Print table in order ?

[skarie]

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

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.

[humfras]

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)

[Phanx]

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:

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.

[skarie]

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.