Var dump

From Multi Theft Auto: Wiki

This function outputs information about one or more variables using outputConsole().

Syntax

string/table var_dump( ... )

Arguments

The function can have a variable number of arguments. Those arguments can be of three types:

Modifiers: A string that begins with a "-" (minus) and that is followed by at least another parameter is a modifier. A modifier can change the behaviour of the function. Modifiers don't have to be the first argument, they always work on all arguments after it (see examples).
Names: A string that is followed by at least another parameter and isn't preceeded by another string (that is not a modifier), is a name. A name is output before the variable output, to make it recognizable (basicially a description of the variable that is being output, e.g. the name).
Values: Any value that is not one of the two above will generate an output with information about the variable:
- For strings: string(lengthOfString) "value"
- For userdata: userdata(MTA element type) "value"
- For tables: table(numerOfElements) "value"
  - If the table contains any elements, they will also be output if the appropriate modifiers are set. This will always be in the form [key] => value, while key and value are formatted by var_dump.

Modifiers

v (verbose): Dumps more data than usual (for now it outputs whole tables including subtables)
n (normal): Switches back into 'normal' non-verbose mode.
s (silent): With this activated, it outputs nothing at all, however it still returns the output, so you can use it yourself (also used internally for recursion).
u (unnamed): Don't use names. Every string that is not a modifier will be output as a value, not a decription.
d[number] (depth): Output nested tables up to this depth (e.g. "d1" means output all values of the initial table, but not the values of the values, if they are also tables).

Returns

Returns a string with all the output in one line and a table with several lines of output.

Code

Click to collapse [-]

Server- and/or clientside Script

-- modifiers: v - verbose (all subtables), n - normal, s - silent (no output), dx - up to depth x, u - unnamed
function var_dump(...)
	-- default options
	local verbose = false
	local firstLevel = true
	local outputDirectly = true
	local noNames = false
	local indentation = "\t\t\t\t\t\t"
	local depth = nil
 
	local name = nil
	local output = {}
	for k,v in ipairs(arg) do
		-- check for modifiers
		if type(v) == "string" and k < #arg and v:sub(1,1) == "-" then
			local modifiers = v:sub(2)
			if modifiers:find("v") ~= nil then
				verbose = true
			end
			if modifiers:find("s") ~= nil then
				outputDirectly = false
			end
			if modifiers:find("n") ~= nil then
				verbose = false
			end
			if modifiers:find("u") ~= nil then
				noNames = true
			end
			local s,e = modifiers:find("d%d+")
			if s ~= nil then
				depth = tonumber(string.sub(modifiers,s+1,e))
			end
		-- set name if appropriate
		elseif type(v) == "string" and k < #arg and name == nil and not noNames then
			name = v
		else
			if name ~= nil then
				name = ""..name..": "
			else
				name = ""
			end
 
			local o = ""
			if type(v) == "string" then
				table.insert(output,name..type(v).."("..v:len()..") \""..v.."\"")
			elseif type(v) == "userdata" then
				local elementType = "no valid MTA element"
				if isElement(v) then
					elementType = getElementType(v)
				end
				table.insert(output,name..type(v).."("..elementType..") \""..tostring(v).."\"")
			elseif type(v) == "table" then
				local count = 0
				for key,value in pairs(v) do
					count = count + 1
				end
				table.insert(output,name..type(v).."("..count..") \""..tostring(v).."\"")
				if verbose and count > 0 and (depth == nil or depth > 0) then
					table.insert(output,"\t{")
					for key,value in pairs(v) do
						-- calls itself, so be careful when you change anything
						local newModifiers = "-s"
						if depth == nil then
							newModifiers = "-sv"
						elseif  depth > 1 then
							local newDepth = depth - 1
							newModifiers = "-svd"..newDepth
						end
						local keyString, keyTable = var_dump(newModifiers,key)
						local valueString, valueTable = var_dump(newModifiers,value)
 
