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LUA(1) FreeBSD General Commands Manual LUA(1)
NAME
lua - Lua interpreter
SYNOPSIS
lua [ options ] [ script [ args ] ]
DESCRIPTION
lua is the standalone Lua interpreter. It loads and executes Lua
programs, either in textual source form or in precompiled binary form.
(Precompiled binaries are output by luac, the Lua compiler.) lua can
be used as a batch interpreter and also interactively.
After handling the options, the Lua program in file script is loaded
and executed. The args are available to script as strings in a global
table named arg and also as arguments to its main function. When
called without arguments, lua behaves as lua -v -i if the standard
input is a terminal, and as lua - otherwise.
In interactive mode, lua prompts the user, reads lines from the
standard input, and executes them as they are read. If the line
contains an expression, then the line is evaluated and the result is
printed. If a line does not contain a complete statement, then a
secondary prompt is displayed and lines are read until a complete
statement is formed or a syntax error is found.
Before handling command line options and scripts, lua checks the
contents of the environment variables LUA_INIT_5_4 and LUA_INIT, in
that order. If the contents are of the form '@filename', then filename
is executed. Otherwise, the contents are assumed to be a Lua statement
and is executed. When LUA_INIT_5_4 is defined, LUA_INIT is ignored.
OPTIONS
-e stat
execute statement stat.
-i enter interactive mode after executing script.
-l mod require library mod into global mod.
-l g=mod
require library mod into global g.
-v show version information.
-E ignore environment variables.
-W turn warnings on.
-- stop handling options.
- stop handling options and execute the standard input as a file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of lua. When
defined, the version-specific variants take priority and the version-
neutral variants are ignored.
LUA_CPATH, LUA_CPATH_5_4
Initial value of package.cpath, the path used by require to
search for C loaders.
EXIT STATUS
If a script calls os.exit, then lua exits with the given exit status.
Otherwise, lua exits with EXIT_SUCCESS (0 on POSIX systems) if there
were no errors and with EXIT_FAILURE (1 on POSIX systems) if there were
errors. Errors raised in interactive mode do not cause exits.
DIAGNOSTICS
Error messages should be self explanatory.
SEE ALSO
luac(1)
The documentation at lua.org, especially section 7 of the reference
manual.
AUTHORS
R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes
$Date: 2022/09/23 09:06:36 $ LUA(1)