SafeSaveLoad Lua

lightweight utility for serializing and deserializing Lua tables

Description

The SafeSaveLoad module is a lightweight utility for serializing and deserializing Lua tables. It transforms Lua tables into a human-readable string format that can be stored or transmitted and then reconstructs the original table from this serialized string.

This module is particularly useful for saving and loading data in Lua-based projects, such as game state management, configuration storage, or debugging complex data structures.

Key Features

Serialization: Converts Lua tables, including nested ones, into a string representation. Deserialization: Restores tables from their string representations. Human-Readable Format: Easy to read, edit, and debug serialized data. Type Safety: Supports number and string keys/values, ensuring compatibility and error avoidance. Use Cases Save and load game progress, settings, or other structured data. Debug or log table data in a readable format. Share structured data between Lua scripts or applications.

How to Use

The SafeSaveLoad module provides two core functions for serializing Lua tables into a string format and deserializing them back into Lua tables. This is useful for saving and loading structured data such as configurations, game states, or any nested table structure.

Functions serializeTable(tbl) Serializes a Lua table into a formatted string.

Parameters:

tbl (table): The table to be serialized. Keys must be of type string or number. Values can be string, number, or another nested table. Returns:

(string): A string representation of the table that can later be deserialized. Example:

lua Code kopieren local myTable = { name = "test", id = 123, nested = { key = "value", count = 42, }, }

local serialized = SaveLoad.serializeTable(myTable) print(serialized) deserializeString(str) Deserializes a string back into a Lua table.

Parameters:

str (string): The serialized string produced by serializeTable. Returns:

(table): A Lua table reconstructed from the serialized string. Example:

local SafeSaveLoad = require("SafeSaveLoad")

local serialized = [[start table
stringIndex
items
tableValue
  start table
  numberIndex
  1
  stringValue
  sword
  numberIndex
  2
  stringValue
  shield
  numberIndex
  3
  stringValue
  potion
  end table
stringIndex
stats
tableValue
  start table
  stringIndex
  health
  numberValue
  100
  stringIndex
  mana
  numberValue
  50
  end table
stringIndex
level
numberValue
5
stringIndex
player
stringValue
hero
end table]]

local deserialized = SafeSaveLoad.deserializeString(serialized)

local SafeSaveLoad = require("SafeSaveLoad")

-- Define a table to serialize
local data = {
    player = "hero",
    level = 5,
    stats = {
        health = 100,
        mana = 50,
    },
    items = {"sword", "shield", "potion"}
}

-- Serialize the table
local serializedData = SafeSaveLoad.serializeTable(data)
print("Serialized Data:")
print(serializedData)

Advantages

Handles nested tables with ease. Easy to read and debug the serialized format. Supports string and number types for both keys and values.

Limitations

Does not support boolean, function, or userdata types. Keys must be string or number. Other types will raise an error. Circular references in tables are not supported. Ensure your table structure is acyclic.