Unable to save score between sessions "Error could not read nil "

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hello there,
 
I am new to Corona SDK and I am having this problem while testing my build on the simulator. I am trying to

use    “score.lua” module from https://coronalabs.com/blog/2013/12/10/tutorial-howtosavescores/ to save

and update scores.

Only modification I have made to the code are :
 

function M.init( options ) local customOptions = options or {} local opt = {} opt.fontSize = customOptions.fontSize or 24 opt.font = customOptions.font or native.systemFontBold opt.x = customOptions.x or display.contentCenterX opt.y = customOptions.y or opt.fontSize\*0.5 opt.maxDigits = 4 M.filename = "scorefile.txt" local prefix = "" M.format = "%" .. prefix .. opt.maxDigits .. "d" M.scoreText = display.newText( string.format(M.format, 0), opt.x, opt.y, opt.font, opt.fontSize ) return M.scoreText end -- AND THE FOLLOWING function M.set( value ) M.score = value M.text = tostring( M.score ) end

set and get score modules are working fine. However, when I try to save or load, I get these  errors respectively,

Error: could not read  nil

Error: could not read scores form nil

Is “scorefile.txt” a file I should create myself? If so where should it be? I have placed

“scorefile.txt” in the same directory where main.lua is. I have also placed one in the directory 

File > Project Sandbox > Documents. However, it is still unable to read/write score.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks.

#2

Okay, so I read the documentation on Reading/Writing Files and this is the error I am getting on the log

“C:\Users\Fj\AppData\Roaming\Corona Labs\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\ <long string of file name here> \Documents: Permission denied”

It seems that the reason I have been unable to read/write scores is because Corona does not have access to the text file. How can I change/give Corona Permission? OR is there a way to change the project sandbox folder?

Thanks

#3

Could you post all of the code?

io.open(path, “w”) creates the file for you if it doesn’t exist so no need to create it manually.

#4 
local M = {} -- Create the local module table (this will hold our functions and data) M.score = 0 -- Set the initial score to 0 function M.init( options ) local customOptions = options or {} local opt = {} opt.fontSize = customOptions.fontSize or 24 opt.font = customOptions.font or native.systemFontBold opt.x = customOptions.x or display.contentCenterX opt.y = customOptions.y or opt.fontSize\*0.5 opt.maxDigits = 4 M.filename = "file.txt" local prefix = "" M.format = "%" .. prefix .. opt.maxDigits .. "d" M.scoreText = display.newText( string.format(M.format, 0), opt.x, opt.y, opt.font, opt.fontSize ) return M.scoreText end function M.set( value ) M.score = value M.text = tostring( M.score ) end function M.get() return M.score end function M.add( amount ) M.score = M.score + amount M.text = tostring( M.score ) end function M.save() local path = system.pathForFile( M.filename, system.DocumentsDirectory ) local file,reason = io.open(path, "w") if ( file ) then local contents = tostring( M.score ) file:write( contents ) io.close( file ) return true else print( "Error: could not read ", M.filename, ". "..reason ) return false end end function M.load() local path = system.pathForFile( M.filename, system.DocumentsDirectory ) local contents = "" local file,reason = io.open( path, "r" ) if ( file ) then -- Read all contents of file into a string local contents = file:read( "\*a" ) local score = tonumber(contents); io.close( file ) return score else print( "Error: could not read scores from ", M.filename, ". " .. reason) end return nil end return M

Hi Tomas, 

This is the score.lua file I am using to save/load/and update scores. The get and set modules work as expected, but save and load,

which involve reading/ writing a file into the sandbox folder is unable to read or write to ‘file.txt’. According to the console, the error i

get is 

Error: could not read nil . C:\Users\Fj\AppData\Roaming\Corona Labs\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\A-7307D68A6746C2D3RDKCAC3F50A03\Documents: Permission denied

As for manually creating the file, does it have to be done through Corona?

Thanks.

#5

Hi,

I tried the code and it works on my end, I could create, save and load the file without any problems.

This makes me think that there are some permissions issues on your Windows version.

What version of Windows are you running?