						if #keyTable == 1 and #valueTable == 1 then
							table.insert(output,indentation.."["..keyString.."]\t=>\t"..valueString)
						elseif #keyTable == 1 then
							table.insert(output,indentation.."["..keyString.."]\t=>")
							for k,v in ipairs(valueTable) do
								table.insert(output,indentation..v)
							end
						elseif #valueTable == 1 then
							for k,v in ipairs(keyTable) do
								if k == 1 then
									table.insert(output,indentation.."["..v)
								elseif k == #keyTable then
									table.insert(output,indentation..v.."]")
								else
									table.insert(output,indentation..v)
								end
							end
							table.insert(output,indentation.."\t=>\t"..valueString)
						else
							for k,v in ipairs(keyTable) do
								if k == 1 then
									table.insert(output,indentation.."["..v)
								elseif k == #keyTable then
									table.insert(output,indentation..v.."]")
								else
									table.insert(output,indentation..v)
								end
							end
							for k,v in ipairs(valueTable) do
								if k == 1 then
									table.insert(output,indentation.." => "..v)
								else
									table.insert(output,indentation..v)
								end
							end
						end
					end
					table.insert(output,"\t}")
				end
			else
				table.insert(output,name..type(v).." \""..tostring(v).."\"")
			end
			name = nil
		end
	end
	local string = ""
	for k,v in ipairs(output) do
		if outputDirectly then
			outputConsole(v)
		end
		string = string..v
	end
	return string, output
end

Example

Click to collapse [-]

Serverside Example

Get a table of all players on the server (if there are 4 players).

var_dump(getElementsByType("player"))

Output:

table(4) "table: 02998058"

With 'verbose' modifier.

var_dump("-v",getElementsByType("player"))

table(1) "table: 043C6900"
 {
      [number "1"] => userdata(player) "userdata: 00000134"
 }

Now another table we created before (please note that the table 'test2' is both key and value in this example):

test = {hello="test"}
test2 = {"haha","naja"}
test[test2] = test2
var_dump("-v",getElementsByType("player"),test)

table(1) "table: 020B7838"
 {
      [number "1"] => userdata(player) "userdata: 00000134"
 }
table(2) "table: 021770A0"
 {
      [string(5) "hello"] => string(4) "test"
      [table(2) "table: 02313070"
       {
            [number "1"] => string(4) "haha"
            [number "2"] => string(4) "naja"
       }]
       => table(2) "table: 02313070"
       {
            [number "1"] => string(4) "haha"
            [number "2"] => string(4) "naja"
       }
 }

The same as before, but now with a modifier to output the second table 'normal':

test = {hello="test"}
test2 = {"haha","naja"}
test[test2] = test2
var_dump("-v",getElementsByType("player"),"-n",test)

table(1) "table: 01BB9030"
 {
      [number "1"] => userdata(player) "userdata: 00000134"
 }
table(2) "table: 0223B2D8"

The same as before, but now with a modifier to output the second table only to depth 1 (the verbose is still active from the first argument):

test = {hello="test"}
test2 = {"haha","naja"}
test[test2] = test2
var_dump("-v",getElementsByType("player"),"-d1",test)

table(1) "table: 029BE6E8"
 {
      [number "1"] => userdata(player) "userdata: 00000134"
 }
table(2) "table: 01E2CDF8"
 {
      [string(5) "hello"] => string(4) "test"
      [table(2) "table: 021C6378"] => table(2) "table: 021C6378"
 }

The same as before, but now with names to make clear which output belongs to which variable (of course in this small example, it's not really needed):

test = {hello="test"}
test2 = {"haha","naja"}
test[test2] = test2
var_dump("-v","players",getElementsByType("player"),"-d1","test tables",test)

players: table(1) "table: 0219F4D0"
 {
      [number "1"] => userdata(player) "userdata: 00000134"
 }
test tables: table(2) "table: 0219DB20"
 {
      [string(5) "hello"] => string(4) "test"
      [table(2) "table: 01B68048"] => table(2) "table: 01B68048"
 }

The same as before, but now 'unnamed', meaning all values that are not modifiers will be output as values. However, the last two arguments were also removed, which leaves the last modifier as last argument, which will output the modifier as a normal value:

var_dump("-u","players",getElementsByType("player"),"-d1")

string(7) "players"
table(1) "table: 028B8A10"
string(3) "-d1"

Var dump

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