devUtils Reference

Module defined in lua/common/devUtils.lua. Development utilities for sandboxed Lua execution, module local variable introspection, global state snapshots, and table recursion detection.

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Exports

All exports are global functions (no module table).

Functions

executeLuaSandboxed(cmd, source)

Executes a Lua string in a sandboxed environment with stdout capture.

• Parameters:
  • cmd - string - Lua code to execute
  • source - string|nil - Source name for error reporting (default: "executeLuaSandboxed")
• Returns: any, table|nil - Result of execution (or error string), and captured stdout lines

getModuleLocals(moduleTbl)

Returns all upvalue locals used by functions in a module table. Useful for introspection and serialization.

• Parameters:
  • moduleTbl - table - The module table to inspect
• Returns: table - Map of local variable names to their values

createGlobalSnapshot(filename)

Serializes the entire global Lua state to a JSON file for debugging. Captures all global tables, their locals, extension state, and variables.

• Parameters:
  • filename - string - Output JSON filename

tableFindRecursion(tbl)

Detects tables that appear at multiple paths within a table hierarchy (shared references).

• Parameters:
  • tbl - table - Root table to inspect
• Returns: number, table - Count of duplicate table references, and a map of table pointers to their paths

Internal Notes

• executeLuaSandboxed is NOT truly safe - it can access hidden objects through the environment
• The sandbox captures print() output and redirects it to a table
• createGlobalSnapshot skips functions, extension modules, and the global table itself
• Internal helpers: _findUpValuesFromFunction, _recFindUpvalues, _cleanupCloneTbl, _createGraphviz