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Getmissingstrings

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-08

Overview​

getmissingstrings.lua is a standalone utility script used during development and build preparation to detect missing localization strings across prefabs and character speech files. It scans all registered prefab files (PREFABFILES), compares them against character-specific DESCRIBE entries, and performs recursive comparisons across character speech structures to identify empty or missing entries. The results are written to MISSINGSTRINGS.lua, a Lua file containing a table of missing string keys and placeholders.

Usage example​

This script is intended to be run as a standalone tool, typically during build pipelines or pre-release verification:

-- Execute in the DST Lua environment after loading prefabs and character data:
dofile("tools/getmissingstrings.lua")
-- Result: MISSINGSTRINGS.lua will be generated in the working directory

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: None (standalone script) Tags: None identified.

Properties​

No public properties.

Main functions​

GetMissingPrefabStrings(prefabs, speechFile)​

  • Description: Scans a list of prefabs and checks whether each has a non-empty entry in speechFile.DESCRIBE. Returns a table of missing entries.
  • Parameters:
    • prefabs (table) — list or set of prefab names (string keys).
    • speechFile (table) — speech table (e.g., speech_wilson) containing DESCRIBE key.
  • Returns: table — map of missing prefab names to empty strings ({ [PREFAB_NAME] = "" }).

GetMissingElementsFromTable(qTable, refTable)​

  • Description: Recursively compares refTable against qTable, identifying keys in refTable that are present but missing or empty in qTable. Used for comparing nested speech tables (e.g., DIALOG, PREFAB).
  • Parameters:
    • qTable (table or nil) — candidate table to check against.
    • refTable (table) — reference table containing expected keys.
  • Returns: table or nil — nested table of missing/empty keys if any exist; otherwise nil.

GetMissingCharacterStrings(speechFile, refSpeechFile)​

  • Description: Wrapper for GetMissingElementsFromTable specialized for character speech comparison, used to detect missing speech entries for non-Wilson characters relative to a reference (typically Wilson).
  • Parameters:
    • speechFile (table or nil) — character speech table for the target character.
    • refSpeechFile (table) — reference speech table (e.g., speech_wilson).
  • Returns: table or nil — nested table of missing keys.

MakePrefabsTable()​

  • Description: Loads all registered prefab files, extracts their returned tables, filters out skinned prefabs and those listed in IGNORE_PREFABS or containing keywords in IGNORED_KEYWORDS, and returns a deduplicated set of valid prefab names.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: table — set of uppercase prefab names ({ [PREFAB_NAME] = PREFAB_NAME, ... }).

GetCharacterSpeech(character)​

  • Description: Attempts to load and return the speech file for a given character (e.g., "wilson" → speech_wilson).
  • Parameters: character (string) — character name.
  • Returns: table or nil — speech table or nil if load fails.

GetPrefabsFromFile(fileName)​

  • Description: Loads and executes a Lua file (e.g., a prefab definition file), asserting it returns one or more table values (prefabs).
  • Parameters: fileName (string) — path to the Lua file.
  • Returns: table — array of returned prefabs from loadfile.

TableToString(key, tbl, numIndent)​

  • Description: Converts a nested table of missing strings into a valid Lua syntax table string with proper indentation for inclusion in MISSINGSTRINGS.lua.
  • Parameters:
    • key (string) — top-level key (e.g., "Missing Strings").
    • tbl (table) — table to serialize.
    • numIndent (number) — current indentation level (number of tabs).
  • Returns: string — formatted Lua table string.

GenerateFile(missingStrings)​

  • Description: Writes the generated string content to MISSINGSTRINGS.lua in the working directory.
  • Parameters: missingStrings (string) — full content to write.
  • Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners​

None identified.