How to circumvent Lua limitation for 200 local variables when machine-generating a dissector from XML description of protocol

Question

I've used Matlab (this is the easiest language for me) to generate a Lua dissector from an XML file describing a protocol.

The issue right now, is that it is generating too many local (global) variables and I'm getting the

`too many local variables (limit is 200) in main function near '='`

error.

Many of the variables (~150) are due to some enumeration.

Any suggestion how to solve it?

Answer 1

I realize this is an old question on a now-obsolete Q&A site, but in case anyone finds themselves in this situation, one solution is to group variables together into a Lua table.

For example, instead of:

local variableA = 1
local variableB = 2
...
local variableZ = 26

use something like:

local variables = {
    A = 1,
    B = 2,
    ...,
    Z = 26
}