table.getn
Summary
Returns the size of a numerically-keyed table
Prototype
n = table.getn (t)Description
Returns the size of the table using the rules described at the start of this page.
A table's size (which is only relevant for "numeric" indexed tables) is one less than the first integer index with a nil value. If the table has "holes" in it - that is, numeric keys with gaps in the sequence - then the table size is not guaranteed to be the the last gap. Lua does a binary search to try to find a gap, it does not necessarily find the first or last one.
table.getn { "the", "quick", "brown", "fox", name = "Nick" } --> 4
Note that the length here is 4 and not 5, because the non-numeric entry (name = "Nick") is not considered to be part of the table's "length".
You can also use #t to find the length of a table.
# { "the", "quick", "brown", "fox", name = "Nick" } --> 4
Contrast to table.maxn which finds the highest key by a linear scan (and is therefore slower).See Also ...
Topics
Lua base functions
Lua bc (big number) functions
Lua bit manipulation functions
Lua coroutine functions
Lua debug functions
Lua io functions
Lua math functions
Lua os functions
Lua package functions
Lua PCRE regular expression functions
Lua script extensions
Lua string functions
Lua table functions
Lua utilities
ScriptingLua functions
table.concat (Concatenates table items together into a string)
table.foreach (Applies a function to each item in a table)
table.foreachi (Applies a function to each item in a numerically-keyed table)
table.insert (Inserts a new item into a numerically-keyed table)
table.maxn (Returns the highest numeric key in the table)
table.remove (Removes an item from a numerically-keyed table)
table.setn (Sets the size of a table (obsolete))
table.sort (Sorts a table)(Help topic: lua=table.getn)
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