*if_lua.txt* Nvim NVIM REFERENCE MANUAL Lua engine *lua* *Lua* Type |gO| to see the table of contents. ============================================================================== Introduction *lua-intro* The Lua 5.1 language is builtin and always available. Try this command to get an idea of what lurks beneath: > :lua print(vim.inspect(package.loaded)) Nvim includes a "standard library" |lua-stdlib| for Lua. This library complements the Nvim editor |functions| and Ex commands (the editor "stdlib"), which can also be used from Lua code. Nvim resolves module conflicts by "last wins". For example if both of these are on 'runtimepath': runtime/lua/foo.lua ~/.config/nvim/lua/foo.lua then `require('foo')` loads "~/.config/nvim/lua/foo.lua", and "runtime/lua/foo.lua" is not used. See |lua-require| to understand how Nvim finds and loads Lua modules. The conventions are similar to VimL plugins, with some extra features. See |lua-require-example| for a walkthrough. ============================================================================== Importing modules *lua-require* Nvim automatically adjusts `package.path` and `package.cpath` according to effective 'runtimepath' value. Adjustment happens whenever 'runtimepath' is changed. `package.path` is adjusted by simply appending `/lua/?.lua` and `/lua/?/init.lua` to each directory from 'runtimepath' (`/` is actually the first character of `package.config`). Similarly to `package.path`, modified directories from 'runtimepath' are also added to `package.cpath`. In this case, instead of appending `/lua/?.lua` and `/lua/?/init.lua` to each runtimepath, all unique `?`-containing suffixes of the existing `package.cpath` are used. Example: 1. Given that - 'runtimepath' contains `/foo/bar,/xxx;yyy/baz,/abc`; - initial (defined at compile-time or derived from `$LUA_CPATH`/`$LUA_INIT`) `package.cpath` contains `./?.so;/def/ghi/a?d/j/g.elf;/def/?.so`. 2. It finds `?`-containing suffixes `/?.so`, `/a?d/j/g.elf` and `/?.so`, in order: parts of the path starting from the first path component containing question mark and preceding path separator. 3. The suffix of `/def/?.so`, namely `/?.so` is not unique, as it’s the same as the suffix of the first path from `package.path` (i.e. `./?.so`). Which leaves `/?.so` and `/a?d/j/g.elf`, in this order. 4. 'runtimepath' has three paths: `/foo/bar`, `/xxx;yyy/baz` and `/abc`. The second one contains semicolon which is a paths separator so it is out, leaving only `/foo/bar` and `/abc`, in order. 5. The cartesian product of paths from 4. and suffixes from 3. is taken, giving four variants. In each variant `/lua` path segment is inserted between path and suffix, leaving - `/foo/bar/lua/?.so` - `/foo/bar/lua/a?d/j/g.elf` - `/abc/lua/?.so` - `/abc/lua/a?d/j/g.elf` 6. New paths are prepended to the original `package.cpath`. The result will look like this: `/foo/bar,/xxx;yyy/baz,/abc` ('runtimepath') × `./?.so;/def/ghi/a?d/j/g.elf;/def/?.so` (`package.cpath`) = `/foo/bar/lua/?.so;/foo/bar/lua/a?d/j/g.elf;/abc/lua/?.so;/abc/lua/a?d/j/g.elf;./?.so;/def/ghi/a?d/j/g.elf;/def/?.so` Note: - To track 'runtimepath' updates, paths added at previous update are remembered and removed at the next update, while all paths derived from the new 'runtimepath' are prepended as described above. This allows removing paths when path is removed from 'runtimepath', adding paths when they are added and reordering `package.path`/`package.cpath` content if 'runtimepath' was reordered. - Although adjustments happen automatically, Nvim does not track current values of `package.path` or `package.cpath`. If you happen to delete some paths from there you can set 'runtimepath' to trigger an update: > let &runtimepath = &runtimepath - Skipping paths from 'runtimepath' which contain semicolons applies both to `package.path` and `package.cpath`. Given that there are some badly written plugins using shell which will not work with paths containing semicolons it is better to not have them in 'runtimepath' at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LUA