Help with Tables in a Table (like a Dictionary)

I was wondering if someone could help me with a problem with adding a table to another table. I've seen something similar in the Lua tutorials as t[2] = { "apple", "pear", "banana" }.

In a nutshell, the below code generates a listing of the cards for each player around the table. Then, the values are to be put into the "players" table within the "hands" (in essence, players[1 to n].hand[MaxCards]).

Code:

---

function packDeal(params)
        MaxSeats = packTable.MaxPlayers;
        if #players < packTable.MaxPlayers then MaxSeats = #players end
        local hands = {} ;
        for p = 1, MaxSeats*tonumber(params) do
                table.insert(hands,cards[1]);
                table.remove(cards,1);
        end
        for i = 1, #hands do
                CurrCount = 0;
                while CurrCount <= MaxSeats do
                        CurrCount = CurrCount + 1;
-- XXXXX
                        table.insert(players[i].hand,{ hands[i * CurrCount] });
                end
        end
end

---

I receive the following error on the line indicated with the --XXXXX
Script Error: [string "scripts/chatmanager.lua"]:542: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)

I've tried the code a few different ways, but I can't seem to get it to work. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

I'm positive that the problem is caused by the way the reference is handled here: players[i].hand,{ hands[i * CurrCount] }

Could you paste a snippet of the table format you are going for? How that line needs to be written is entirely dependent on that.

Not the most elegant, but here it is:

Code:

---

function packBuyIn(params)
        table.insert(players,packTable.CurrPlayers + 1, {
                name = "player"..#players+1,
                chips = params,
                value = value,
                xcoord = 0,
                ycoord = 0,
                hand = {}
        });
        local msg = {};
        msg.text = "Player "..players[#players].name.." has joined the game.";
        deliverMessage(msg);
end

---

Thanks!

I guess it would help if you had the cards. I don't have the code to a decent point, but here's kind of what I'm using.

Code:

---

cards = { ['A'] = "Ace", ['10'] = "Ten", ['K'] = "King", ['Q'] = "Queen", ['J'] = "Jack", ['9'] = "Nine" }

---

If you need more, let me know and I'll straighten things up and include the file.

Thanks!

I have a similar problem in my own code that I'm working through. I'll post when I find a workable solution. I'm still certain it has to do with the formatting of that line.

I agree. It just seems odd. I've tried worse looking attempts as well to no avail.

Have your tried, instead of using the object oriented form, doing something like:

table.insert(players[i][hand], hands[i * CurrCount]);

That seems to be the issue! I thought I tried that. Must have been when I was screwing up some other piece ;)

Thanks a lot!

Glad I could help! :)

Just wanted to say thanks again! And to post what I did to make it work. Hope this helps anyone that's trying to work with dictionaries.

Code:

---

function packDeal(params)
        MaxSeats = packTable.MaxPlayers;
        if #players < packTable.MaxPlayers then MaxSeats = #players end
        local hands = {} ;
        CurrSeat = 1
        for p = 1, MaxSeats do
                hands[p] = {};
        end
        for p = 1, MaxSeats*tonumber(params) do
                table.insert(hands[CurrSeat],cards[1]);
                table.remove(cards,1);
                CurrSeat = CurrSeat + 1;
                if CurrSeat > MaxSeats then CurrSeat = 1 end;
        end
        for i = 1, #hands do
                players[i]['hand'] = hands[i];
                print(players[i]['hand'][1].name);
        end
end

---

Looks to be that my problem was when I was diving into the "subtable". I can iterate through the "players" table using an index, but if you have another table within, you need to use the named reference for the index in order to get the information within the table.

I'm sure I can clean up the code now to just insert into the original table, but why mess with a good thing ;) Besides, I need to see if it can handle multiple players with ease.

Again, thanks!