source/libs/lua52/lua52-src/doc/readme.html

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  32 <H1>
  33 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/"><IMG SRC="logo.gif" ALT="Lua" BORDER=0></A>
  34 Welcome to Lua 5.2
  35 </H1>
  36
  37 <P>
  38 <A HREF="#about">about</A>
  39 &middot;
  40 <A HREF="#install">installation</A>
  41 &middot;
  42 <A HREF="#changes">changes</A>
  43 &middot;
  44 <A HREF="#license">license</A>
  45 &middot;
  46 <A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A>
  47
  48 <H2><A NAME="about">About Lua</A></H2>
  49
  50 <P>
  51 Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language
  52 developed by a
  53 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/authors.html">team</A>
  54 at
  55 <A HREF="http://www.puc-rio.br/">PUC-Rio</A>,
  56 the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
  57 Lua is
  58 <A HREF="#license">free software</A>
  59 used in many products and projects around the world.
  60
  61 <P>
  62 Lua's
  63 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/">official web site</A>
  64 provides complete information
  65 about Lua,
  66 including
  67 an
  68 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/about.html">executive summary</A>
  69 and
  70 updated
  71 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/docs.html">documentation</A>,
  72 especially the
  73 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/manual/5.2/">reference manual</A>,
  74 which may differ slightly from the
  75 <A HREF="contents.html">local copy</A>
  76 distributed in this package.
  77
  78 <H2><A NAME="install">Installing Lua</A></H2>
  79
  80 <P>
  81 Lua is distributed in
  82 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/ftp/">source</A>
  83 form.
  84 You need to build it before using it.
  85 Building Lua should be straightforward
  86 because
  87 Lua is implemented in pure ANSI C and compiles unmodified in all known
  88 platforms that have an ANSI C compiler.
  89 Lua also compiles unmodified as C++.
  90 The instructions given below for building Lua are for Unix-like platforms.
  91 See also
  92 <A HREF="#other">instructions for other systems</A>
  93 and
  94 <A HREF="#customization">customization options</A>.
  95
  96 <P>
  97 If you don't have the time or the inclination to compile Lua yourself,
  98 get a binary from
  99 <A HREF="http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaBinaries">LuaBinaries</A>.
 100 Try also
 101 <A HREF="http://luadist.org/">LuaDist</A>,
 102 a multi-platform distribution of Lua that includes batteries.
 103
 104 <H3>Building Lua</H3>
 105
 106 <P>
 107 In most Unix-like platforms, simply do "<KBD>make</KBD>" with a suitable target.
 108 Here are the details.
 109
 110 <OL>
 111 <LI>
 112 Open a terminal window and move to
 113 the top-level directory, which is named <TT>lua-5.2.x</TT>.
 114 The <TT>Makefile</TT> there controls both the build process and the installation process.
 115 <P>
 116 <LI>
 117   Do "<KBD>make</KBD>" and see if your platform is listed.
 118   The platforms currently supported are:
 119 <P>
 120 <P CLASS="display">
 121    aix ansi bsd freebsd generic linux macosx mingw posix solaris
 122 </P>
 123 <P>
 124   If your platform is listed, just do "<KBD>make xxx</KBD>", where xxx
 125   is your platform name.
 126 <P>
 127   If your platform is not listed, try the closest one or posix, generic,
 128   ansi, in this order.
 129 <P>
 130 <LI>
 131 The compilation takes only a few moments
 132 and produces three files in the <TT>src</TT> directory:
 133 lua (the interpreter),
 134 luac (the compiler),
 135 and liblua.a (the library).
 136 <P>
 137 <LI>
 138   To check that Lua has been built correctly, do "<KBD>make test</KBD>"
 139   after building Lua. This will run the interpreter and print its version.
 140 </OL>
 141 <P>
 142 If you're running Linux and get compilation errors,
 143 make sure you have installed the <TT>readline</TT> development package
 144 (which is probably named <TT>libreadline-dev</TT> or <TT>readline-devel</TT>).
 145 If you get link errors after that,
 146 then try "<KBD>make linux MYLIBS=-ltermcap</KBD>".
 147
 148 <H3>Installing Lua</H3>
 149 <P>
 150   Once you have built Lua, you may want to install it in an official
 151   place in your system. In this case, do "<KBD>make install</KBD>". The official
 152   place and the way to install files are defined in the <TT>Makefile</TT>. You'll
 153   probably need the right permissions to install files.
 154
 155 <P>
 156   To build and install Lua in one step, do "<KBD>make xxx install</KBD>",
 157   where xxx is your platform name.
 158
 159 <P>
 160   To install Lua locally, do "<KBD>make local</KBD>".
 161   This will create a directory <TT>install</TT> with subdirectories
 162   <TT>bin</TT>, <TT>include</TT>, <TT>lib</TT>, <TT>man</TT>, <TT>share</TT>,
 163   and install Lua as listed below.
 164
 165   To install Lua locally, but in some other directory, do
 166   "<KBD>make install INSTALL_TOP=xxx</KBD>", where xxx is your chosen directory.
