Randoming value from table then remove it in Lua

Question

I have a table which contains 4 values.

For example:

I use a function to step through the table looking for, lets say the number 1 by using pairs and to get the position of it in the table.

I then use table.remove to remove 1 from that position. What I would like to do now is to compress the table so that it is 3 values long

2
4
3

I'm fairly new to Lua so be gentle with me. :)

What I have is pretty much this:

CloseRandomConsole = math.random(1,(#ConsoleTable)) 

If CloseRandomConsole == 1 then 
 for key, value in pairs(ConsoleTable) do 
 if value == "1" then 
  table.remove(ConsoleTable, key) 
 break 
 end 
end

I see where I'm going wrong but I hae no idea how to solve it.

math.random(1,(#ConsoleTable))

I only want to be able to random between one of the values in the table. And when I have randomed that vlue I want it removed so that I will be left with three other values to random from.

Am I confusing you? :)

I'm sure your fingers just slipped on the keyboard and typed "LUA" instead of "Lua" :) — Gemini14

John Zwinck John Zwinck · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-04T16:45:45

table.remove(ConsoleTable, key) will indeed remove one value from the table, thus decreasing its size by 1. So the next time you call math.random(1,(#ConsoleTable)), its range will be smaller by one as well. To be honest, it looks like you are doing OK, and I'm not sure what the problem is.

Edit: How about this one-liner?

table.remove(ConsoleTable, math.random(1, #ConsoleTable))

I think this will remove one "console" at random from the table. Perhaps if you can try that and if it is not what you want, explain in detail what is wrong, we can try more things.

Randoming value from table then remove it in Lua

2 Answers