Are you running Corona “As Administrator”?

Do you close the file before running Corona?

Best regards,

Tomas

#6

Hi @farjadfarabi_czs,

I agree with Tomas that you probably have some permissions restriction on your local system which is preventing the file from being accessed. The “Permission denied” error message you’re receiving indicates that as well.

Brent

#7

Hi Brent and Tom, thanks a lot for the input. As it turns out, the issue was my computer. I just tested the game on my Nexus 7 and scores are indeed saved in between sessions. I am gonna have to dig around to see what is causing Corona to have denied access. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium as an administrator

Anyone else having same issue, try your app on an actual iOS/Android device and see what results you get.

Thanks,

Farjad

#8

Okay, so I read the documentation on Reading/Writing Files and this is the error I am getting on the log

“C:\Users\Fj\AppData\Roaming\Corona Labs\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\ <long string of file name here> \Documents: Permission denied”

It seems that the reason I have been unable to read/write scores is because Corona does not have access to the text file. How can I change/give Corona Permission? OR is there a way to change the project sandbox folder?

Thanks

#9

Could you post all of the code?

io.open(path, “w”) creates the file for you if it doesn’t exist so no need to create it manually.

#10 
local M = {} -- Create the local module table (this will hold our functions and data) M.score = 0 -- Set the initial score to 0 function M.init( options ) local customOptions = options or {} local opt = {} opt.fontSize = customOptions.fontSize or 24 opt.font = customOptions.font or native.systemFontBold opt.x = customOptions.x or display.contentCenterX opt.y = customOptions.y or opt.fontSize\*0.5 opt.maxDigits = 4 M.filename = "file.txt" local prefix = "" M.format = "%" .. prefix .. opt.maxDigits .. "d" M.scoreText = display.newText( string.format(M.format, 0), opt.x, opt.y, opt.font, opt.fontSize ) return M.scoreText end function M.set( value ) M.score = value M.text = tostring( M.score ) end function M.get() return M.score end function M.add( amount ) M.score = M.score + amount M.text = tostring( M.score ) end function M.save() local path = system.pathForFile( M.filename, system.DocumentsDirectory ) local file,reason = io.open(path, "w") if ( file ) then local contents = tostring( M.score ) file:write( contents ) io.close( file ) return true else print( "Error: could not read ", M.filename, ". "..reason ) return false end end function M.load() local path = system.pathForFile( M.filename, system.DocumentsDirectory ) local contents = "" local file,reason = io.open( path, "r" ) if ( file ) then -- Read all contents of file into a string local contents = file:read( "\*a" ) local score = tonumber(contents); io.close( file ) return score else print( "Error: could not read scores from ", M.filename, ". " .. reason) end return nil end return M

Hi Tomas, 

This is the score.lua file I am using to save/load/and update scores. The get and set modules work as expected, but save and load,

which involve reading/ writing a file into the sandbox folder is unable to read or write to ‘file.txt’. According to the console, the error i

get is 

Error: could not read nil . C:\Users\Fj\AppData\Roaming\Corona Labs\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\A-7307D68A6746C2D3RDKCAC3F50A03\Documents: Permission denied

As for manually creating the file, does it have to be done through Corona?

Thanks.

#11

Hi,

I tried the code and it works on my end, I could create, save and load the file without any problems.

This makes me think that there are some permissions issues on your Windows version.

What version of Windows are you running?

Are you running Corona “As Administrator”?

Do you close the file before running Corona?

Best regards,

Tomas

#12

Hi @farjadfarabi_czs,

I agree with Tomas that you probably have some permissions restriction on your local system which is preventing the file from being accessed. The “Permission denied” error message you’re receiving indicates that as well.

Brent

#13

Hi Brent and Tom, thanks a lot for the input. As it turns out, the issue was my computer. I just tested the game on my Nexus 7 and scores are indeed saved in between sessions. I am gonna have to dig around to see what is causing Corona to have denied access. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium as an administrator

Anyone else having same issue, try your app on an actual iOS/Android device and see what results you get.

Thanks,

Farjad