Difference between revisions of "Tserial"
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{{param|string|s|The serial to be turned into a table.}} | {{param|string|s|The serial to be turned into a table.}} | ||
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{{#set:Description=Converts tables into strings and back. Good for saving games, multiplayer, etc.}} | {{#set:Description=Converts tables into strings and back. Good for saving games, multiplayer, etc.}} | ||
{{#set:License=ZLIB license}} | {{#set:License=ZLIB license}} | ||
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[[Category:Libraries]] | [[Category:Libraries]] |
Revision as of 22:14, 24 February 2013
Contents
About
Tserial is a library for turning tables into strings ("serialization") and vice-versa. This has several uses, including making a game save/load system (you write all your game state to a file) and multiplayer (you can pass tables across the network). Tserial turns tables into Lua script, for maximum ease-of-use.
Download
Contact
- Taehl - SelfMadeSpirit@gmail.com
Setup
- Put Tserial.lua in your game's folder
- At the top of main.lua, add the line
require"Tserial"
FAQ
- Q) Can Tserial pack a table that contains other tables?
- A) Yes. Any number of nested tables is fine (it's suitable even for things like tile maps). However, Tserial can NOT handle self-referential tables (such as
t={t}
ort={{1,2,3},{t}}
).
- Q) What data types can/can't be handled by Tserial?
- A) It will properly serialize strings, numbers, booleans, and tables. A table may have any of these types as either keys or values. Userdata and functions can't be serialized by default, but can be supported with a little extra work.
- Q) How can I serialize userdata?
- A) The second parameter of Tserial.pack is used for these. If it's true, Tserial will simply skip userdata and functions. If it's a function, this function will be used to serialize the data. If it's a table, the table will be used for serial lookups.
Functions
Tserial.pack
Tserial.pack(t, drop, indent)
Serializes a table into a string. Returns a string of Lua script which recreates the table.
table t
- The table to be serialized. May not be self-referential.
table drop
- What to do upon encountering data that can't be serialized, like userdata and functions. If absent, Tserial will throw an error upon encountering them. If drop is a function, then it will be called with one parameter (the data) and expect a string in return (so you can supply your own serializing function). If drop is a table, it will be used to look up serials (with data as keys and serials as values).
boolean indent
- If true, output will be in "human-readable mode" with newlines and proper indentation. Otherwise, the string will all be on one line (resulting in smaller sizes).
Tserial.unpack
Tserial.unpack(s)
Turns a serial back into a table. Returns a table recreated from the string.
string s
- The serial to be turned into a table.