p.lua

local to_string2

local function table_print (tt, indent, done)
  done = done or {}
  indent = indent or 0
  if type(tt) == "table" then
    local sb = {}
    for key, value in pairs (tt) do
      table.insert(sb, string.rep (" ", indent)) -- indent it
      if type (value) == "table" and not done [value] then
        done [value] = true
        table.insert(sb, to_string2(key) .. "={\n");
        table.insert(sb, table_print (value, indent + 2, done))
        table.insert(sb, string.rep (" ", indent)) -- indent it
        table.insert(sb, "}\n");
      else
        table.insert(sb, string.format(
            "%s = \"%s\"\n", tostring (key), tostring(value)))
       end
    end
    return table.concat(sb)
  else
    return tt .. "\n"
  end
end


function to_string2( tbl )
    if  "nil"       == type( tbl ) then
        return tostring(nil)
    elseif  "table" == type( tbl ) then
        return table_print(tbl)
    elseif  "string" == type( tbl ) then
        return tbl
    else
        return tostring(tbl)
    end
end
print(to_string2( {['a']={'b'}}))

a={
  1 = "b"
}