 167   The installation starts in the <TT>src</TT> and <TT>doc</TT> directories,
 168   so take care if <TT>INSTALL_TOP</TT> is not an absolute path.
 169
 170 <DL CLASS="display">
 171 <DT>
 172     bin:
 173 <DD>
 174     lua luac
 175 <DT>
 176     include:
 177 <DD>
 178     lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h lua.hpp
 179 <DT>
 180     lib:
 181 <DD>
 182     liblua.a
 183 <DT>
 184     man/man1:
 185 <DD>
 186     lua.1 luac.1
 187 </DL>
 188
 189 <P>
 190   These are the only directories you need for development.
 191   If you only want to run Lua programs,
 192   you only need the files in <TT>bin</TT> and <TT>man</TT>.
 193   The files in <TT>include</TT> and <TT>lib</TT> are needed for
 194   embedding Lua in C or C++ programs.
 195
 196 <H3><A NAME="customization">Customization</A></H3>
 197 <P>
 198   Three kinds of things can be customized by editing a file:
 199 <UL>
 200     <LI> Where and how to install Lua &mdash; edit <TT>Makefile</TT>.
 201     <LI> How to build Lua &mdash; edit <TT>src/Makefile</TT>.
 202     <LI> Lua features &mdash; edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT>.
 203 </UL>
 204
 205 <P>
 206   You don't actually need to edit the Makefiles because you may set the
 207   relevant variables in the command line when invoking make.
 208   Nevertheless, it's probably best to edit and save the Makefiles to
 209   record the changes you've made.
 210
 211 <P>
 212   On the other hand, if you need to customize some Lua features, you'll need
 213   to edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> before building and installing Lua.
 214   The edited file will be the one installed, and
 215   it will be used by any Lua clients that you build, to ensure consistency.
 216   Further customization is available to experts by editing the Lua sources.
 217
 218 <P>
 219   We strongly recommend that you enable dynamic loading in <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT>.
 220   This is done automatically for all platforms listed above that have
 221   this feature and also for Windows.
 222
 223 <H3><A NAME="other">Building Lua on other systems</A></H3>
 224
 225 <P>
 226   If you're not using the usual Unix tools, then the instructions for
 227   building Lua depend on the compiler you use. You'll need to create
 228   projects (or whatever your compiler uses) for building the library,
 229   the interpreter, and the compiler, as follows:
 230
 231 <DL CLASS="display">
 232 <DT>
 233 library:
 234 <DD>
 235 lapi.c lcode.c lctype.c ldebug.c ldo.c ldump.c lfunc.c lgc.c llex.c
 236 lmem.c lobject.c lopcodes.c lparser.c lstate.c lstring.c ltable.c
 237 ltm.c lundump.c lvm.c lzio.c
 238 lauxlib.c lbaselib.c lbitlib.c lcorolib.c ldblib.c liolib.c
 239 lmathlib.c loslib.c lstrlib.c ltablib.c loadlib.c linit.c
 240 <DT>
 241 interpreter:
 242 <DD>
 243   library, lua.c
 244 <DT>
 245 compiler:
 246 <DD>
 247   library, luac.c
 248 </DL>
 249
 250 <P>
 251   To use Lua as a library in your own programs you'll need to know how to
 252   create and use libraries with your compiler. Moreover, to dynamically load
 253   C libraries for Lua you'll need to know how to create dynamic libraries
 254   and you'll need to make sure that the Lua API functions are accessible to
 255   those dynamic libraries &mdash; but <EM>don't</EM> link the Lua library
 256   into each dynamic library. For Unix, we recommend that the Lua library
 257   be linked statically into the host program and its symbols exported for
 258   dynamic linking; <TT>src/Makefile</TT> does this for the Lua interpreter.
 259   For Windows, we recommend that the Lua library be a DLL.
 260   In all cases, the compiler luac should be linked statically.
 261
 262 <P>
 263   As mentioned above, you may edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> to customize
 264   some features before building Lua.
 265
 266 <H2><A NAME="changes">Changes since Lua 5.1</A></H2>
 267
 268 <P>
 269 Here are the main changes introduced in Lua 5.2.
 270 The
 271 <A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A>
 272 lists the
 273 <A HREF="manual.html#8">incompatibilities</A> that had to be introduced.
