StringTable Lua Reference Documentation
chilkat.StringTable
Current Version: 11.7.0
Markdown version of this page for AI tools (v 11.7.0) · all AI docs
Chilkat.StringTable
Store a list of strings in insertion order and retrieve individual
entries by zero-based index.
Add strings directly, append strings from a file, or load line-delimited
text from a
Find entries containing a substring or matching a wildcard pattern when
filtering or locating text values.
Sort the string collection when deterministic ordering or user-facing
display order is needed.
Split delimited text into separate string-table entries for easier
indexing, searching, sorting, or saving.
Convert the table back to line-delimited text, copy it to a
For an extended overview, see
StringTable Class Overview.
Store, load, search, sort, split, retrieve, and save ordered lists of strings.
Chilkat.StringTable is a simple ordered collection of strings.
It can append strings directly, load one string per line from files or
StringBuilder, search for substrings or wildcard matches, sort
the collection, split strings into entries, retrieve strings by index, export
the table as line-delimited text, and save the result to a file.
Ordered string collection
Append and import
StringBuilder.
Search strings
Sort entries
Split into entries
Export and save
StringBuilder, or save the collection to a file.
StringTable when application code needs a lightweight
ordered list of text values. Append or load the strings, search or sort as
needed, retrieve entries by index with StringAt or
StringAtSb, then export the final list as line-delimited text or
save it to a file.
Object Creation
local chilkat = require("chilkat")
local string_table = chilkat.StringTable.new()Creates the object (chilkat.StringTable() does the same). Lua's garbage collector frees it when it is no longer referenced; string_table:dispose() frees it at once, and in Lua 5.4 and later local string_table <close> = chilkat.StringTable.new() frees it when the block ends. Calling a method of a disposed object raises an error.
Errors
A method that fails returns nil followed by the error text, as io.open does: local body, err = string_table:method(...), where err is the object's last_error_text. Wrap the call in assert() to raise an error with that text instead. Methods that answer a question return true or false, numbers are returned as they are (check last_method_success where the description says a value means failure), and property reads and writes never fail for Chilkat reasons.
Misuse raises a Lua error: a wrong argument type or a missing argument (bad argument #1 to ...), an unknown property name, a write to a read-only property, an out-of-range integer, or an object of the wrong class.
Names are Chilkat's in snake_case: QuickGetStr is quick_get_str, LastErrorText is last_error_text. Properties are fields (string_table.verbose_logging = true) and methods use the colon (string_table:method(...)). Strings are UTF-8; binary data is a Lua string of bytes. Indexes are 0-based, as in every Chilkat API. Unlocking: call chilkat.unlock_bundle("...") once at startup.
Properties
Count
local intVal = string_table.count
The number of strings in the table.
topDebugLogFilePath
local strVal = string_table.debug_log_file_path
string_table.debug_log_file_path = strVal
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
LastErrorHtml
local strVal = string_table.last_error_html
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
local strVal = string_table.last_error_text
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
local strVal = string_table.last_error_xml
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
local boolVal = string_table.last_method_success
string_table.last_method_success = boolVal
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
VerboseLogging
local boolVal = string_table.verbose_logging
string_table.verbose_logging = boolVal
If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
local strVal = string_table.version
Methods
Append
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:append(value)
Appends a string to the table.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendFromFile
-- charset is a string
-- path is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:append_from_file(max_line_len, charset, path)
Appends strings, one per line, from a file. Each line in the path should be no longer than the length specified in max_line_len. The charset indicates the character encoding of the contents of the file, such as utf-8, iso-8859-1, Shift_JIS, etc.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendFromSb
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:append_from_sb(sb)
Appends strings, one per line, from the contents of a StringBuilder object.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
Clear
Removes all the strings from the table.
topFindMatch
-- case_sensitive is a boolean
-- n is an integer
local n = string_table:find_match(sb, case_sensitive)
This string table object holds strings with wildcards. The method returns the index of the wildcarded string that matches the text in sb, or -1 if no match is found. case_sensitive specifies whether the matching should be case-sensitive.
FindSubstring
-- substr is a string
-- case_sensitive is a boolean
-- n is an integer
local n = string_table:find_substring(start_index, substr, case_sensitive)
Return the index of the first string in the table containing substr. Begins searching strings starting at start_index. If case_sensitive is true, then the search is case sensitive. If case_sensitive is false then the search is case insensitive. Returns -1 if the substr is not found.
GetStrings
-- count is an integer
-- crlf is a boolean
-- str is a string, or nil and err on failure
local str, err = string_table:get_strings(start_idx, count, crlf)
Return the number of strings specified by count, one per line, starting at start_idx. To return the entire table, pass 0 values for both start_idx and count. Set crlf equal to true to emit with CRLF line endings, or false to emit LF-only line endings. The last string is emitted includes the line ending.
Returns the string, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
IntAt
-- n is an integer
local n = string_table:int_at(index)
Returns the Nth string in the table, converted to an integer value. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns -1 if no string is found at the specified index. Returns 0 if the string at the specified index exist, but is not an integer.
SaveToFile
-- b_crlf is a boolean
-- path is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:save_to_file(charset, b_crlf, path)
Saves the string table to a file. The charset is the character encoding to use, such as utf-8, iso-8859-1, windows-1252, Shift_JIS, gb2312, etc. If b_crlf is true, then CRLF line endings are used, otherwise LF-only line endings are used.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
Sort
-- case_sensitive is a boolean
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:sort(ascending, case_sensitive)
Sorts the strings in the collection in ascending or descending order. To sort in ascending order, set ascending to true, otherwise set ascending equal to false.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
SplitAndAppend
-- delimiter_char is a string
-- except_double_quoted is a boolean
-- except_escaped is a boolean
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:split_and_append(in_str, delimiter_char, except_double_quoted, except_escaped)
Splits a string into parts based on a single character delimiter_char. If except_double_quoted is true, then the delimiter char found between double quotes is not treated as a delimiter. If except_escaped is true, then an escaped (with a backslash) delimiter char is not treated as a delimiter.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
StringAt
-- str is a string, or nil and err on failure
local str, err = string_table:string_at(index)
Returns the Nth string in the table. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.)
Returns the string, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
StringAtSb
-- sb is a chilkat.StringBuilder
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:string_at_sb(index, sb)
Appends the Nth string in the table to sb. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.)
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
ToSb
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = string_table:to_sb(sb)
Appends the entire string table to sb using CRLF line endings.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
WordFollowing
-- capture_email_addr is a boolean
-- sb_word is a chilkat.StringBuilder
-- n is an integer
local n = string_table:word_following(sb, capture_email_addr, sb_word)
The method performs a case-insensitive search to return the index of a table entry matching sb, or -1 if there is no match. Set capture_email_addr to true if the target word is expected to be an email address, otherwise set capture_email_addr to false. sb_word will receive the word (email address) following the matched text.
This method helps replace the outdated Chilkat Bounce class, which was used for identifying and categorizing bounced email types.