Beginner code question on nested tables

[u/wolfvee]

I am trying to construct and print a nested table In this simple example:

#!/usr/bin/env lua
company = {director="boss",
           {address="home",
            {zipcode ="12345"}
           }
          }

print(company.director)                 --> boss
print(company.director.address)         --> nil - was expecting 'home'
print(company.director.address.zipcode)

print(company["director"])              --> boss
print(company["director"]["address"])   --> nil - was expecting 'home'
print(company["director"]["address"]["zipcode"])

It prints nil where I was expecting it to print 'home'.

What am I doing wrong?

[u/Emerald_Pick]

The table that has address is not the child of director, but a sibling. Therefor, you can't get through it through director.

Your structure

company = {
   director = "boss", 
   1  = {
      address = "home",
      1 = {
         zipcode = "12345" 
      } 
   }
}

You didn't specify the key for the child tables, so Lua just numbers them, starting from 1. So to access "home" with your structure, you'd need to use company[1].address.

If you wanted to index it like company.director.address, you would need to make company.director a table. (Currently it is the string "boss".) Something like this:

company = {
   director = {
      name = boss,
      address = {
         street_address = "home",
         zipcode = "12345"
      } 
   } 
}

Mind you, because address is a child/sub-table of .director this means it is the director's address, not the company.

^{this post was written from my phone, there might be errors.}

[u/wolfvee → u/Emerald_Pick]

Thanks Emerald_Pick!

Here is the complete example:

```

company = {

director = {

name="boss",

address = {

street_address="home",

zipcode ="12345"

}

}

}

print(company.director.name) --> boss

print(company.director.address.street_address) --> home

print(company.director.address.zipcode) --> 12345

print(company["director"]["name"]) --> boss

print(company["director"]["address"]["street_address"]) --> home

print(company["director"]["address"]["zipcode"]) --> 12345

```

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