Lua inheritance
I am trying to make a simple api that makes it easier to create classes and subclasses.
function newClass(index,...)
local new_class = {}
setmetatable(new_class,{__index = index})
local optionalArgs = {...}
if optionalArgs[1] ~= nil then
setmetatable(new_class,optionalArgs[1])
end
return new_class
end
--TESTINGCODE
exampleSuper = newClass({name="Super",id=1,getName = function() print("Super") end,})
exampleSuper.getName()
exampleSub = newClass({name="Sub",},exampleSuper)
print(exampleSub.id)
The problem is that even if I create a new superclass called exampleSuper, its fields are not assigned to the exampleSub class. How can I change my code so that my function can define a subclass?
Something like this, maybe:
function newClass(new_obj,old_obj)
old_obj = old_obj or {} --use passed-in object (if any)
new_obj = new_obj or {}
assert(type(old_obj) == 'table','Object/Class is not a table')
assert(type(new_obj) == 'table','Object/Class is not a table')
old_obj.__index = old_obj --store __index in parent object (optimization)
return setmetatable(new_obj,old_obj) --create 'new_obj' inheriting 'old_obj'
end
This question is well answered in the chapter "Object Oriented Programming" in Lua , in particular Inheritance .
In your specific case, when the validation is optionalArgs[1] ~= nil
correct, you are not setting __index
in the meta, as you are overwriting the earlier assignment.
The newClass
second call setmetatable
just overwrites the first. The following shorter function will give you the expected behavior:
function newClass(new_class, super)
new_class = new_class or {}
-- This assumes single inheritance. Multiple inheritance would require a
-- function for __index.
if super then
setmetatable(new_class,{__index = super})
end
return new_class
end