PLUGIN EXAMPLE *lua-require-example* The following example plugin adds a command `:MakeCharBlob` which transforms current buffer into a long `unsigned char` array. Lua contains transformation function in a module `lua/charblob.lua` which is imported in `autoload/charblob.vim` (`require("charblob")`). Example plugin is supposed to be put into any directory from 'runtimepath', e.g. `~/.config/nvim` (in this case `lua/charblob.lua` means `~/.config/nvim/lua/charblob.lua`). autoload/charblob.vim: > function charblob#encode_buffer() call setline(1, luaeval( \ 'require("charblob").encode(unpack(_A))', \ [getline(1, '$'), &textwidth, ' '])) endfunction plugin/charblob.vim: > if exists('g:charblob_loaded') finish endif let g:charblob_loaded = 1 command MakeCharBlob :call charblob#encode_buffer() lua/charblob.lua: > local function charblob_bytes_iter(lines) local init_s = { next_line_idx = 1, next_byte_idx = 1, lines = lines, } local function next(s, _) if lines[s.next_line_idx] == nil then return nil end if s.next_byte_idx > #(lines[s.next_line_idx]) then s.next_line_idx = s.next_line_idx + 1 s.next_byte_idx = 1 return ('\n'):byte() end local ret = lines[s.next_line_idx]:byte(s.next_byte_idx) if ret == ('\n'):byte() then ret = 0 -- See :h NL-used-for-NUL. end s.next_byte_idx = s.next_byte_idx + 1 return ret end return next, init_s, nil end local function charblob_encode(lines, textwidth, indent) local ret = { 'const unsigned char blob[] = {', indent, } for byte in charblob_bytes_iter(lines) do -- .- space + number (width 3) + comma if #(ret[#ret]) + 5 > textwidth then ret[#ret + 1] = indent else ret[#ret] = ret[#ret] .. ' ' end ret[#ret] = ret[#ret] .. (('%3u,'):format(byte)) end ret[#ret + 1] = '};' return ret end return { bytes_iter = charblob_bytes_iter, encode = charblob_encode, } ============================================================================== Commands *lua-commands* *:lua* :[range]lua {chunk} Execute Lua chunk {chunk}. Examples: > :lua vim.api.nvim_command('echo "Hello, Nvim!"') < To see the Lua version: > :lua print(_VERSION) To see the LuaJIT version: > :lua print(jit.version) < :[range]lua << {endmarker} {script} {endmarker} Execute Lua script {script}. {endmarker} must NOT be preceded by any white space. If {endmarker} is omitted from after the "<<", a dot '.' must be used after {script}, like for the |:append| and |:insert| commands. This form of the |:lua| command is mainly useful for including Lua code in Vim scripts. Example: > function! CurrentLineInfo() lua << EOF local linenr = vim.api.nvim_win_get_cursor(0)[1] local curline = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_lines( 0, linenr, linenr + 1, false)[1] print(string.format("Current line [%d] has %d bytes", linenr, #curline)) EOF endfunction Note that the `local` variables will disappear when block finishes. This is not the case for globals. *:luado* :[range]luado {body} Execute Lua function "function (line, linenr) {body} end" for each line in the [range], with the function argument being set to the text of each line in turn, without a trailing , and the current line number. If the value returned by the function is a string it becomes the text of the line in the current turn. The default for [range] is the whole file: "1,$". Examples: > :luado return string.format("%s\t%d", line:reverse(), #line) :lua require"lpeg" :lua -- balanced parenthesis grammar: :lua bp = lpeg.P{ "(" * ((1 - lpeg.S"()") + lpeg.V(1))^0 * ")" } :luado if bp:match(line) then return "-->\t" .. line end < *:luafile* :[range]luafile {file} Execute Lua script in {file}. The whole argument is used as a single file name. Examples: > :luafile script.lua :luafile % < All these commands execute a Lua chunk from either the command line (:lua and :luado) or a file (:luafile) with the given line [range]. Similarly to the Lua interpreter, each chunk has its own scope and so only global variables are shared between command calls. All Lua default libraries are available. In addition, Lua "print" function has its output redirected to the Nvim message area, with arguments separated by a white space instead of a tab. Lua uses the "vim" module (see |lua-vim|) to issue commands to Nvim. However, procedures that alter buffer content, open new buffers, and change cursor position are restricted when the command is executed in the |sandbox|. ============================================================================== vim.