Why do I get this error?

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

I need to use files to store the score of a player but I get an error : main.lua:23: attempt to index global ‘file2’ (a nil value). What should I do? Here’s the code:

–cookie clicker–

background=display.newImageRect(‘background.jpg’,360,570) --display the background
background.x = display.contentCenterX
background.y = display.contentCenterY
file=io.open(‘first.txt’,r) --first.txt contains a value of 0 or 1 depending if you have or haven’t played the game
first=file:read()
if first==0 then --if you haven’t played the game the click counter is 0 and the first.txt file gets value 1
  tapCount=0
  file1=io.open(‘first.txt’,w)
  file:write(1)
else --if you have played the game then read your previous score
  file2=io.open(‘score.txt’,‘r’)
  tapCount=file2:read()
end
tapCount = 0
tapText = display.newText( tapCount, display.contentCenterX, 20, native.systemFont, 40 ) --display your score
cookie=display.newImageRect(‘cookie.png’,200,200) --display the cookie that you click
cookie.x = display.contentCenterX
cookie.y = display.contentCenterY

a=0
function increment()–when you click the cookie you earn points
  file3=io.open(“score.txt”,“w”)
  tapCount = tapCount + 1
  tapText.text = tapCount
  file3:write(a)
  --print(a)
end
io.output()
cookie:addEventListener(“tap”,increment) --earn points

PS:Please forgive my bad grammar, English is not my native language

EDIT:

Yes, the problem seemed to be that [lua] tonumber() [/lua] function. Thanks a lot! But now when I click the cookie, the score goes up and then back to 0. I’ll attach the whole project in a zip file.

John

#2

What line is main.lua 23? I suspect it’s in this block of code:

file=io.open('first.txt',r) --first.txt contains a value of 0 or 1 depending if you have or haven't played the game first=file:read() if first==0 then --if you haven't played the game the click counter is 0 and the first.txt file gets value 1     tapCount=0     file1=io.open('first.txt',w)     file:write(1) else --if you have played the game then read your previous score     file2=io.open('score.txt','r')     tapCount=file2:read() end

I suspect it’s happening because “score.txt” doesn’t exist on your first run. You’re also opening file1 but writing to file. You never close the files. Finally the test to see if they’ve played or not may not be returning what you think. You might want to make your test:

if tonumber(first) ==0 then

Rob

#3

What line is main.lua 23? I suspect it’s in this block of code:

file=io.open('first.txt',r) --first.txt contains a value of 0 or 1 depending if you have or haven't played the game first=file:read() if first==0 then --if you haven't played the game the click counter is 0 and the first.txt file gets value 1     tapCount=0     file1=io.open('first.txt',w)     file:write(1) else --if you have played the game then read your previous score     file2=io.open('score.txt','r')     tapCount=file2:read() end

I suspect it’s happening because “score.txt” doesn’t exist on your first run. You’re also opening file1 but writing to file. You never close the files. Finally the test to see if they’ve played or not may not be returning what you think. You might want to make your test:

if tonumber(first) ==0 then

Rob