background:
I am trying to teach myself Lua and I am having difficulty understanding why a table is being considered nil when it has data inside it. Can anyone break it down for me why I am getting this error message from the code snippet below? It is one of my first programs and i really need to get these few concepts down before moving on to my real project. Thanks!
error message:
C:\Users\<user>\Desktop>lua luaCrap.lua
lua: luaCrap.lua:7: attempt to call global 'entry' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
luaCrap.lua:7: in main chunk
[C]: ?
code:
--this creates the function to print
function fwrite (fmt, ...)
return io.write(string.format(fmt, unpack(arg)))
end
--this is my table of strings to print
entry{
title = "test",
org = "org",
url = "http://www.google.com/",
contact = "someone",
description = [[
test1
test2
test3]]
}
--this is to print the tables first value
fwrite(entry[1])
--failed loop attempt to print table
-- for i = 1, #entry, 1 do
-- local entryPrint = entry[i] or 'Fail'
-- fwrite(entryPrint)
-- end
you are missing the assignment to entry.
you need to change the entry code to this:
entry =
{
title = "test",
org = "org",
url = "http://www.google.com/",
contact = "someone",
description = [[
test1
test2
test3]]
}
to clarify the error message, parens are assumed in certain contexts, like when you have a table directly following a label. the interpreter thinks you're trying to pass a table to a function called entry, which it can't find. it assumes you really meant this:
entry({title = "test", ...})
Related
I'm currently starting work on a text adventure game in Lua--no addons, just pure Lua for my first project. In essence, here is my problem; I'm trying to find out how I can do a "reverse lookup" of a table using one of its variables. Here's an example of what I've tried to do:
print("What are you trying to take?")
bag = {}
gold = {name="Gold",ap=3}
x = io.read("*l")
if x == "Gold" then
table.insert(bag,gold)
print("You took the " .. gold.name .. ".")
end
Obviously, writing a line like this with every single object in the game would be very... exhausting--especially since I think I'll be able to use this solution for not just taking items but movement from room to room using a reverse lookup with each room's (x,y) coordinates. Anyone have any ideas on how to make a more flexible system that can find a table by the player typing in one of its variables? Thanks in advance!
-blockchainporter
This doesn't directly answer your question as you asked it, but I think it would serve the purpose of what you are trying to do. I create a table called 'loot' which can hold many objects, and the player can place any of these in their 'bag' by typing the name.
bag = {}
loot = {
{name="Gold", qty=3},
{name="Axe", qty=1},
}
print("What are you trying to take?")
x = io.read("*l")
i = 1
while loot[i] do
if (x == loot[i].name) then
table.insert(bag, table.remove(loot,i))
else
i = i + 1
end
end
For bonus points, you could check 'bag' to see if the player has some of that item already and then just update the quantity...
while loot[i] do
if (x == loot[i].name) then
j, found = 1, nil
while bag[j] do
if (x == bag[j].name) then
found = true
bag[j].qty = bag[j].qty + loot[i].qty
table.remove(loot,i)
end
j = j + 1
end
if (not found) then
table.insert(bag, table.remove(loot,i))
end
else
i = i + 1
end
end
Again, this isn't a 'reverse lookup' solution like you asked for... but I think it is closer to what you are trying to do by letting a user choose to loot something.
My disclaimer is that I don't use IO functions in my own lua usage, so I have to assume that your x = io.read("*l") is correct.
PS. If you only ever want objects to have a name and qty, and never any other properties (like condition, enchantment, or whatever) then you could also simplify my solution by using key/val pairs:
bag = {}
loot = { ["Gold"] = 3, ["Axe"] = 1 }
print("What are you trying to take?")
x = io.read("*l")
for name, qty in pairs(loot) do
if x == name then
bag.name = (bag.name or 0) + qty
loot.name = nil
end
end
I have a few notes to start before I specifically address your question. (I just want to do this before I forget, so please bear with me!)
