in Lua programming language, we could use split("an:example:split",":") to split a string. But that doesn’t work in Defold! and get this error:
attempt to call global ‘split’ (a nil value)
Is that from another tool? I don’t think it’s standard Lua.
Here’s an example of splitting. You can use that module or use the function on its own.
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I think Roblox has a helper function called split. As mentioned, it’s not part of standard Lua.
To test things like that, either use a command line verion of Lua, or an online version like this: Lua: demo (albeit it is using Lua 5.4 whereas we use 5.1))
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There’s also our own codepad. Here’s one with a split() helper function:
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That method you said worked! Of course, I had to change its name so that there is no problem!
You were right! 
I saw this feature in the Lua language in this book and I thought that it exists naturally in Lua like other languages; But in this book, he made a function for this purpose that I didn’t notice! 
Programming in Lua, Fourth Edition
Roberto Ierusalimschy
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Your method gave me the same error message as before! 
attempt to call global ‘split’ (a nil value)
But did you copy the “split” function from the example?
The example clearly works.
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it’s interesting!
I copied that code again and checked it visually, But it still shows the same problem! 
attempt to call global ‘split’ (a nil value)
It was because of “Local” function!
Now it works!
@Mathias_Westerdahl @Pkeod @britzl
The methods you provided are practical for short strings, But I need this splitting operation for long strings.
For example, a string of 150 thousand characters! 
Is that possible?! 
I guess you could try by passing in a long string? 
I entered the string into it, But it only shows small pieces of it! 
It seems that Defold can store up to about 800 characters in each string variable! 
So, it’s impossible for it to split a string with 150 thousand characters!
I really don’t think we have an internal limit other than what Lua does.
Since you can easily load a 4mb json file, and get it as a string, then I don’t think that the limit is near 800 characters.
I would start using your test code outside of Defold, in Lua 5.1, to make sure your code works.
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We are not modifying LuaJIT or Lua 5.1 in any significant way. If it works in any of those two versions of Lua it also works in Defold.
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Yes, Defold is still my favorite game engine. 
But for solving this problem, I also thought about using files instead of memory. 
Here’s a script for loading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (~600kb) and splitting it on any whitespace character and printing the last 100 words:
local function split(s, delimiter)
local parts = {}
for i in string.gmatch(s, delimiter) do
parts[#parts+1] = i
end
return parts
end
function init(self)
http.request("https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/plain-text/advs.txt", "GET", function(self, id, response)
if response.status < 200 or response.status >= 400 then
print("Unable to download text")
return
end
local text = response.response
local words = split(text, "(%S+)")
for i=#words - 100,#words do
local word = words[i]
print(i, word)
end
print(("The text is %d characters and %d words. Above are the 100 last words."):format(#text, #words))
end)
end
Will print:
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104427 is
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104428 now
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104429 the
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104430 head
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104431 of
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104432 a
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104433 private
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104434 school
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104435 at
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104436 Walsall,
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104437 where
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104438 I
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104439 believe
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104440 that
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104441 she
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104442 has
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104443 met
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104444 with
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104445 considerable
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104446 success.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104447 ----------
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104448 This
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104449 text
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104450 is
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104451 provided
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104452 to
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104453 you
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104454 "as-is"
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104455 without
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104456 any
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104457 warranty.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104458 No
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104459 warranties
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104460 of
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104461 any
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104462 kind,
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104463 expressed
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104464 or
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104465 implied,
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104466 are
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104467 made
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104468 to
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104469 you
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104470 as
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104471 to
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104472 the
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104473 text
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104474 or
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104475 any
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104476 medium
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104477 it
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104478 may
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104479 be
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104480 on,
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104481 including
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104482 but
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104483 not
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104484 limited
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104485 to
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104486 warranties
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104487 of
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104488 merchantablity
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104489 or
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104490 fitness
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104491 for
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104492 a
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104493 particular
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104494 purpose.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104495 This
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104496 text
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104497 was
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104498 formatted
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104499 from
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104500 various
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104501 free
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104502 ASCII
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104503 and
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104504 HTML
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104505 variants.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104506 See
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104507 http://sherlock-holm.es
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104508 for
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104509 an
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104510 electronic
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104511 form
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104512 of
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104513 this
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104514 text
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104515 and
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104516 additional
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104517 information
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104518 about
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104519 it.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104520 This
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104521 text
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104522 comes
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104523 from
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104524 the
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104525 collection's
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104526 version
DEBUG:SCRIPT: 104527 3.1.
DEBUG:SCRIPT: The text is 610921 characters and 104527 words. Above are the 100 last words.
1 Like
Spoiler alert!
5 Likes
Thank you very much for this valuable help!
I kept thinking how to find this solution!
thank you!
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