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Table filter options

Table filters define what types of Luau tables should be returned when using filtergc with "table" as the filter type.

Each key in the filter table specifies a condition the table must meet in order to be returned. You can use one or multiple fields together to narrow your results.

Available Options

Key Type Description Default
Keys { any }? If provided, also includes tables that contain all the specified keys. nil
Values { any }? If provided, only includes tables that contain all the specified values. nil
KeyValuePairs { [any]: any }? If provided, only includes tables that contain all key-value pairs in this table. nil
Metatable table? If provided, only includes tables whose metatable matches the given one. nil

Notes

  • These filters work based on narrowing - the more information you provide in the filters, the more accurate the result.
  • If Metatable is used, a raw metatable comparison is performed.

Examples

False negatives may occur

Executing these examples multiple times in a short period of time may result in false negatives.

Matching by Keys

Matching a table by key
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local dummy_table = { ["dummy_key"] = "" }

local retrieved = filtergc("table", {
    Keys = { "dummy_key" },
}, true)

print(retrieved == dummy_table) -- Output: true

Matching by KeyValuePairs

Matching a table by key-value pairs
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local dummy_table = { ["dummy_key"] = "dummy_value" }

local retrieved = filtergc("table", {
    KeyValuePairs = { ["dummy_key"] = "dummy_value" },
}, true)

print(retrieved == dummy_table) -- Output: true

Matching by Metatable

Matching a table by metatable
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local dummy_table = setmetatable({}, { __index = getgenv() })

local retrieved = filtergc("table", { 
    Metatable = getmetatable(dummy_table) 
}, true)

print(retrieved == dummy_table) -- Output: true