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---
title: Metatables
description: Metatables attach powerful metamethods to tables, allowing for manipulation like indexing, addition, and concatenation.
---
Metatables allow tables to become more powerful than before. They are attached to data and contain values called metamethods. Metamethods are fired when a certain action is used with the datum that it is attached to.
## Manipulate metatables
The two primary functions for adding and finding a table's metatable are `Global.LuaGlobals.setmetatable()` and `Global.LuaGlobals.getmetatable()`.
```lua
local x = {}
local metaTable = {} -- metaTables are tables, too!
setmetatable(x, metaTable) -- Give x a metatable called metaTable!
print(getmetatable(x)) --> table: [hexadecimal memory address]
```
The `Global.LuaGlobals.setmetatable()` function also returns the table that you're setting the metatable of, so these two scripts do the same thing:
```lua
local x = {}
setmetatable(x, {})
```
```lua
local x = setmetatable({}, {})
```
### Metamethods
Metamethods are the functions that are stored inside a metatable. They can go
from calling a table, to adding a table, to even dividing tables as well.
Here's the list of available metamethods:
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Method</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>`__index(table, index)`</td>
<td>Fires when `table[index]` is indexed, if `table[index]` is `nil`. Can also be set to a table, in which case that table will be indexed.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__newindex(table, index, value)`</td>
<td>Fires when `table[index]` tries to be set `(table[index] = value)`, if `table[index]` is `nil`. Can also be set to a table, in which case that table will be indexed.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__call(table, ...)`</td>
<td>Fires when the table is called like a function, `...` is the arguments that were passed.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__concat(table, value)`</td>
<td>Fires when the `..` concatenation operator is used on the table.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__unm(table)`</td>
<td>Fires when the unary `–` operator is used on the table.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__add(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `+` addition operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__sub(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `–` subtraction operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__mul(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `*` multiplication operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__div(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `/` division operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__idiv(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `//` floor division operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__mod(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `%` modulus operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__pow(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `^` exponentiation operator.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__tostring(table)`</td>
<td>Fired when tostring is called on the table.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__metatable`</td>
<td>If present, locks the metatable so `Global.LuaGlobals.getmetatable()` will return this instead of the metatable and `Global.LuaGlobals.setmetatable()` will error. Non-function value.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__eq(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `==` equal to operator¹</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__lt(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `<` less than operator¹</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__le(table, value)`</td>
<td>The `<=` operator¹</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__mode`</td>
<td>Used in weak tables, declaring whether the keys and/or values of a table are weak. Note that references to Roblox instances are never weak. Tables that hold such references will never be garbage collected.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__len(table)`</td>
<td>Fired when the `#` length operator is used on the object.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>`__iter(table)`</td>
<td>Used to denote a custom iterator when using generalized iteration.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<Alert severity = 'info'>
¹ Requires two values with the **same** metamethod function and basic type
(table/userdata/etc.); does not work with a table and another random table, or
with a userdata and a table.
If you want to override relational comparison for your type, you must implement `__lt`. By default, all four operators (`<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`) will call it and interpret the result according to relational identities (`a<b` == `b>a`, `a<=b` == `not(b<a)`)
In some cases, such as when preserving unordered semantics exactly, you can have different behavior for `<=`.. For example, for floating-point numbers, `NaN < NaN` is false, and `NaN <= NaN` is also false. For this case, you can override `__le` as well, in which case `<=` and `>=` will use it instead of inverting the result of `__lt`.
</Alert>
It should be noted that when writing functions for either arithmetic or relational metamethods the two function parameters are interchangeable between the table that fired the metamethod and the other value. For example, when doing vector operations with scalars division is not commutative. Therefore if you were writing metamethods for your own `vector2` class, you'd want to be careful to account for either scenario.
