Load a Lua script into a table named after filename

Question

I load scripts using luaL_loadfile and then lua_pcall from my game, and was wondering if instead of loading them into the global table, I could load them into a table named after their filename?

For example:

I have I file called "Foo.lua", which contains this:

function DoSomething()
    --something
end

After loading it I want to be able to access it like:

Foo.DoSomething()

Thanks!

Answer 1

Where they go is determined by the Lua code itself - if the file declares it in the global namespace, it'll go into the global namespace when you run the file via pcall.

The simplest option would be to encourage whoever is writing the Lua files to create their own namespaces (just a Foo = {} at the beginning of the file, and then later on declaring functions as Foo.whatever).

If you want to force things into a private namespace, you'd have to complicate things a bit - basically, find what has changed in the global namespace after running the file and manually move the new items into a private namespace instead.

Answer 2

Try something like this. Don't forget to add error checking...

lua_newtable(L);
lua_setglobal(L,filename);
luaL_loadfile(L,filename);
lua_getglobal(L,filename);
lua_setfenv(L,-2);
lua_pcall(L,...);