tostring
Lua function tostring Summary Converts its argument to a string Prototype `s = tostring (a)` Description `Converts its argument to a string in a reasonable format. If a __tostring metatable field is found, that is used for the conversion.
    print (tostring (print)) --> function: 0205A980
    print (tostring (_G)) --> table: 02072780
    print (tostring (1.23e10)) --> 12300000000

    -- use __tostring to print a table

    t = { age = 42, height = 102 }

    setmetatable (t,
      {
      __tostring = function (t)
        return "person of age " .. t.age
        end -- __tostring
      }
     )

    print (t) --> person of age 42
Also see bit.tostring which will convert a number to a string of any base in the range 2 to 36.` See Also ... Topics Lua base functions Lua bc (big number) functions Lua bit manipulation functions Lua coroutine functions Lua debug functions Lua io functions Lua math functions Lua os functions Lua package functions Lua PCRE regular expression functions Lua script extensions Lua string functions Lua table functions Lua utilities Scripting Lua functions assert (Asserts that condition is not nil and not false) collectgarbage (Collects garbage) dofile (Executes a Lua file) error (Raises an error message) gcinfo (Returns amount of dynamic memory in use) getfenv (Returns the current environment table) getmetatable (Returns the metatable for the object) ipairs (Iterates over a numerically keyed table) load (Loads a chunk by calling a function repeatedly) loadfile (Loads a Lua file and parses it) loadlib (Loads a DLL (obsolete in Lua 5.1)) loadstring (Compiles a string of Lua code) module (Creates a Lua module) next (Returns next key / value pair in a table) pairs (Traverse all items in a table) pcall (Calls a function in protected mode) print (Prints its arguments) rawequal (Compares two values for equality without invoking metamethods) rawget (Gets the value of a table item without invoking metamethods) rawset (Sets the value of a table item without invoking metamethods) require (Loads a module) select (Returns items in a list) setfenv (Sets a function's environment) setmetatable (Sets the metatable for a table) tonumber (Converts a string (of the given base) to a number) type (Returns the type of a variable) unpack (Unpacks a table into individual items) xpcall (Calls a function with a custom error handler) (Help topic: lua=tostring) Documentation contents page