calling variables from string names

How can I call a variable from a string name? I mean like if I enter the name of a variable it returns the value.

Solution #1:

_G[name]()

Where _G is the table the variable is member of. If the variable is local, you can't do this, unless you put it into a local table. If it's an ordinary function like fs.open, it's part of _G, a global table provided by Lua. name is a name like "fs.open" without parentheses.

Solution #2:
I think you want your program to work like the interactive Lua prompt. In that case you should loadstring the input. So…

local func = loadstring(name)
if not func then func = loadstring("return " .. name) end
if func then func() end

name is a name like "fs.open()" with parentheses.

thanks! That's all I needed.