space_object:user_defined()

object space_object

space_object:user_defined()

Users can define any functions they want, and associate them with spaces: in effect they can make their own space methods. They do this by:

1. creating a Lua function,
2. adding the function name to a predefined global variable which has type = table, and
3. invoking the function any time thereafter, as long as the server is up, by saying space_object:function-name([parameters]).

The predefined global variable is box.schema.space_mt. Adding to box.schema.space_mt makes the method available for all spaces.

Alternatively, user-defined methods can be made available for only one space, by calling getmetatable(space_object) and then adding the function name to the meta table. See also the example for index_object:user_defined().

Parameters:	index_object (index_object) – an object reference. any-name (any-type) – whatever the user defines

Example:

-- Visible to any space, no parameters.
-- After these requests, the value of global_variable will be 6.
box.schema.space.create('t')
box.space.t:create_index('i')
global_variable = 5
function f(space_arg) global_variable = global_variable + 1 end
box.schema.space_mt.counter = f
box.space.t:counter()