WoWInterface - Print table in order ?

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Print table in order ?

How do I print this array/table in order every time without changing the structure of it?

Code:

local rbuffs = {        ["Bloodlust Heroism"] = false,

                                        ["Attack Power"] = false,

                                        ["Attack Speed"] = false,

                                        ["Critical Strike Chance"] = false,

                                        ["Mastery"] = false,

                                        ["Spell Haste"] = false,

                                        ["Spell Power"] = false,

                                        ["Stamina"] = false,

                                        ["Stat Multiplier"] = false,

}

for k,v in pairs(rbuffs) do

print( k.. "\n" )

end

Is there something in lua that allows me to iterate through the above array/table in a predictable manner? Thanks.

You need to define an interator function.

See http://www.lua.org/pil/19.3.html for reference.
(the 'pairsByKeys' function example should be exactly what you want)

I'd strongly recommend not using the function on that linked page, as it wastes memory creating a new table and a new function every time you call it. Something like this should work the same without creating new objects on every call:

Code:

local pairsByKey

do

        local temp = {}

        

        local iv, vals = 0

        local iter = function()

                iv = iv + 1

                if temp[iv] == nil then

                        return nil

                else

                        return temp[iv], vals[temp[iv]]

                end

        end



        local sort = table.sort

        function pairsByKey(t)

                local i = 1

                for k in pairs(t) do

                        temp[i] = k

                        i = i + 1

                end

                for j = i, #temp do

                        temp[i] = nil

                end

                sort(temp)

                

                iv, vals = 0, t

                return iter

        end

end

However, if you find yourself needing a solution like this, I'd be strongly inclined to say you're approaching the problem the wrong way, and there is probably a better way to write your code that doesn't require these kind of tricks.

Thanks guys for the help. It looks like I am going to have to change the structure of my array to include indices. Otherwise, any sorting function will kill my cpu cycles.