Module pl.app

Application support functions.

See the Guide

Functions

require_here () add the current script's path to the Lua module path.
appfile (file) return a suitable path for files private to this application.
platform () return string indicating operating system.
parse_args (args, flags_with_values) parse command-line arguments into flags and parameters.


Functions

require_here ()
add the current script's path to the Lua module path. Applies to both the source and the binary module paths. It makes it easy for the main file of a multi-file program to access its modules in the same directory.

Returns:

    the current script's path with a trailing slash
appfile (file)
return a suitable path for files private to this application. These will look like '~/.SNAME/file', with '~' as with expanduser and SNAME is the name of the script without .lua extension.

Parameters:

  • file: a filename (w/out path)

Returns:

    a full pathname
platform ()
return string indicating operating system.

Returns:

    'Windows','OSX' or whatever uname returns (e.g. 'Linux')
parse_args (args, flags_with_values)
parse command-line arguments into flags and parameters. Understands GNU-style command-line flags; short (-f) and long (--flag). These may be given a value with either '=' or ':' (-k:2,--alpha=3.2,-n2); note that a number value can be given without a space. Multiple short args can be combined like so: (-abcd).

Parameters:

  • args: an array of strings (default is the global 'arg')
  • flags_with_values: any flags that take values, e.g. {out=true}

Returns:

  1. a table of flags (flag=value pairs)
  2. an array of parameters