* *lua-vim* *lua-stdlib* The "standard library" (stdlib) of Nvim Lua is the `vim` module, which exposes various functions and sub-modules. The module is implicitly loaded, thus require("vim") is unnecessary. You can peek at the module properties: > :lua print(vim.inspect(vim)) Result is something like this: > { _os_proc_children = , _os_proc_info = , ... api = { nvim__id = , nvim__id_array = , ... }, deepcopy = , gsplit = , ... } To find documentation on e.g. the "deepcopy" function: > :help vim.deepcopy Note: Underscore-prefixed functions (e.g. "_os_proc_children") are internal/private and must not be used by plugins. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vim.api.* functions `vim.api` exposes the full Nvim |API| as a table of Lua functions. For example, to use the "nvim_get_current_line()" API function, call "vim.api.nvim_get_current_line()": > print(tostring(vim.api.nvim_get_current_line())) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vim.* builtin functions vim.deepcopy({object}) *vim.deepcopy* Performs a deep copy of the given object, and returns that copy. For a non-table object, that just means a usual copy of the object, while for a table all subtables are copied recursively. vim.gsplit({s}, {sep}, {plain}) *vim.gsplit* Split a given string by a separator. Returns an iterator of the split components. The separator can be a lua pattern, see https://www.lua.org/pil/20.2.html Setting {plain} to `true` turns off pattern matching, as it is passed to `string:find`, see http://lua-users.org/wiki/StringLibraryTutorial Parameters:~ {s} String: String to split {sep} String: Separator pattern. If empty, split by chars. {plain} Boolean: If false, match {sep} verbatim Return:~ Iterator of strings, which are the components of {s} after splitting vim.split({s}, {sep}, {plain}) *vim.split* Split a given string by a separator. Returns a table containing the split components. The separator can be a lua pattern, see https://www.lua.org/pil/20.2.html Setting {plain} to `true` turns off pattern matching, as it is passed to `string:find`, see http://lua-users.org/wiki/StringLibraryTutorial Parameters:~ {s} String: String to split {sep} String: Separator pattern. If empty, split by chars. {plain} Boolean: If false, match {sep} verbatim Return:~ Table of strings, which are the components of {s} after splitting vim.stricmp(a, b) *lua-vim.stricmp* Function used for case-insensitive string comparison. Takes two string arguments and returns 0, 1 or -1 if strings are equal, a is greater then b or a is lesser then b respectively. vim.trim({string}) *vim.trim* Returns the string with all leading and trailing whitespace removed. vim.type_idx *lua-vim.type_idx* Type index for use in |lua-special-tbl|. Specifying one of the values from |lua-vim.types| allows typing the empty table (it is unclear whether empty lua table represents empty list or empty array) and forcing integral numbers to be |Float|. See |lua-special-tbl| for more details. vim.val_idx *lua-vim.val_idx* Value index for tables representing |Float|s. A table representing floating-point value 1.0 looks like this: > { [vim.type_idx] = vim.types.float, [vim.val_idx] = 1.0, } < See also |lua-vim.type_idx| and |lua-special-tbl|. vim.types *lua-vim.types* Table with possible values for |lua-vim.type_idx|. Contains two sets of key-value pairs: first maps possible values for |lua-vim.type_idx| to human-readable strings, second maps human-readable type names to values for |lua-vim.type_idx|. Currently contains pairs for `float`, `array` and `dictionary` types. Note: one must expect that values corresponding to `vim.types.float`, `vim.types.array` and `vim.types.dictionary` fall under only two following assumptions: 1. Value may serve both as a key and as a value in a table. Given the properties of lua tables this basically means “value is not `nil`”. 