I recommend printing to the terminal using stderr instead of stdout--the Lua function print uses the latter. When I am writing a Lua script, I often create a C-style function called eprintf to print formatted output to stderr. I implement it like this:
local function eprintf(fmt, ...)
io.stderr:write(string.format(fmt, ...))
return
end
Just be aware that, unlike print, this function does not automatically append a newline character to the output string; to do so, remember to put \n at the end of your fmt string.
Next, it may be useful to define a helper function that calls io.read("*l") to get an entire line of input. In writing some example code to help answer your question, I called my function getline--like the C++ function that has similar behavior--and defined it like this:
local function getline()
local read = tostring(io.read("*l"))
return read
end
If I correctly understand what it is you are trying to do, the player will have an inventory--which you have called bag--and he can put items into it by entering item names into stdin. So, for instance, if the player found a treasure chest with gold, a sword, and a potion in it and he wanted to take the gold, he would type Gold into stdin and it would be placed in his inventory.
Based on what you have so far, it looks like you are using Lua tables to create these items: each table has a name index and another called ap; and, if a player's text input matches an item's name, the player picks that up item.
I would recommend creating an Item class, which you could abstract nicely by placing it in its own script and then loading it as needed with require. This is a very basic Item class module I wrote:
----------------
-- Item class --
----------------
local Item = {__name = "Item"}
Item.__metatable = "metatable"
Item.__index = Item
-- __newindex metamethod.
function Item.__newindex(self, k, v)
local err = string.format(
"type `Item` does not have member `%s`",
tostring(k)
)
return error(err, 2)
end
-- Item constructor
function Item.new(name_in, ap_in)
assert((name_in ~= nil) and (ap_in ~= nil))
local self = {
name = name_in,
ap = ap_in
}
return setmetatable(self, Item)
end
return Item
From there, I wrote a main driver to encapsulate some of the behavior you described in your question. (Yes, I know my Lua code looks more like C.)
#!/usr/bin/lua
-------------
-- Modules --
-------------
local Item = assert(require("Item"))
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 getline()
local read = tostring(io.read("*l"))
return read
end
local function main(argc, argv)
local gold = Item.new("Gold", 3)
printf("gold.name = %s\ngold.ap = %i\n", gold.name, gold.ap)
return 0
end
main(#arg, arg)
Now, as for the reverse search which you described, at this point all you should have to do is check the user's input against an Item's name. Here it is in the main function:
local function main(argc, argv)
local gold = Item.new("Gold", 3)
local bag = {}
eprintf("What are you trying to take? ")
local input = getline()
if (input == gold.name) then
table.insert(bag, gold)
eprintf("You took the %s.\n", gold.name)
else
eprintf("Unrecognized item `%s`.\n", input)
end
return 0
end
I hope this helps!
I have some text and I'm trying to load it via load string. The following works:
local m = loadstring("data = 5")()
But when the data is a table it doesn't work and gives the error "attempt to call a nil"
local m = loadstring("data = { 1 = 10}")()
The table declaration in lua require integer keys to be put inside square brackets:
data = {
[1] = value,
}
The enclosing of keys in square brackets is always allowed, valid and possible. It can be skipped iff your key follows the pattern: [A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]* (which is the same as a valid variable name in lua)
If you had added an assert you would have got a more helpful message:
local m = assert (loadstring("data = { 1 = 10}"))()
Result:
stdin:1: [string "data = { 1 = 10}"]:1: '}' expected near '='
stack traceback:
[C]: in function 'assert'
stdin:1: in main chunk
[C]: ?
And to actually answer the question, unless the table key happens to follow Lua variable naming rules, you have to put it inside square brackets, eg.
local m = assert (loadstring("data = { [1] = 10}"))()
m is still nil when I do this
What does that matter? The loadstring is done.
Just do this:
assert (loadstring("data = { 1 = 10}"))()
print (data [1])
You don't need the variable m. The loadstring puts a table into data - that is the important thing.
I have a lua table which I used to share values between files. But I am getting confused in the following case
utility.lua file
M = {}
M.host_url = '192.168.0.1'
function M.myFunc()
print(M.host_url )
end
return M
in my main.lua
utility = require('utility')
utility.myFunc() -- this gives me 'a nil value' error
I get an error (nil value) for the host_url?
