convert string to table identifier

when i input these strings i want it to return a table info of the same name

example strings:

"windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target('t').name"
"windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target('t')"
"windower.ffxi.get_mob_name(1234).name"
"windower.ffxi.get_mob_name(1234)"
"windower.ffxi"

currently the best i can do are these

example strings:
"windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target('t')"
"windower.ffxi.get_mob_name(1234)"
"windower.ffxi"

with this code

function s_to_t(s)--string to table
    local str = s
    local f = (str:match('%(%)') or str:match("%('(.+)'%)") or nil)
    if f then
        str = (f == '()' and string.gsub(str, '%(%)', "") or string.gsub(str, "%('"..f.."'%)", ""))
    end
    local t = {0}
    local tbl = string.find(str,'%.')
    while tbl do
        t[#t+1]=tbl tbl = string.find(str,'%.',tbl+1)
    end
    t[#t+1]=#str+1
    local g = _G
    for i = 1,#t-1 do
        g = g[string.sub(str,t[i]+1,t[i+1]-1)]
    end
    if f then
        if f == '()' then
            return g()
        else
            return g(f)
        end
    else
        return g
    end
end
local tbl = s_to_t(str)
 

help would be appreciated

Lua has a built-in eval function called loadstring. You can use it like this:

local target = loadstring('windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target(\'t\')')()
print(target.name)

im trying to type in(using a console command for gearswap) the exact table name with out any special chars as to make it as dumb as possible

i.e.

gs c show var windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target('t').name

i have this that works for all but the ones with ().name

        elseif command[1]:lower() == 'show' and (command[2]:lower() == 'variable' or command[2]:lower() == 'var') then
            local tbl = s_to_t(command[3])
            if type(tbl) == "table" then
                for i,v in pairs(tbl) do
                    print(command[3].."."..i.." = "..tostring(v))
                end
            else
                print(command[3].." = "..tostring(tbl))
            end
 

First, like Arcon said, use loadstring to do this, don't try to parse it manually, you're going to get it wrong.

... 
elseif command[1]:lower() == 'show' and (command[2]:lower() == 'variable' or command[2]:lower() == 'var') then
    local tbl = loadstring(command[3])()
    if type(tbl) == "table" then
        for i,v in pairs(tbl) do
            print(command[3].."."..i.." = "..tostring(v))
        end
    else
        print(command[3].." = "..tostring(tbl))
    end
...

Second, is there a reason you don't want to use the eval addon for this? You can add a function to pretty print a table to your bootstrap and then just do //eval tprint(windower.ffxi.get_mob_by_target('t'))

i ended up going with this

elseif command[1]:lower() == 'show' and (command[2]:lower() == 'variable' or command[2]:lower() == 'var') then
            local tbl = loadstring("return "..command[3])() or loadstring("return user_env."..command[3])()
            if type(tbl) == "table" then
                for i,v in pairs(tbl) do
                    print(command[3].."."..i.." = "..tostring(v))
                end
            else
                print(command[3].." = "..tostring(tbl))
            end
 

and this is so i can see what the current variables and tables are in gearswap and also system variables are on the fly with out eval loaded