select
Lua function

select

Summary

Returns items in a list

Prototype

items = select (index, ...)


Description

If index is a number, returns all items in the list from that number onwards. Otherwise index must be the string "#", in which case it returns the number of items in the list. This can be used to simulate the behaviour of the old "arg" feature in Lua 5.0, for use with variable numbers of arguments passed to a function.


function f (...)
  print (select ("#", ...))  --> 4
  print (select (2, ...))    --> 20  30  40
end -- f

f (10, 20, 30, 40)


See Also ...

Topics

DOC_lua_base Lua base functions
DOC_lua_bc Lua bc (big number) functions
DOC_lua_bit Lua bit manipulation functions
DOC_lua_coroutines Lua coroutine functions
DOC_lua_debug Lua debug functions
DOC_lua_io Lua io functions
DOC_lua_math Lua math functions
DOC_lua_os Lua os functions
DOC_lua_package Lua package functions
DOC_lua_rex Lua PCRE regular expression functions
DOC_lua Lua script extensions
DOC_lua_string Lua string functions
DOC_lua_tables Lua table functions
DOC_lua_utils Lua utilities
DOC_scripting Scripting

Lua functions

LUA_assert assert (Asserts that condition is not nil and not false)
LUA_collectgarbage collectgarbage (Collects garbage)
LUA_dofile dofile (Executes a Lua file)
LUA_error error (Raises an error message)
LUA_gcinfo gcinfo (Returns amount of dynamic memory in use)
LUA_getfenv getfenv (Returns the current environment table)
LUA_getmetatable getmetatable (Returns the metatable for the object)
LUA_ipairs ipairs (Iterates over a numerically keyed table)
LUA_load load (Loads a chunk by calling a function repeatedly)
LUA_loadfile loadfile (Loads a Lua file and parses it)
LUA_loadlib loadlib (Loads a DLL (obsolete in Lua 5.1))
LUA_loadstring loadstring (Compiles a string of Lua code)
LUA_module module (Creates a Lua module)
LUA_next next (Returns next key / value pair in a table)
LUA_pairs pairs (Traverse all items in a table)
LUA_pcall pcall (Calls a function in protected mode)
LUA_print print (Prints its arguments)
LUA_rawequal rawequal (Compares two values for equality without invoking metamethods)
LUA_rawget rawget (Gets the value of a table item without invoking metamethods)
LUA_rawset rawset (Sets the value of a table item without invoking metamethods)
LUA_require require (Loads a module)
LUA_setfenv setfenv (Sets a function's environment)
LUA_setmetatable setmetatable (Sets the metatable for a table)
LUA_tonumber tonumber (Converts a string (of the given base) to a number)
LUA_tostring tostring (Converts its argument to a string)
LUA_type type (Returns the type of a variable)
LUA_unpack unpack (Unpacks a table into individual items)
LUA_xpcall xpcall (Calls a function with a custom error handler)

(Help topic: lua=select)

DOC_contents Documentation contents page