util.multitable

Multitables are a tree-like data structure that allows mapping of many keys to one or more values. Generally if a simpler data structure is possible, it's preferred to use a multitable as a last resort for when mappings are complicated or searching for values across multiple keys is needed.

Reference

Creating

multitable.new()

Returns a new multitable, mt. The underlying data structure can be accessed at mt.data.

Getting and setting

mt:get(key1, key2...)

Returns the value(s) at the specified path (key1→key2→…). Specifying an incomplete path will return a table with the next possible keys as keys, and their values as values.

mt:set(key1, key2..., value)

Sets a value at the specified path.

mt:add(key1, key2..., value

Assumes that the value at the given path is an array, and adds value to that array.

Removing

mt:remove(key1, key2...)

Removes the value at a given path. If an incomplete path is given, removes all descendents of the last key.

Searching

mt:search(key1, key2...)

Searches for values at the given path, matching values are returned in an array. If any key is given as nil then all keys are matched at that level.

mt:search(results, key1, key2...)

Same as mt:search() except that matches are appended to the results array. Returns results.