Lua Operating System Functions
Lua language provides a set of built-in functions for interacting with the operating system. These functions are collectively known as the Lua Operating System Functions, and in this article, we will take a closer look at their capabilities.
Let’s dive deep into Lua operating system functions.
Lua provides built-in functions for interacting with the operating system. These functions can be used to perform various tasks such as file I/O, creating and deleting directories, executing external programs, and more.
Among the most commonly used Lua operating system functions are:
| Functions | Overview |
| os.clock() | This function returns the program’s CPU time in seconds. |
| os.date([format [, time]]) | This function returns a string that represents the current time and date, or the current date and time if no time is provided. Optionally, the format argument can be used to specify the string’s format. |
| os.difftime(time1, time2) | Returns the difference (in seconds) between the two times provided. |
| os.execute(cmd) | Executes the command specified by cmd in a new process and returns true if the command was successful, nil otherwise. |
| os.exit([code [, close]]) | Terminates the current process with an optional exit code. If close is true, Lua will close all open files before exiting. |
| os.getenv(varname) | Returns the value of the environment variable specified by varname. |
| os.remove(filename) | Deletes the file specified by filename. |
| os.rename(oldname, newname) | Renames the file or directory specified by oldname to newname. |
| os.setlocale(locale [, category]) | Sets the current locale to the one specified by locale. The optional category argument can be used to specify which locale category should be set. |
| os.time([table]) | Returns the time specified by the table argument as a Unix timestamp. If a table is not provided, return the current time. |
| os.tmpname() | Returns a unique filename for temporary files. |
Here is an example that implements the os.clock() function in Lua:
Example:
local iterations = 100000
startingTime = os.clock()
for i = 1, iterations do
local result = math.sqrt(i)
end
endingTime = os.clock()
elapsedTime = endingTime – startingTime
print("Elapsed CPU time: " .. elapsedTime .. " seconds")
In this example, the os.date() function has been demonstrated:
Example:
local currentDate = os.date()
print(currentDate)local formattedDate = os.date("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
print(formattedDate)
Below example illustrates the use of os.time() function in Lua:
Example:
-- Get the current timestamp
local timestamp = os.time()-- Print the timestamp
print("Current timestamp: " .. timestamp)-- Convert timestamp to a table
local time_table = os.date("*t", timestamp)-- Print the time in readable format
print(string.format("Current time: %02d:%02d:%02d", time_table.hour, time_table.min, time_table.sec))
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