Error accessing a module function

Question

I have a problem with basic module usage in Lua. I have one file "helloworld.lua" and a second file "main.lua". I would like to call a function from the first file inside the second file. But I am getting an error:

attempt to call field 'printText' (a nil value)

My actual code is below. Can someone tell me where the problem is?

helloworld.lua

local module = {}

function module.printText() 
    print("Hello world")
end

return module

main.lua

hello = require("helloworld")

hello.printText()

Possibly another conflicting helloworld module without a printText function?! — siffiejoe

Jason Goemaat Jason Goemaat · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-15T06:25:26

As mentioned in the comments, this is the right way to do it. This could be a problem if there is a conflicting helloworld module, or if you have a running lua state and are modifying the files without starting a new one.

require will only load the module passed with a string once. Check package.loaded["helloworld"]. You can set this to nil so that require will load the file again:

package.loaded["helloworld"] = nil
hello = require("helloworld") -- will load it for sure

Error accessing a module function

1 Answers