RE: Can I use __gc metamethod directly from Lua?

["Ram Firestone" <bichir@...>]

I'm just curious. Why do you need a __GC method for a table anyway? I tend to always use this for C++ classes where I need to call
the destructor.  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: lua-bounces@bazar2.conectiva.com.br [mailto:lua-bounces@bazar2.conectiva.com.br] On Behalf Of
> joseph stewart
> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 3:15 PM
> To: Lua list
> Subject: Re: Can I use __gc metamethod directly from Lua?
> 
> 
> On Nov 25, 2006, at 6:09 PM, Ram Firestone wrote:
> 
> > __gc only works for userdata values.
> >
> 
> Ah, I was working off the info at:
> 
> http://lua-users.org/wiki/MetatableEvents
> 
> That stinks. There's a lot of busy-work in C that I'd rather do in
> Lua. Too bad.
> 
> Thanks for the correction.
> 
> -joe
> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: lua-bounces@bazar2.conectiva.com.br [mailto:lua-
> >> bounces@bazar2.conectiva.com.br] On Behalf Of
> >> joseph stewart
> >> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 3:05 PM
> >> To: Lua list
> >> Subject: Can I use __gc metamethod directly from Lua?
> >>
> >> Hello all,
> >>
> >> I'm developing a library binding and to minimize the amount of 'C'
> >> code I need to write, I want to have Lua handle the __gc metamethod.
> >> At first glance, this doesn't appear to do what I want. Here's the
> >> essence of what I'm doing:
> >>
> >> mt = {}
> >> mt.__gc = function() print("gc me") end
> >> t = {1,2,3}
> >> setmetatable(t, mt)
> >> t = nil
> >> collectgarbage("collect")
> >>
> >> I would expect to see "gc me" printed after the collectgarbage
> >> function call, but I don't.
> >>
> >> Am I completely on the wrong track? I've used __gc from 'C' code and
> >> more or less get what I expect. Is __gc usable from Lua code?
> >>
> >> Thanks in advance for any help! When the library is done, I'll share
> >> it with y'all.
> >>
> >> -joe
> >