os.setlocale (locale [, category]) Sets the current locale of the program. locale is a system-dependent string specifying a locale; category is an optional string describing which category to change: "all", "collate", "ctype", "monetary", "numeric", or "time"; the default category is "all". The function returns the name of the new locale, or nil if the request cannot be honored. If locale is the empty string, the current locale is set to an implementation-defined native locale. If locale is

os.time ([table]) Returns the current time when called without arguments, or a time representing the local date and time specified by the given table. This table must have fields year, month, and day, and may have fields hour (default is 12), min (default is 0), sec (default is 0), and isdst (default is nil). Other fields are ignored. For a description of these fields, see the os.date function. The values in these fields do not need to be inside their valid ranges. For instance, if sec is -

os.tmpname () Returns a string with a file name that can be used for a temporary file. The file must be explicitly opened before its use and explicitly removed when no longer needed. On POSIX systems, this function also creates a file with that name, to avoid security risks. (Someone else might create the file with wrong permissions in the time between getting the name and creating the file.) You still have to open the file to use it and to remove it (even if you do not use it). When poss

package.config A string describing some compile-time configurations for packages. This string is a sequence of lines: The first line is the directory separator string. Default is '\' for Windows and '/' for all other systems. The second line is the character that separates templates in a path. Default is ';'. The third line is the string that marks the substitution points in a template. Default is '?'. The fourth line is a string that, in a path in Windows, is replaced by the executable's di

package.cpath The path used by require to search for a C loader. Lua initializes the C path package.cpath in the same way it initializes the Lua path package.path, using the environment variable LUA_CPATH_5_3, or the environment variable LUA_CPATH, or a default path defined in luaconf.h.

package.loaded A table used by require to control which modules are already loaded. When you require a module modname and package.loaded[modname] is not false, require simply returns the value stored there. This variable is only a reference to the real table; assignments to this variable do not change the table used by require.

package.loadlib (libname, funcname) Dynamically links the host program with the C library libname. If funcname is "*", then it only links with the library, making the symbols exported by the library available to other dynamically linked libraries. Otherwise, it looks for a function funcname inside the library and returns this function as a C function. So, funcname must follow the lua_CFunction prototype (see lua_CFunction). This is a low-level function. It completely bypasses the package

package.path The path used by require to search for a Lua loader. At start-up, Lua initializes this variable with the value of the environment variable LUA_PATH_5_3 or the environment variable LUA_PATH or with a default path defined in luaconf.h, if those environment variables are not defined. Any ";;" in the value of the environment variable is replaced by the default path.

package.preload A table to store loaders for specific modules (see require). This variable is only a reference to the real table; assignments to this variable do not change the table used by require.

package.searchers A table used by require to control how to load modules. Each entry in this table is a searcher function. When looking for a module, require calls each of these searchers in ascending order, with the module name (the argument given to require) as its sole parameter. The function can return another function (the module loader) plus an extra value that will be passed to that loader, or a string explaining why it did not find that module (or nil if it has nothing to say). Lu