path: root/doc/lua.1

.\" $Id: lua.man,v 1.11 2006/01/06 16:03:34 lhf Exp $
.TH LUA 1 "$Date: 2006/01/06 16:03:34 $"
.SH NAME
lua \- Lua interpreter
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B lua
[
.I options
]
[
.I script
[
.I args
]
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B lua
is the stand-alone Lua interpreter.
It loads and executes Lua programs,
either in textual source form or
in precompiled binary form.
(Precompiled binaries are output by
.BR luac ,
the Lua compiler.)
.B lua
can be used as a batch interpreter and also interactively.
.LP
The given
.I options
(see below)
are executed and then
the Lua program in file
.I script
is loaded and executed.
The given
.I args
are available to
.I script
as strings in a global table named
.BR arg .
If these arguments contain spaces or other characters special to the shell,
then they should be quoted
(but note that the quotes will be removed by the shell).
The arguments in
.B arg
start at 0,
which contains the string
.RI ' script '.
The index of the last argument is stored in
.BR arg.n .
The arguments given in the command line before
.IR script ,
including the name of the interpreter,
are available in negative indices in
.BR arg .
.LP
At the very start,
before even handling the command line,
.B lua
executes the contents of the environment variable
.BR LUA_INIT ,
if it is defined.
If the value of
.B LUA_INIT
is of the form
.RI '@ filename ',
then
.I filename
is executed.
Otherwise, the string is assumed to be a Lua statement and is executed.
.LP
Options start with
.B '\-'
and are described below.
You can use
.B "'\--'"
to signal the end of options.
.LP
If no arguments are given,
then
.B "\-v \-i"
is assumed when the standard input is a terminal;
otherwise,
.B "\-"
is assumed.
.LP
In interactive mode,
.B lua
prompts the user,
reads lines from the standard input,
and executes them as they are read.
If a line does not contain a complete statement,
then a secondary prompt is displayed and
lines are read until a complete statement is formed or
a syntax error is found.
So, one way to interrupt the reading of an incomplete statement is
to force a syntax error:
adding a
.B ';' 
in the middle of a statement is a sure way of forcing a syntax error
(except inside multiline strings and comments; these must be closed explicitly).
If a line starts with
.BR '=' ,
then
.B lua
displays the values of all the expressions in the remainder of the
line. The expressions must be separated by commas.
The primary prompt is the value of the global variable
.BR _PROMPT ,
if this value is a string;
otherwise, the default prompt is used.
Similarly, the secondary prompt is the value of the global variable
.BR _PROMPT2 .
So,
to change the prompts,
set the corresponding variable to a string of your choice.
You can do that after calling the interpreter
or on the command line
(but in this case you have to be careful with quotes
if the prompt string contains a space; otherwise you may confuse the shell.)
The default prompts are "> " and ">> ".
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-
load and execute the standard input as a file,
that is,
not interactively,
even when the standard input is a terminal.
.TP
.BI \-e " stat"
execute statement
.IR stat .
You need to quote
.I stat 
if it contains spaces, quotes,
or other characters special to the shell.
.TP
.B \-i
enter interactive mode after
.I script
is executed.
.TP
.BI \-l " name"
call
.BI require(' name ')
before executing
.IR script .
Typically used to load libraries.
.TP
.B \-v
show version information.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR luac (1)
.br
http://www.lua.org/
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
Error messages should be self explanatory.
.SH AUTHORS
R. Ierusalimschy,
L. H. de Figueiredo,
and
W. Celes
.\" EOF