Lua Coding Docs: Library Methods ‐ Table Methods

Table Methods

table.insert(tbl:Table, ?pos:Int, value:Any):Table

Inserts an element value to a given table array, shifting the pre-existing element values to open space, if it exists.

• tbl - The given table array to insert an element value.
• pos - An optional parameter, The index position for the element value to be inserted to. This will always insert at the end of the table array, if there is no argument present. It basically gets the length of the table array and adds 1 to it.
• value - The element value to be inserted to.

Examples:

local content = {0x63a834, 0x8a94b3, 0xff34ba}
table.insert(content, 0x8349bd)

debugPrint(content) --> [6531124, 9082035, 16725178, 8604093]

local content = {true, false, false, true}
table.insert(content, 2, true)

debugPrint(content) --> [true, true, false, false, true]

table.remove(tbl:Table, ?pos:Int):Any

Removes an element value from a given table array, shifting the pre-existing element values to close space, if it exists. Returns the given element value that was removed from the table array.

• tbl - The given table array to insert an element value.
• pos - An optional parameter, The index position for the element value to be removed from. This will always remove at the end of the table array, if there is no argument present. It basically gets the length of the table array and subtracts 1 to it.
• value - The element value to be removed from.

Examples:

local content = {10e+93, 10e+53, 10e-45}
table.remove(content)

debugPrint(content) --> [10e+93, 10e+53]

local content = {'pepper', 'asparagus', 'beetroot', 'asparagus'}
table.remove(content, 3)

debugPrint(content) --> [pepper, asparagus, asparagus]

table.concat(tbl:Table, sep:String = '', ?start:Int = 1, ?end:Int):String

Concatenates each element values from a given table array; strings and numbers are only allowed to concatenate tho.

• tbl - The given table array to concatenate each element values.
• sep - An optional parameter, The separation between each element values; Default value: ''.
• start - An optional parameter, The starting index position of the table array to start concatenating; Default value: 1.
• end - An optional parameter, The ending index position of the table array to end concatenating.

Examples:

local content = {'apple', 'banana', 'orange'}
debugPrint( table.concat(content) )       --> applebananaorange
debugPrint( table.concat(content, '; ') ) --> apple; banana; orange

local content = {'apple', 'banana', 'orange', 'pineapple', 'kiwi'}
debugPrint( table.concat(content, '; ', 2, 4) ) --> banana; orange; pineapple

table.sort(tbl:Table, ?comparison:Function(comp1:Any, comp2:Any)):Void

Sorts the element values from the given table, each element values' data type has it corresponding sorting system. For string it will sort to alphabetical order and for numbers it will sort to ascending order. If you attempted to sort several different data types, it will throw an error.

• tbl - The given table to sort the given element values.
• comparison - An optional parameter, compares each element value of the table, receives two separate elements.
  • comp1 - An optional parameter, The first randomize element value within the table.
  • comp2 - An optional parameter, The second randomize element value within the table.

Example:

Sorts from descending order.

local content = {8743, 8351, 9374, 3982}
table.sort(content, function(comp1, comp2)
     return comp1 < comp2
end)

debugPrint( content ) --> [3982, 8351, 8743, 9374]

LuaJIT Exclusive Methods

Warning

The methods listed have limited information and very vague documentation.

table.new(narray:Int, nhash:Int):Table

Requires: require('table.new')

Creates a new pre-sized table and pushes it onto the stack and pre-allocates memory. The pre-allocation is pretty useful for performance, when you know exactly the amount of elements will the table contain. For instance for holding a lot of elements within a table, if the exact table size is known. Automatically resizing the table might cause performance issue. This method is based on the C API function lua_createtable().

Caution

Only one parameter can only hold a value, the other parameter must hold a zero value. Becuase it might fuck up the method or something idk, most examples I saw have this rule.

• narray - The amount of elements, index-value pairs will the new table array have.
• nhash - The amount of elements, key-value pairs will the new table dictionary have.

Example:

require('table.new')

local content = table.new(3, 0)
content[1] = 0x83
content[2] = 0x9d
content[3] = 0xff
debugPrint(content) --> [131, 157, 255]

require('table.new')

local content = table.new(0, 3)
content.a = true
content.b = false
content.c = false
debugPrint(content) --> ["a" => true, "b" => false, "c" => false]

table.clear(tbl:Table):Void

Requires: require('table.clear')

Clears any element key and values from the given table, but preserves the allocated number of array or hash sizes. It's pretty useful for when a table, which is linked from multiple places, needs to be cleared and/or when recycling a table for use by the same context. And also avoid managing backlinks, saves an allocation and the overhead of incremental array or hash part growth.

Note

This method is meant for very specific situations, that in most cases. It's better to replace the link, usually single with a new table and let the garbage collection do its work.

• tbl - The given table to clear its elements, key and values.

Example:

require('table.clear')

local content = table.new(3, 0)
content[1] = 384
content[2] = 281
content[3] = 934

table.clear(content)
debugPrint(content) --> {}