Re: Re: to confirm, userdata can implement the "eq" metamethod, but they are still different table keys?

[Ross Berteig <Ross@...>]

Sam,

Sometime on 1 May 2007, Sam Roberts wrote:
>....
>Thanks Luis, but I would like the opposite, if a == b,
>then t[a] == t[b]:
>
>       a = uint64(1)
>       b = uint64(1) -- uint64() returns a userdata wrapping a 
uint64
>       t = {}
>       t[a] = 'this'
>       t[b] = 'that'
>
>       assert(a == b) -- this is possible using the __eq metamethod
>       -- but this is less easy to arrange:
>       assert(t[a] == t[b])
>
>Since all userdata are distinct keys, as far as I can tell, lua has
>user-defined "==" equivalence, but not user-defined "hash key"
>equivalence.
>
>So if I want to be able to have, for example, a numeric type where
>objects are both equivalent table keys and == equivalent, I have to
>implement a userdata factory using a weak-valued table.
>
>Has there been any thought to a __hash() metamethod, so objects can
>express key equivalence as well as == equivalence?

I may be misunderstanding what you want, but it seems like the 
memoization technique described in PIL 17.1 
(http://www.lua.org/pil/17.1.html) for colors represented as 
tables would provide what you need.

By enhancing your uint64() function with a similar memoization 
scheme so that the same full userdata is returned each time a 
particular integer value is passed you get the desired property 
that uint64(42) always produces a reference to the same userdata 
and so compares equal by all measures including when used as a 
table key, as long as at least one instance of uint64(42) 
remains uncollected at least.

The color example is pure lua, but the underlying technique 
should be doable entirely from C in a library as long as you 
find a suitably persistant place to keep the table used as a 
memoization cache such as in an upvalue attached to the uint64() 
function.

Ross Berteig                               Ross@CheshireEng.com
Cheshire Engineering Corp.           http://www.CheshireEng.com/
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