table.getn
Lua function table.getn Summary Returns the size of a numerically-keyed table Prototype `n = table.getn (t)` Description `Returns the size of the table using the rules described at the start of this page. A table's size (which is only relevant for "numeric" indexed tables) is one less than the first integer index with a nil value. If the table has "holes" in it - that is, numeric keys with gaps in the sequence - then the table size is not guaranteed to be the the last gap. Lua does a binary search to try to find a gap, it does not necessarily find the first or last one.
    table.getn { "the", "quick", "brown", "fox", name = "Nick" } --> 4
Note that the length here is 4 and not 5, because the non-numeric entry (name = "Nick") is not considered to be part of the table's "length". You can also use #t to find the length of a table.
    # { "the", "quick", "brown", "fox", name = "Nick" } --> 4
Contrast to table.maxn which finds the highest key by a linear scan (and is therefore slower).` 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 table.concat (Concatenates table items together into a string) table.foreach (Applies a function to each item in a table) table.foreachi (Applies a function to each item in a numerically-keyed table) table.insert (Inserts a new item into a numerically-keyed table) table.maxn (Returns the highest numeric key in the table) table.remove (Removes an item from a numerically-keyed table) table.setn (Sets the size of a table (obsolete)) table.sort (Sorts a table) (Help topic: lua=table.getn) Documentation contents page