Tutorial 16 - Table to String & String to Table

ToString.lua

--# ToString
--
-- Converts an arbitrary data type into a string. Will recursively convert
-- tables.
--
-- () param data   The data to convert.
-- () param indent (optional) The number of times to indent the line. Default is 0.
--
-- () return A string representation of a data, will be one or more full lines.
--
-- function from www.seclists.org/nmap-dev/2008/q4/550

function ToString(data, indent)

 local str = ""

 if (indent == nil) then
     indent = 0
 end

 -- Check the type

 if(type(data) == "string") then
     str = str .. (" "):rep(indent) .. data .. "\n"
 elseif(type(data) == "number") then
     str = str .. (" "):rep(indent) .. data .. "\n"
 elseif(type(data) == "boolean") then
     if(data == true) then
         str = str .. "true"
     else
         str = str .. "false"
     end
 elseif(type(data) == "table") then
     local i, v
     for i, v in pairs(data) do
         -- Check for a table in a table
         if(type(v) == "table") then
             str = str .. (" "):rep(indent) .. i .. ":\n"
             str = str .. to_string(v, indent + 2)
         else
             str = str .. (" "):rep(indent) .. i .. ": " .. to_string(v, 0)
         end
     end
 else
     print("Error: unknown data type: %s", type(data))
 end

 return str

end