Set Variables And Tables With Function

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Instead of ensure only the existence of an already created table this function overwrites any given Table/Name - as expected I think.

   function setvar(Table,Name,Value)

-- Table (table, optional); default is _G
-- Name (string); name of the variable e.g. A.B.C ensures the table A and A.B and sets A.B.C to <Value>
--                single dots at the end inserts the value in the last position of the array e.g. A. ensures table A and sets A[table.getn(A)] to <Value>
--                multiple dots are interpreted as a string e.g. A..B. ensures the table A..B
-- Value (any)

      if type(Table)~='table' then
         Table,Name,Value = _G,Table,Name
      end

      local Concat,Key = false,''

      string.gsub(Name,'([^%.]+)(%.*)',function(Word,Delimiter)

                                          if Delimiter=='.' then
                                             if Concat then
                                                Word=Key..Word
                                                Concat,Key = false,''
                                             end
                                             if type(Table[Word])~='table' then
                                                Table[Word]={}
                                             end
                                             Table=Table[Word]
                                          else
                                             Key=Key..Word..Delimiter
                                             Concat=true
                                          end
      
                                       end)

      if Key=='' then
         table.insert(Table,Value)
      else
         Table[Key]=Value
      end

   end


-- the following lines are only for tests

   Test={}

   setvar(Test,'Index',1)
   setvar(Test,'Index.',22)
   setvar(Test,'Index.Index',333)

-- dump content of Test here

   setvar(Test,'Index.Index.',4444)
   setvar(Test,'Index.Index.',4444)
   setvar(Test,'Index..',55555)
   setvar(Test,'Index..Index',666666)
   setvar(Test,'Index..Index.',7777777)
   setvar(Test,'Index..Index..',88888888)

-- dump content of Test here

   setvar(Test,'.Index',999999999)

-- dump content of Test here

   setvar(Test,'',0)

-- dump content of Test and here