```lua
local vector2 = {__type = "vector2"}
local mt = {__index = vector2}
function mt.__div(a, b)
if type(a) == "number" then
-- a is a scalar, b is a vector
local scalar, vector = a, b
return vector2.new(scalar / vector.x, scalar / vector.y)
elseif type(b) == "number" then
-- a is a vector, b is a scalar
local vector, scalar = a, b
return vector2.new(vector.x / scalar, vector.y / scalar)
elseif (a.__type and a.__type == "vector2" and b.__type and b.__type == "vector2") then
-- both a and b are vectors
return vector2.new(a.x / b.x, a.y / b.y)
end
end
function mt.__tostring(t)
return t.x .. ", " .. t.y
end
function vector2.new(x, y)
local self = setmetatable({}, mt)
self.x = x or 0
self.y = y or 0
return self
end
local a = vector2.new(10, 5)
local b = vector2.new(-3, 4)
print(a / b) -- -3.3333333333333, 1.25
print(b / a) -- -0.3, 0.8
print(2 / a) -- 0.2, 0.4
print(a / 2) -- 5, 2.5
```
### Usage
There are many ways to use metatables, for example the `__unm` metamethod to make a table negative:
```lua
local metatable = {
__unm = function(t) -- __unm is for the unary - operator
local negated = {}
for key, value in t do
negated[key] = -value -- negate all of the values in this table
end
return negated -- return the table
end
}
local table1 = setmetatable({10, 11, 12}, metatable)
print(table.concat(-table1, "; ")) --> -10; -11; -12
```
Here's an interesting way to declare things using `__index`:
```lua
local metatable = {
__index = {x = 1}
}
local t = setmetatable({}, metatable)
print(t.x) --> 1
```
`__index` was fired when `x` was indexed in the table and not found. Luau then searched through the `__index` table for an index called `x`, and, finding one, returned that.
Now you can easily do that with a simple function, but there's a lot more where
that came from. Take this for example:
```lua
local t = {10, 20, 30}
print(t(5))
```
Typically you can't call a table, but with metatables you can:
```lua
local metatable = {
__call = function(t, param)
local sum = {}
for i, value in ipairs(t) do
sum[i] = value + param -- Add the argument (5) to the value, then place it in the new table (t).
end
return unpack(sum) -- Return the individual table values
end
}
local t = setmetatable({10, 20, 30}, metatable)
print(t(5)) --> 15 25 35
```
You can do a lot more as well, such as adding tables:
```lua
local table1 = {10, 11, 12}
local table2 = {13, 14, 15}
for k, v in table1 + table2 do
print(k, v)
end
```
This will error saying that you're attempting to perform arithmetic on a table, but it works when attempted with a metatable:
```lua
local metatable = {
__add = function(t1, t2)
local sum = {}
for key, value in t1 do
sum[key] = value
end
for key, value in t2 do
if sum[key] then
sum[key] += value
else
sum[key] = value
end
end
return sum
end
}
local table1 = setmetatable({10, 11, 12}, metatable)
local table2 = setmetatable({13, 14, 15}, metatable)
for k, v in table1 + table2 do
print(k, v)
end
```
When playing with metatables, you may run into some problems. If you need to use the `__index` metamethod to create new values in a table, but that table's metatable also has a `__newindex` metamethod, you'll want to use the Luau built-in function `Global.LuaGlobals.rawset()` to set the value without invoking any metamethods. Take the following code as an example of what happens if you don't use these functions.
```lua
local t = setmetatable({}, {
__index = function(self, i)
self[i] = i * 10
return self[i]
end,
__newindex = function(self, i, v)
-- Don't set values to the table the normal way
end
})
print(t[1]) -- Causes a stack overflow
```
Stack overflows happen when you try to call a function from itself too many times. In the `__index` function above, `self[i]` is set to a value, so when it gets to the next line, `self[i]` should exist and presumably won't call the `__index` metamethod. The problem is that `__newindex` doesn't let you set the value. Its presence stops values from being added to the table with the standard `t[i] = v` method. In order to get past this, use the `Global.LuaGlobals.rawset()` function:
```lua
local t = setmetatable({}, {
__index = function(self, i)
rawset(self, i, i * 10)
return self[i]
end,
__newindex = function(self, i, v)
-- Don't set values to the table the normal way
end
})
print(t[1]) --> 10
```
## Use the set datatype
A **set** is a collection of items with no order and no duplicate elements. An item either **is** or **is not** contained within a set. Using metatables, you can construct and manipulate sets within Luau scripts.
### Basic methods
The following code includes basic set functionality, letting you construct new
sets, add and remove an item, check if a set contains an item, and output the
contents of a set.
```lua
local Set = {}
Set.__index = Set
-- Function to construct a set from an optional list of items
function Set.new(items)
local newSet = {}
for key, value in items or {} do
newSet[value] = true
end
return setmetatable(newSet, Set)
end
-- Function to add an item to a set
function Set:add(item)
self[item] = true
end
-- Function to remove an item from a set
function Set:remove(item)
self[item] = nil
end
-- Function to check if a set contains an item
function Set:contains(item)
return self[item] == true
end
-- Function to output set as a comma-delimited list for debugging
function Set:output()
local elems = {}
for key, value in self do
table.insert(elems, tostring(key))
end
print(table.concat(elems, ", "))
end
```
#### Create set
A new set can be constructed by calling `Set.new()` with an optional array of items to add.
```lua
local fruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Lemon", "Orange", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
```
Note that by definition, a set has no concept of ordering.
#### Add item
Adding an item to an existing set can be done via the `Set:add()` method.
```lua
local fruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Lemon", "Orange", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
fruits:add("Mango")
```
#### Remove item
To remove an item from a set, call `Set:remove()` with the item name.
```lua
local fruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Lemon", "Orange", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
fruits:remove("Orange")
```
#### Check for item
To check if a set contains a specific item, use `Set:contains()`.
```lua
local fruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Lemon", "Orange", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
local result1 = fruits:contains("Cherry")
print(result1) -- true
local result2 = fruits:contains("Watermelon")
print(result2) -- false
```
### Additional methods
Other useful operations can be implemented for sets, letting you compare items between sets, combine sets, or subtract one set from another.
#### Intersection
When considering sets as Venn diagrams, you can get the **intersection** of two sets as follows, meaning the items that appear in **both** sets.
```lua
local function getIntersection(set1, set2)
local result = Set.new()
for key, value in set1 do
if set2:contains(key) then
result:add(key)
end
end
return result
end
local freshFruits = Set.new({"Mango", "Lemon", "Orange", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
local frozenFruits = Set.new({"Mango", "Peach", "Pineapple"})
local commonFruits = getIntersection(freshFruits, frozenFruits)
commonFruits:output() -- Mango, Peach
```
#### Union
You can get the **union** of two sets with the following function, meaning a collection of the items in both sets with no duplicates. Note that this function uses the metatable `__add` method to provide an addition shortcut of `set1 + set2`.
```lua
function Set:__add(otherSet)
local result = Set.new()
for entry in self do
result[entry] = true
end
for entry in otherSet do
result[entry] = true
end
return result
end
local sweetFruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Mango", "Cherry", "Peach"})
local sourFruits = Set.new({"Lemon", "Lime"})
local allFruits = sweetFruits + sourFruits
allFruits:output() -- Peach, Lime, Apple, Cherry, Lemon, Mango
```
#### Subtraction
You can remove all items in one set from the items in another set via the following function. Similar to the function above, this uses the metatable `__sub` method to provide a subtraction shortcut of `set1 - set2`.
```lua
function Set:__sub(otherSet)
local result = Set.new()
for entry in self do
result[entry] = true
end
for entry in otherSet do
result[entry] = nil
end
return result
end
local allFruits = Set.new({"Apple", "Lemon", "Mango", "Cherry", "Lime", "Peach"})
local sourFruits = Set.new({"Lemon", "Lime"})
local sweetFruits = allFruits - sourFruits
sweetFruits:output() -- Mango, Apple, Cherry, Peach
```