Do tables carry their metatables to DataStores?
I'm trying to create a messenger GUI that uses DataStores to get data across servers. I'm currently working on actually creating the DataStore, as well as giving it a bit more functionality, like giving it a key index and a way to monitor what happens to it.
1 | datastore = game:GetService("DataStoreService"):GetDataStore("MessengerData") |
Info log:
01 | infolog = datastore:GetAsync("INFO_LOG") |
02 |
03 | if infolog == nil then |
04 | infolog = {} |
05 | setmetatable(infolog, { |
06 | __newindex = function(self, key, value) |
07 | rawset(self, key, value) |
08 | datastore:SetAsync("INFO_LOG", self) |
09 | end |
10 | }) |
11 | datastore:SetAsync("INFO_LOG", infolog) |
12 | end |
Key index:
01 | index = datastore:GetAsync("KEY_INDEX") |
02 |
03 | if index == nil then |
04 | print("Initializing MessengerData KEY_INDEX for the first time...") |
05 | index = {} |
06 | setmetatable(index, { |
07 | __newindex = function(self, key, value) |
08 | rawset(self, key, value) |
09 | datastore:SetAsync("KEY_INDEX", self) |
10 | end |
11 | }) |
12 | datastore:SetAsync("KEY_INDEX", index) |
13 | print("Initialized.") |
14 | table.insert(infolog, "Initialized KEY_INDEX at "..os.time()) |
15 | end |
And then I could just iterate over INFO_LOG to see what's been going on, and KEY_INDEX to see who's in the DataStore. I put a metatable on the index and the info log because I figured that every time I appended to those tables, I'd save them to their DataStore keys. Since I've saved a table with a metatable to the DataStore, would this shortcut apply to other scripts like this?
1 | datastore = game:GetService("DataStoreService"):GetDataStore("MessengerData") |
2 | index = datastore:GetAsync("KEY_INDEX") |
3 | index.Bob = true |
4 | --Assuming the metatable is still there, I wouldn't have to put the SetAsync line here, right? |
1 answer
Actually, no, they don't. However, we always have the alternative of making some kind of custom "GetAsync" method, that returns an invoked table with a new setmetatable. Here's an example:
01 | -- Get the data store service |
02 | local MyDataStore = game:GetService("DataStoreService"):GetDataStore("Metatables") |
03 |
04 | -- Set "MyTable" to an empty table |
05 | MyDataStore:SetAsync("MyTable",{}) |
06 |
07 | -- Make a blank table we can use to get modified information from |
08 | local DataUtility = {} |
09 |
10 | -- The metatable we return to a table with our new GetAsync fucntion |
11 | local Metatable = { |
12 | __index = function(tab, key) |
13 | print('Could not find: '..key..' in table: '..tostring(tab)) |
14 | return 'Not found' |
15 | end |
Didn't mean to reply to this question with just a script, i tried explaining as much as possible as i went. But you seem like you know enough to know what's going on anyway, so i hope this helped.