Explanation of Lua Syntax needed

[bsmorgan]

Can someone please explain what the "[[" and "]]" in the following code does. Notepad++ seems to know something is afoot as the code is syntax colored red.

-- 1) Rapid movement or movement off the window breaks the Blizzard code.  
--    We use a sensible timer to fix this - popupNaziSnippet
local popupNaziSnippet = [[
	local flag = self:IsUnderMouse(true)
	if (flag) then
		local queued = control:SetTimer(1, "hoverCheck")
	else
		local anchorButton = self:GetFrameRef("anchorButton")
		x, y = anchorButton:GetMousePosition()
		if (x and y) then
			local queued = control:SetTimer(1, "hoverCheck")
		else
			self:Hide()
		end
	end
]]

[Rainrider]

popupNaziSnippet is defined as a string to be later executed by loadstring
http://www.lua.org/pil/2.4.html
http://www.lua.org/pil/8.html

[Seerah]

[[ ]] is for literal strings. They can be used in loadstring, you can also include line breaks and quotes in them. Some characters, such as a backslash, do not need to be escaped as well.

[Vlad]

Using loadstring() to execute functions is an entirely different topic. Most cases it's not needed. So shed some light if you wanna use it like this, so we can evaluate how necessary it is!

[bsmorgan]

The snippet in the OP is from AutoBar. I'm trying to fix an annoying bug. Popups that are supposed to pop up when they are moused over and pop down when the mouse leaves sometimes stay popped up. This snippet is part of code that is supposed to force them down after a time interval, but it doesn't appear to work.

Its hard to fix something when you don't understand it! I started looking at the code and found this "literal string" construct that I'd never seen before. I now find it odd that I can't find "loadstring" anywhere in the addon.

Thanks for the insight. I'll see if this new knowledge will get me any further along.

[Dridzt]

There's a good possibility it's not loadstring() ed.

Snippets are typical for use in Secure Templates as well.
Edit: That is to say it may be loaded in a :Execute :SetAttribute :WrapScript etc call.

[Vrul]

The use of the word "snippet" in the variable name along with the use of control and GetFrameRef in the code suggests that it is part of a secure object and the addon would not directly execute it via loadstring.

Edit: Dridzt beat me to it, wow I type slow.

[bsmorgan]

Can I put a "DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(msg);" into one of these literal strings for debugging purposes?

[Rainrider]

Yes, you can. Btw DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(msg) is just the same as print(msg)

[Vlad]

Actually print will also take in more arguments and join them with spaces, while AddMessage only takes one argument, the rest are for coloring, so two reasons to use print; shorter to write and prints all the arguments!