Toolchain documentation | LuaRT free and open source Windows programming framework for Lua

Lua^rt interpreters

The easiest way to run a Lua^rt application is to double-click on the .lua or .wlua source files in the Windows explorer.
All interpreters can also be executed from the command line.

Usage

luart.exe [-e "statement"] [filename arg1 arg2...]
wluart.exe [-e "statement"] [filename arg1 arg2...]

[-e "statement"]

Executes the Lua statement in double quotes and run the following script if specified (see below).

[filename arg1 arg2...]

Loads and executes the Lua script "filename", with optional arguments. Each arguments will be available in the global table arg in your Lua script :

arg[-1] contains the fullpath of the running interpreter, as a string, or the current executable fullpath for compiled scripts.
arg[0] contains the current running script or nil for compiled executables.
arg[1] contains the first argument
arg[2] for the second and so on...

Lua^rt interpreters comparison

Lua^rt comes with serveral versions of the interpreter, located in the \bin subfolder of the installation directory, each with its own specificities explained in the table below :

Interpreter	Windows subsystem	Dependency
`luart.exe`	Console	`lua54.dll`
`wluart.exe`	Desktop	`lua54.dll`
`luart-static.exe`	Console	`-`
`wluart-static.exe`	Desktop	`-`

Notes

Console versions of the interpreter are suitable for command line tools, as they are running in a command prompt window.
Desktop versions of the interpreter are for applications based on the Windows GUI, so they include the ui module.
Static interpreters do not depend on lua54.dll, but the use of binary modules is strongly discouraged.
Since Lua^rt 1.2.0, better compatibility with PUC Lua is provided by the integration of the PUC Lua os, io and utf8 modules.