2. For each value in `vim.types` table `vim.types[vim.types[value]]` is the same as `value`. No other restrictions are put on types, and it is not guaranteed that values corresponding to `vim.types.float`, `vim.types.array` and `vim.types.dictionary` will not change or that `vim.types` table will only contain values for these three types. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vim.* runtime functions Those functions are only available after the runtime files have been loaded. In particular, they are not available when using `nvim -u NONE`. vim.inspect({object}, {options}) *vim.inspect* Return a human-readable representation of the passed object. See https://github.com/kikito/inspect.lua for details and possible options. ============================================================================== luaeval() *lua-luaeval* *lua-eval* *luaeval()* The (dual) equivalent of "vim.eval" for passing Lua values to Nvim is "luaeval". "luaeval" takes an expression string and an optional argument used for _A inside expression and returns the result of the expression. It is semantically equivalent in Lua to: > local chunkheader = "local _A = select(1, ...) return " function luaeval (expstr, arg) local chunk = assert(loadstring(chunkheader .. expstr, "luaeval")) return chunk(arg) -- return typval end Lua nils, numbers, strings, tables and booleans are converted to their respective VimL types. An error is thrown if conversion of any other Lua types is attempted. The magic global "_A" contains the second argument to luaeval(). Example: > :echo luaeval('_A[1] + _A[2]', [40, 2]) 42 :echo luaeval('string.match(_A, "[a-z]+")', 'XYXfoo123') foo Lua tables are used as both dictionaries and lists, so it is impossible to determine whether empty table is meant to be empty list or empty dictionary. Additionally lua does not have integer numbers. To distinguish between these cases there is the following agreement: 0. Empty table is empty list. 1. Table with N incrementally growing integral numbers, starting from 1 and ending with N is considered to be a list. 2. Table with string keys, none of which contains NUL byte, is considered to be a dictionary. 3. Table with string keys, at least one of which contains NUL byte, is also considered to be a dictionary, but this time it is converted to a |msgpack-special-map|. *lua-special-tbl* 4. Table with `vim.type_idx` key may be a dictionary, a list or floating-point value: - `{[vim.type_idx]=vim.types.float, [vim.val_idx]=1}` is converted to a floating-point 1.0. Note that by default integral lua numbers are converted to |Number|s, non-integral are converted to |Float|s. This variant allows integral |Float|s. - `{[vim.type_idx]=vim.types.dictionary}` is converted to an empty dictionary, `{[vim.type_idx]=vim.types.dictionary, [42]=1, a=2}` is converted to a dictionary `{'a': 42}`: non-string keys are ignored. Without `vim.type_idx` key tables with keys not fitting in 1., 2. or 3. are errors. - `{[vim.type_idx]=vim.types.list}` is converted to an empty list. As well as `{[vim.type_idx]=vim.types.list, [42]=1}`: integral keys that do not form a 1-step sequence from 1 to N are ignored, as well as all non-integral keys. Examples: > :echo luaeval('math.pi') :function Rand(x,y) " random uniform between x and y : return luaeval('(_A.y-_A.x)*math.random()+_A.x', {'x':a:x,'y':a:y}) : endfunction :echo Rand(1,10) Note that currently second argument to `luaeval` undergoes VimL to lua conversion, so changing containers in lua do not affect values in VimL. Return value is also always converted. When converting, |msgpack-special-dict|s are treated specially. ============================================================================== vim:tw=78:ts=8:et:ft=help:norl: