love.filesystem.load

Loads a Lua file (but does not run it).

Function

Synopsis

chunk, errormsg = love.filesystem.load( name )

Arguments

string name: The name (and path) of the file.

Returns

function chunk: The loaded chunk.
string errormsg (nil): The error message if file could not be opened.

Example

It is important to note that love.filesystem.load does not invoke the code, it just creates a function (a 'chunk') that will contain the contents of the file inside it. In order to execute the chunk, you have to put () behind it.

Also, it is worth noting that loaded files can return values. For example, the following file:

return 1+1

Will return 2, when called like this:

chunk = love.filesystem.load( name ) -- load the chunk
local result = chunk() -- execute the chunk
print('result: ' .. tostring(result)) -- prints 'result: 2'

This bluescreens if there is a syntax error in the loaded file. If you want to continue your game if the file is not valid (for example if you expect it to be written by users), you can protect the calling of the chunk with pcall:

local ok, chunk, result
ok, chunk = pcall( love.filesystem.load, name ) -- load the chunk safely
if not ok then
  print('The following error happend: ' .. tostring(chunk))
else
  ok, result = pcall(chunk) -- execute the chunk safely
 
  if not ok then -- will be false if there is an error
    print('The following error happened: ' .. tostring(result))
  else
    print('The result of loading is: ' .. tostring(result))
  end
end

love.filesystem.load