldn't matter since you could still loop through them by incrementing.)
You can use table.sort which, if no order function is given, will sort the values using < so in case of numbers the result is ascending numbers and in case of strings it will sort by ASCII code:
local players = {"barry", "susan", "john", "wendy", "kevin"}
table.sort(players)
-- players is now {"barry", "john", "kevin", "susan", "wendy"}
This will however fall apart if you have mixed lowercase and uppercase entries because uppercase will go before lowercase due to having lower ASCII codes, and of course it also won't work properly with non-ASCII characters like umlauts (they will go last) - it's not a lexicographic sort.
You can however supply your own ordering function which receives arguments (a, b) and needs to return true if a should come before b. Here an example that fixes the lower-/uppercase issues for example, by converting to uppercase before comparing:
table.sort(players, function (a, b)
return string.upper(a) < string.upper(b)
end)
I have some code, I want it to pick a random string from the list and convert it to a data type to be used in joypad.set() function.
Here is my code:
Buttons = { A = true,
B = true,
Down = true}
while (true) do
Random = math.random(3)
NewButton = (Buttons[Random])
joypad.set(1, (NewButton))
emu.frameadvance();
end;
You don't state your problem, but from your code, it looks like you're not getting the values from the array you expect. You're getting a random number between 1 and 3, but A, B, and Down are not 1, 2, and 3. Buttons is an associative array (key-value pairs) the way you declare it, so if you want to use it this way, you will need to set up a second array with just the key names, and get a random index from that, like so:
ButtonKeys = { "A", "B", "Down" }
Random = math.random(3)
NewButton = (Buttons[ButtonKeys[Random]])
This creates a table with the values of A, B, and Down as index 1, 2, and 3, so you use the random number to get the value from the ButtonKeys array, then use that value as the index for the Buttons array.
Edit: I reread the question and went over my original answer and realized I was thinking about you declaring the table differently. The way you declare the table, A, B, and Down become properties of Buttons, which you can access by calling them directly like Buttons.A, Buttons.B, and Buttons.C, or by using brackets with a string name of the property you want to access. In your case, Buttons["A"], Buttons["B"], and Buttons["Down"].
I am having trouble with my tables, I am making a text adventure in lua
local locxy = {}
locxy[1] = {}
locxy[1][1] = {}
locxy[1][1]["locdesc"] = "dungeon cell"
locxy[1][1]["items"] = {"nothing"}
locxy[1][1]["monsters"] = {monster1}
The [1][1] refers to x,y coordinates and using a move command I can successfully move into different rooms and receive the description of said room.
Items and monsters are nested tables since multiple items can be held there (each with their own properties).
The problem I am having is getting the items/monsters part to work. I have a separate table such as:
local monsters = {}
monsters["rat"] = {}
monsters["rat"]["Name"] = "a rat"
monsters["rat"]["Health"] = 5
monsters["rat"]["Attack"] = 1
I am using a table like this to create outlines for various enemy types. The monster1 is a variable I can insert into the location table to call upon one of these outlines, however I don't know how to reference it.
print("You are in ", locxy[x][y]["locdesc"]) -- this works
print("You can see a ", locxy[x][y]["monsters]["Name"],".") - does not work
So I would like to know how I can get that to work, I may need a different approach which is fine since I am learning. But I would also specifically like to know how to / if it possible to use a variable within a table entry that points to data in a separate table.
Thanks for any help that can be offered!
This line
locxy[x][y]["monsters]["Name"]
says
look in the locxy table for the x field
then look in the y field of that value
look in the "monsters"` field of that value
then look in the "Name" field of that value
The problem is that the table you get back from locxy[x][y]["monsters"] doesn't have a "Name" field. It has some number of entries in numerical indices.
locxy[x][y]["monsters][1]["Name"] will get you the name of the first monster in that table but you will need to loop over the monsters table to get all of them.
Style notes:
Instead of:
tab = {}
tab[1] = {}
tab[1][1] = {}
you can just use:
tab = {
[1] = {
{}
}
}
and instead of:
monsters = {}
monsters["rat"] = {}
monsters["rat"]["Name"] = "foo"
you can just use:
monsters = {
rat = {
Name = "foo"
}
}
Or ["rat"] and ["Name"] if you want to be explicit in your keys.
Similarly instead of monsters["rat"]["Name"] you can use monsters.rat.Name.
I'm not sure if this is possible due to the numerical indices, but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
Given the table of:
t = { 13, 200, 12, 15, 23 }
how can I nest a table using the numbers?
t["200"] = {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}
doesn't seem to work, as it'll create a position 200 and fill in the empty cells with null. I'd add a letter as a suffix/prefix, but the problem comes trying to sort the table numerically. Is this even possible, or am I stuck with a different method? Thanks!
Slight edit due to a realisation:
t["200"] = {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}
actually creates a key of "200", whereas:
t[200] = {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}
creates the index 200 with everything else null.
