Require path

[Davïd]

Hello,

I have the following folder structure :

/classes
classes.lua
--/data
--/data.lua
--/components
--/components.lua
----/movement
----/movement.lua

you get the idea. And I wonder if there is a way to require file like this

require('classes.components.movement')

instead of :

require('classes.components.movement.movement')

Thanks for enlightements

[grump]

Sure, by moving movement.lua one level up into the components folder.

[davisdude]

Without messing with the structure, as grum suggested, you have a couple of options available:

• You can also put a file title "init.lua" inside of each directory, such as movement, which looks something like this:
  

  Code: Select all

  -- classes/components/movement/init.lua
  -- Match the parent directory
  local path = (...):match( '(.-)[^%./]+$' )
  return path .. 'movement.lua'
  

  Then you could require the directory itself, which would require the specific file:

  Code: Select all

  -- main.lua
  require 'classes.components.movement'
  

  Though this is a bit of a hassle, since you need to create a new file for each class that you make.
• Alternatively, you could try messing with the package.path variable, though it could have some hard-to-find consequences later on if you're not careful with naming your files:
  

  Code: Select all

  -- main.lua
  package.path = './classes/components/?/?.lua;' .. package.path
  require 'movement' 
  

• If you really wanted to achieve the exact structure you described without creating a custom file for each directory you could mokeypatch, or overwrite the require function, which I would strongly advise against and is typically not recommended (though still doable if you're desperate enough):
  

  Code: Select all

  -- Wrap everything in a do-block to reduce pollution to the local scope
  do
  	-- Store the old require to be used later
  	local _require = require
  	
  	-- Store the items in the directory, to check if one of the names matches
  	local directory = 'classes/components/'
  	local fileNames = love.filesystem.getDirectoryItems( directory )
  	
  	-- Overwrite require globally
  	function require( path )
  		-- Check to see if the last part of the path matches one of the fileNames
  		-- Get the last part of the path
  		local fileName = path:match( '^.-([^%./]+)$' )
  		for _, name in ipairs( fileNames ) do
  			-- File matches; use special format
  			if fileName == name then
  				return _require( directory .. fileName .. '.' .. fileName )
  			end
  		end
  		
  		-- File does not match; use regular require
  		return _require( pathname )
  	end
  end
  
  require 'classes.components.movement'
  

[Davïd]

Thanks for answers. I changed structure like Grump suggested.

And I didn't know about init files. Thank you for such quality answer Davis.