Re: Deep __newindex on assignment?

[Alexander Gladysh <agladysh@...>]

> I had considered using a proxy, but won't that make it impossible to ever get a simple copy of the value? If I understand the sample code you linked that proxy would result in the following code modifying the original property bag:

Yes, it would.

>  local pos = propBag.Position  -- pos is now the proxy object wrapping the Point userdata
>  pos.z = 10                    -- this will use the proxy's __newindex thus setting the value in propBag
>  otherBag.Position = pos

>  assert(propBag.Position ~= otherBag.Position) -- this would fail as both were modified

This assertion is not Lua-way and it would be counter-intuitive for Lua users.

I firmly believe that whenever possible (if not in all cases) userdata
*must* act as if it was a table. Tables are not copied on assignment.

> With the above syntax I wouldn't want the original propBag to be modified. It seems like I would need some way of knowing if __index is being called due to a term on the left side of an assignment operator. Then I could use the proxy wrapper only in cases of eventual assignment, otherwise I could return an unwrappered value which effectively acts as a copy. Is that possible?

I do not think that it is a good idea.

Also, to the best of my knowledge, it is not possible within pure Lua.
You'd have to use Metalua for that.

Alexander.