First, DeadMG is correct; you used a string rather than a numerical index. However, even if you did use a number index, it wouldn't help.
If you do this:
someTable = {"value1", "value2", {"value3a", "value3b"}};
someTable[50] = {"value50a", "value50b"};
The length of the table, #someTable, will still be 3. Why? Because Lua defines arrays in a table based on contiguous elements. Remember: you can access any element of any table; they are all conceptually filled with nil until you give them an actual value.
Lua defines length for a table as the number of values in a table if you start counting from numerical index 1 until you reach the first nil value. Since someTable[4] is nil, the length is 3.
If you want to insert a new element at the end of an array table, then you can do this:
someTable[#someTable + 1] = "newValue";
The value can itself be a table:
someTable[#someTable + 1] = {"newValuea", "newValueb"};
If you're just asking how to access a nested table, that's simple, and it has nothing to do with the keys you use.
There is nothing special about nested tables. Tables are values, and table entries can be any value, including other tables.
If you have a table, and want to walk the array entries in it, you use this:
local aTable = {"first", "second", "third", ...}
for i, value in ipairs(aTable) do
--`value` contains the entries in the table.
end
A nested table is no different; it is simply a matter of getting the table.
local nestedTable = { "first", "second", "third", ...}
nestedTable[#nestedTable + 1] = {"newFirst", "newSecond", ...}
local aTable = nestedTable[#nestedTable];
for i, value in ipairs(aTable) do
--`value` contains the entries in the table.
end
Or you could just do ipairs(nestedTable[#nestedTable]). Note that the particular key used here (an integer value) is entirely unimportant. That key could have been a string, a floating-point number, another table, some user-data, etc. It doesn't matter.
Note also that we use ipairs because we only want to iterate over the array members of the table. The length of the array is defined above. If we wanted to loop over every member of the table, we would use pairs instead of ipairs. Of course, pairs does an unordered search, so it is not guaranteed to be in array order.
If you want to recursively find every element in a nested table, you can do this:
local function RecursiveSearch(aTable)
for key, value in pairs(aTable) do --unordered search
if(type(value) == "table") then
RecursiveSearch(value)
else
--Do something with this.
end
end
end
Note that the above can do an infinite loop, since it is possible for a table to have circular references:
local tableA = {}
local tableB = {tableA}
local tableA[1] = tableB
RecursiveSearch(tableA) --Infinite loop.
Perhaps it helps to view your assignment like this:
t = { [1] = 13, [2] = 200, [3] = 12, [4] = 15, [5] = 23 }
To change what is currently 200 (namely t[2]), you do:
t[2] = {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}
Edit: that results in your table looking like this:
t = { [1] = 13, [2] = {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}, [3] = 12, [4] = 15, [5] = 23 }
-- or, equivalent::
t = { 13, {"stuff", "more stuff", "even more stuff"}, 12, 15, 23 }
The trouble is your use of "". Your table t contains a bunch of numbers, and you're entering a string as the key. You want to iterate over the table and do... something that you didn't particularly well define. However, you can't add to a table whilst iterating over it, so you might have to do some funny stuff.
t = { 13, 200, 12, 15, 23 }
newt = {};
for key, value in pairs(t) {
newt[value] = { };
}
This will create a table entry in newt, where the key is a value in the table t, for all values in t.
In Lua, you can create a table the following way :
local t = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
However, I want to create an associative table, I have to do it the following way :
local t = {}
t['foo'] = 1
t['bar'] = 2
The following gives an error :
local t = { 'foo' = 1, 'bar' = 2 }
Is there a way to do it similarly to my first code snippet ?
The correct way to write this is either
local t = { foo = 1, bar = 2}
Or, if the keys in your table are not legal identifiers:
local t = { ["one key"] = 1, ["another key"] = 2}
i belive it works a bit better and understandable if you look at it like this
local tablename = {["key"]="value",
["key1"]="value",
...}
finding a result with : tablename.key=value
Tables as dictionaries
Tables can also be used to store information which is not indexed
numerically, or sequentially, as with arrays. These storage types are
sometimes called dictionaries, associative arrays, hashes, or mapping
types. We'll use the term dictionary where an element pair has a key
and a value. The key is used to set and retrieve a value associated
with it. Note that just like arrays we can use the table[key] = value
format to insert elements into the table. A key need not be a number,
it can be a string, or for that matter, nearly any other Lua object
(except for nil or 0/0). Let's construct a table with some key-value
pairs in it:
> t = { apple="green", orange="orange", banana="yellow" }
> for k,v in pairs(t) do print(k,v) end
apple green
orange orange
banana yellow
from : http://lua-users.org/wiki/TablesTutorial
To initialize associative array which has string keys matched by string values, you should use
local petFamilies = {["Bat"]="Cunning",["Bear"]="Tenacity"};
but not
local petFamilies = {["Bat"]=["Cunning"],["Bear"]=["Tenacity"]};