In M.myFunc doing only print action that function nothing will be return.in your utility file returning whole array see he below code that will clear your doudt.
In main.lua
utility = require('util')
value = utility.host_url
print(value)
How would I code a function to iterate through one "pages" worth of data? Sample code would be ideal...
So say we image the size of a page is 5 items. If we had a lua table with 18 items it would need to print out:
Page 1: 1 to 5
Page 2: 6 to 10
Page 3: 11 to 15
Page 4: 16 to 18
So assume the data is something like:
local data = {}
data["dog"] = {1,2,3}
data["cat"] = {1,2,3}
data["mouse"] = {1,2,3}
data["pig"] = {1,2,3}
.
.
.
How would one code the function that would do the equivalent of this:
function printPage (myTable, pageSize, pageNum)
-- find items in "myTable"
end
So in fact I'm not even sure if a Lua table used as a dictionary can even do this? There is no specific ordering is there in such a table, so how would you be sure the order would be the same when you come back to print page 2?
The next function allows you to go through a table in an order (albeit an unpredictable one). For example:
data = { dog = "Ralf", cat = "Tiddles", fish = "Joey", tortoise = "Fred" }
function printPage(t, size, start)
local i = 0
local nextKey, nextVal = start
while i < size and nextKey ~= nil do
nextKey, nextVal = next(t, nextKey)
print(nextKey .. " = " .. nextVal)
i = i + 1
end
return nextKey
end
local nextPage = printPage(data, 2) -- Print the first page
printPage(data, 2, nextPage) -- Print the second page
I know this isn't quite in the form you were after, but I'm sure it can be adapted quite easily.
The next function returns the key after the one provided in the table, along with its value. When the end of the table is reached, it returns nil. If you provide nil as the second parameter, it returns the first key and value in the table. It's also documented in Corona, although it appears to be identical.
What I'm currently trying to do is make a table of email addresses (as keys) that hold person_records (as values). Where the person_record holds 6 or so things in it. The problem I'm getting is that when I try to assign the email address as a key to a table it complains and says table index is nil... This is what I have so far:
random_record = split(line, ",")
person_record = {first_name = random_record[1], last_name = random_record[2], email_address = random_record[3], street_address = random_record[4], city = random_record[5], state = random_record[6]}
email_table[person_record.email_address] = person_record
I wrote my own split function that basically takes a line of input and pulls out the 6 comma seperated values and stores them in a table (random_record)
I get an error when I try to say email_table[person_record.email_address] = person_record.
But when I print out person_record.email_address it's NOT nil, it prints out the string I stored in it.. I'm so confused.
function split(str, pat)
local t = {} -- NOTE: use {n = 0} in Lua-5.0
local fpat = "(.-)" .. pat
local last_end = 1
local s, e, cap = str:find(fpat, 1)
while s do
if s ~= 1 or cap ~= "" then
table.insert(t,cap)
end
last_end = e+1
s, e, cap = str:find(fpat, last_end)
end
if last_end <= #str then
cap = str:sub(last_end)
table.insert(t, cap)
end
return t
end
The following code is copy and pasted from your example and runs just fine:
email_table = {}
random_record = {"first", "second", "third"}
person_record = {first_name = random_record[1], last_name = random_record[1], email_address = random_record[1]}
email_table[person_record.email_address] = person_record
So your problem is in your split function.
BTW, Lua doesn't have "hashtables". It simply has "tables" which store key/value pairs. Whether these happen to use hashes or not is an implementation detail.
It looks like you iterating over some lines that have comma-separated data.
Looking at your split function, it stops as soon as there's no more separator (,) symbols in particular line to find. So feeding it anything with less than 3 ,-separated fields (for very common example: an empty line at end of file) will produce a table that doesn't go up to [3]. Addressing any empty table value will return you a nil, so person_record.email_address will be set to nil as well on the 2nd line of your code. Then, when you attempt to use this nil stored in person_record.email_address as an index to email_table in 3rd line, you will get the exact error you've mentioned.