Getting all data names from a table

Question

I have a nested table of global variables in my lua file like

GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES = 
{
CLASS =
{
    WARRIOR =
    {
        ATTACK = 0,
        DEFEND = 0,
        CRIT_CHANCE = 0,
        CRIT_DAMAGE = 0
    },
    PALADIN =
    {
        ATTACK = 0,
        DEFEND = 0,
        CRIT_CHANCE = 0,
        CRIT_DAMAGE = 0
    },
    PRIEST =
    {
        ATTACK = 0,
        DEFEND = 0,
        CRIT_CHANCE = 0,
        CRIT_DAMAGE = 0
    },
    ...
...

I want to traverse table to return all variable names in strings like "GLOBAL.CLASS.PRIEST.ATTACK", "GLOBAL.CLASS.PRIEST.DEFENSE", and so on. I already can traverse whole table but It returns values solely as "ATTACK", "DEFENSE" and such...

How can I get full "address" of each value?

Answer 1

More efficient and easier way is to use table.concat. For example, to show all fields:

local myprint
myprint = function(tab, prefixtab) -- Tab = tab to print, prefix = inital tab ({'GLOBAL'} in your case) or nil
    prefixtab = prefixtab or {}
    local idx = #prefixtab+1
    for k,v in pairs(tab) do
        prefixtab[idx] = k
        print(table.concat(prefixtab, '.')) -- Comment to don't print for every path
        if type(v) == 'table' then
            myprint(v, prefixtab)
        --else -- To print only complete pathes
            --print(table.concat(prefixtab, '.'))
        end
    end
    prefixtab[idx] = nil
end

Example (based on your table):

> myprint(GLOBAL, {'GLOBAL'})
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.DEFEND
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.DEFEND
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.DEFEND

Or complete-only path version:

> myprint(GLOBAL, {'GLOBAL'})
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PRIEST.DEFEND
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.WARRIOR.DEFEND
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.CRIT_CHANCE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.ATTACK
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.CRIT_DAMAGE
GLOBAL.ADVANTAGES.CLASS.PALADIN.DEFEND