 274
 275 <H3>Main changes</H3>
 276 <UL>
 277 <LI> yieldable pcall and metamethods
 278 <LI> new lexical scheme for globals
 279 <LI> ephemeron tables
 280 <LI> new library for bitwise operations
 281 <LI> light C functions
 282 <LI> emergency garbage collector
 283 <LI> <CODE>goto</CODE> statement
 284 <LI> finalizers for tables
 285 </UL>
 286
 287 Here are the other changes introduced in Lua 5.2:
 288 <H3>Language</H3>
 289 <UL>
 290 <LI> no more fenv for threads or functions
 291 <LI> tables honor the <CODE>__len</CODE> metamethod
 292 <LI> hex and <CODE>\z</CODE> escapes in strings
 293 <LI> support for hexadecimal floats
 294 <LI> order metamethods work for different types
 295 <LI> no more verification of opcode consistency
 296 <LI> hook event "tail return" replaced by "tail call"
 297 <LI> empty statement
 298 <LI> <CODE>break</CODE> statement may appear in the middle of a block
 299 </UL>
 300
 301 <H3>Libraries</H3>
 302 <UL>
 303 <LI> arguments for function called through <CODE>xpcall</CODE>
 304 <LI> optional 'mode' argument to load and loadfile (to control binary x text)
 305 <LI> optional 'env' argument to load and loadfile (environment for loaded chunk)
 306 <LI> <CODE>loadlib</CODE> may load libraries with global names (RTLD_GLOBAL)
 307 <LI> new function <CODE>package.searchpath</CODE>
 308 <LI> modules receive their paths when loaded
 309 <LI> optional base in <CODE>math.log</CODE>
 310 <LI> optional separator in <CODE>string.rep</CODE>
 311 <LI> <CODE>file:write</CODE> returns <CODE>file</CODE>
 312 <LI> closing a pipe returns exit status
 313 <LI> <CODE>os.exit</CODE> may close state
 314 <LI> new metamethods <CODE>__pairs</CODE> and <CODE>__ipairs</CODE>
 315 <LI> new option 'isrunning' for <CODE>collectgarbage</CODE> and <CODE>lua_gc</CODE>
 316 <LI> frontier patterns
 317 <LI> <CODE>\0</CODE> in patterns
 318 <LI> new option <CODE>*L</CODE> for <CODE>io.read</CODE>
 319 <LI> options for <CODE>io.lines</CODE>
 320 <LI> <CODE>debug.getlocal</CODE> can access function varargs
 321 </UL>
 322
 323 <H3>C API</H3>
 324 <UL>
 325 <LI> main thread predefined in the registry
 326 <LI> new functions
 327 <CODE>lua_absindex</CODE>,
 328 <CODE>lua_arith</CODE>,
 329 <CODE>lua_compare</CODE>,
 330 <CODE>lua_copy</CODE>,
 331 <CODE>lua_len</CODE>,
 332 <CODE>lua_rawgetp</CODE>,
 333 <CODE>lua_rawsetp</CODE>,
 334 <CODE>lua_upvalueid</CODE>,
 335 <CODE>lua_upvaluejoin</CODE>,
 336 <CODE>lua_version</CODE>.
 337 <LI> new functions
 338 <CODE>luaL_checkversion</CODE>,
 339 <CODE>luaL_setmetatable</CODE>,
 340 <CODE>luaL_testudata</CODE>,
 341 <CODE>luaL_tolstring</CODE>.
 342 <LI> <CODE>lua_pushstring</CODE> and <CODE>pushlstring</CODE> return string
 343 <LI> <CODE>nparams</CODE> and <CODE>isvararg</CODE> available in debug API
 344 <LI> new <CODE>lua_Unsigned</CODE>
 345 </UL>
 346
 347 <H3>Implementation</H3>
 348 <UL>
 349 <LI> max constants per function raised to 2<SUP>26</SUP>
 350 <LI> generational mode for garbage collection (experimental)
 351 <LI> NaN trick (experimental)
 352 <LI> internal (immutable) version of ctypes
 353 <LI> simpler implementation for string buffers
 354 <LI> parser uses much less C-stack space (no more auto arrays)
 355 </UL>
 356
 357 <H3>Lua standalone interpreter</H3>
 358 <UL>
 359 <LI> new <CODE>-E</CODE> option to avoid environment variables
 360 <LI> handling of non-string error messages
 361 </UL>
 362
 363 <H2><A NAME="license">License</A></H2>
 364 <A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php">
 365 <IMG SRC="osi-certified-72x60.png" ALIGN="right" BORDER="0" ALT="[osi certified]" STYLE="padding-left: 30px ;">
 366 </A>
 367
 368 <P>
 369 Lua is free software distributed under the terms of the
 370 <A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html">MIT license</A>
 371 reproduced below;
 372 it may be used for any purpose, including commercial purposes,
 373 at absolutely no cost without having to ask us.
 374
 375 The only requirement is that if you do use Lua,
 376 then you should give us credit by including the appropriate copyright notice somewhere in your product or its documentation.
 377
 378 For details, see
 379 <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/license.html">this</A>.
 380
 381 <BLOCKQUOTE STYLE="padding-bottom: 0em">
 382 Copyright &copy; 1994&ndash;2015 Lua.org, PUC-Rio.
 383
 384 <P>
 385 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 386 of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
 387 in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
 388 to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
 389 copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
 390 furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
 391
 392 <P>
 393 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
 394 all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 395
 396 <P>
 397 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
 398 IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
 399 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
 400 AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
 401 LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
 402 OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
 403 THE SOFTWARE.
 404 </BLOCKQUOTE>
 405 <P>
 406
 407 <HR>
 408 <SMALL CLASS="footer">
 409 Last update:
 410 Mon Feb 23 22:25:08 BRT 2015
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