mirror of
https://github.com/kikito/inspect.lua.git
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138 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
138 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
h1. inspect.lua
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This function transform any Lua table into a human-readable representation of that table.
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The objective here is human understanding (i.e. for debugging), not serialization or compactness.
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h1. Examples of use
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"Array-like" tables are rendered horizontally:
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<pre>inspect({1,2,3,4}) == "<1>{ 1, 2, 3, 4 }"</pre>
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"dictionary-like" tables are rendered with one element per line:
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<pre>inspect({a=1,b=2}) == [[<1>{
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a = 1,
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b = 2
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}]]</pre>
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The keys will be sorted alphanumerically when possible.
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"Hybrid" tables will have the array part on the first line, and the dictionary part just below them:
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<pre>
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inspect({1,2,3,a=1,b=2}) == [[<1>{ 1, 2, 3,
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a = 1,
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b = 2
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}]]
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</pre>
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Tables can be nested, and will be indented with two spaces per level.
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<pre>
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inspect({a={b=2}}) = [[<1>{
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a = <2>{
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b = 2
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}
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}]]
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</pre>
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By default, @inspect@ will stop rendering at a depth of 4 levels. When that point is reached, it will just return @{...}@ :
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<pre>
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local t5 = {a = {b = {c = {d = {e = 5}}}}}
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inspect(t5) == [[<1>{
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a = <2>{
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b = <3>{
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c = <4>{
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d = {...}
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}
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}
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}
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}]]
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</pre>
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You can increase/decrease the max depth with the second parameter:
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<pre>
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inspect(t5, 2) == [[<1>{
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a = <2>{
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b = {...}
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}
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}]])
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inspect(t5, 7) == [[<1>{
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a = <2>{
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b = <3>{
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c = <4>{
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d = <5>{
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e = 5
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}
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}
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}
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}
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}]])
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</pre>
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Functions, userdata and threads are simply rendered as @<function x>@, @<userdata x>@ and @<thread x>@ respectively:
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<pre>
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inspect({ f = print, ud = some_user_data, thread = a_thread} ) == [[{
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f = <function 1>,
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u = <userdata 1>,
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thread = <thread 1>
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}]])
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</pre>
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If the table has a metatable, inspect will include it at the end, in a special field called @<metatable>@:
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<pre>
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inspect(setmetatable({a=1}, {b=2}) == [[<1>{
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a = 1
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<metatable> = <2>{
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b = 2
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}
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}]])
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</pre>
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You may have noticed that all tables are preceded by an @<id>@ string. If a table has already been printed out, @inspect@ will just print @<table id>@ the second time it finds it. This will prevent infinite loops.
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<pre>
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a = {1,2}
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b = {3,4,a}
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a[3] = b
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inspect(a) = "<1>{ 1, 2, <2>{ 3, 4, <table 1> } }"
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</pre>
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Notice how the second appearance of @a@ was replaced by @<table 1>@ in the string above.
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h1. Gotchas / Warnings
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This method is *not* appropiate for saving/restoring tables. It is ment to be used by the programmer mainly while debugging a program.
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h1. Installation
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Just copy the inspect.lua file somewhere in your projects (maybe inside a /lib/ folder) and require it accordingly.
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Remember to store the value returned by require somewhere! (I suggest a local variable named inspect, altough others might like table.inspect)
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<pre>
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local inspect = require 'inspect'
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-- or --
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table.inspect = require 'inspect'
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</pre>
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Also, make sure to read the license file; the text of that license file must appear somewhere in your projects' files.
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h1. Specs
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This project uses "telescope":https://github.com/norman/telescope for its specs. If you want to run the specs, you will have to install telescope first. Then just execute the following from the root inspect folder:
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<pre>
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tsc -f spec/*
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</pre>
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