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CC-Tweaked/doc/guides/using_require.md
Jonathan Coates 895bc7721a
License CC:T according to the REUSE specification (#1351)
This adds SPDX license headers to all source code files, following the
REUSE[1] specification. This does not include any asset files (such as
generated JSON files, or textures). While REUSE does support doing so
with ".license" files, for now we define these licences using the
.reuse/dep5 file.

[1]: https://reuse.software/
2023-03-15 21:52:13 +00:00

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---
module: [kind=guide] using_require
---
<!--
SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 The CC: Tweaked Developers
SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
-->
# Reusing code with require
A library is a collection of useful functions and other definitions which is stored separately to your main program. You
might want to create a library because you have some functions which are used in multiple programs, or just to split
your program into multiple more modular files.
Let's say we want to create a small library to make working with the @{term|terminal} a little easier. We'll provide two
functions: `reset`, which clears the terminal and sets the cursor to (1, 1), and `write_center`, which prints some text
in the middle of the screen.
Start off by creating a file called `more_term.lua`:
```lua {data-snippet=more_term}
local function reset()
term.clear()
term.setCursorPos(1, 1)
end
local function write_center(text)
local x, y = term.getCursorPos()
local width, height = term.getSize()
term.setCursorPos(math.floor((width - #text) / 2) + 1, y)
term.write(text)
end
return { reset = reset, write_center = write_center }
```
Now, what's going on here? We define our two functions as one might expect, and then at the bottom return a table with
the two functions. When we require this library, this table is what is returned. With that, we can then call the
original functions. Now create a new file, with the following:
```lua {data-mount=more_term:more_term.lua}
local more_term = require("more_term")
more_term.reset()
more_term.write_center("Hello, world!")
```
When run, this'll clear the screen and print some text in the middle of the first line.
## require in depth
While the previous section is a good introduction to how @{require} operates, there are a couple of remaining points
which are worth mentioning for more advanced usage.
### Libraries can return anything
In our above example, we return a table containing the functions we want to expose. However, it's worth pointing out
that you can return ''anything'' from your library - a table, a function or even just a string! @{require} treats them
all the same, and just returns whatever your library provides.
### Module resolution and the package path
In the above examples, we defined our library in a file, and @{require} read from it. While this is what you'll do most
of the time, it is possible to make @{require} look elsewhere for your library, such as downloading from a website or
loading from an in-memory library store.
As a result, the *module name* you pass to @{require} doesn't correspond to a file path. One common mistake is to load
code from a sub-directory using `require("folder/library")` or even `require("folder/library.lua")`, neither of which
will do quite what you expect.
When loading libraries (also referred to as *modules*) from files, @{require} searches along the *@{package.path|module
path}*. By default, this looks something like:
* `?.lua`
* `?/init.lua`
* `/rom/modules/main/?.lua`
* etc...
When you call `require("my_library")`, @{require} replaces the `?` in each element of the path with your module name, and
checks if the file exists. In this case, we'd look for `my_library.lua`, `my_library/init.lua`,
`/rom/modules/main/my_library.lua` and so on. Note that this works *relative to the current program*, so if your
program is actually called `folder/program`, then we'll look for `folder/my_library.lua`, etc...
One other caveat is loading libraries from sub-directories. For instance, say we have a file
`my/fancy/library.lua`. This can be loaded by using `require("my.fancy.library")` - the '.'s are replaced with '/'
before we start looking for the library.
## External links
There are several external resources which go into require in a little more detail:
- The [Lua Module tutorial](http://lua-users.org/wiki/ModulesTutorial) on the Lua wiki.
- [Lua's manual section on @{require}](https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#pdf-require).