Print all local variables accessible to the current scope in Lua

Here is an implementation of a locals() function. It will return a table of locals from the calling scope:

function locals()
  local variables = {}
  local idx = 1
  while true do
    local ln, lv = debug.getlocal(2, idx)
    if ln ~= nil then
      variables[ln] = lv
    else
      break
    end
    idx = 1 + idx
  end
  return variables
end

Notice that in the lua REPL, each line is a separate chunk with separate locals. Also, internal variables are returned (names start with ‘(‘ if you want to remove them):

> local a = 2; for x, v in pairs(locals()) do print(x, v) end
a   2
(*temporary)    function: 0x10359b38

Thanks for the accept. You have unlocked the last piece of the puzzle! 😉

Upvalues are local variables from outer scopes, that are used in the current function. They are neither in _G nor in locals()

function upvalues()
  local variables = {}
  local idx = 1
  local func = debug.getinfo(2, "f").func
  while true do
    local ln, lv = debug.getupvalue(func, idx)
    if ln ~= nil then
      variables[ln] = lv
    else
      break
    end
    idx = 1 + idx
  end
  return variables
end

Example (notice you have to use a for it to show up):

> local a= 2; function f() local b = a; for x,v in pairs(upvalues()) do print(x,v) end end; f()
a   2

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