metatable_key ============= A key for setting and getting an object's metatable --------------------------------------------------- .. code-block:: cpp struct metatable_key_t {}; const metatable_key_t metatable_key; You can use this in conjunction with :doc:`sol::table` to set/get a metatable. Lua metatables are powerful ways to override default behavior of objects for various kinds of operators, among other things. Here is an entirely complete example, showing getting and working with a :doc:`usertype`'s metatable defined by Sol: .. code-block:: cpp :caption: messing with metatables :linenos: #include int main () { struct bark { int operator()(int x) { return x; } }; sol::state lua; lua.open_libraries(sol::lib::base); lua.new_usertype("bark", sol::meta_function::call_function, &bark::operator() ); bark b; lua.set("b", &b); sol::table b_as_table = lua["b"]; sol::table b_metatable = b_as_table[sol::metatable_key]; sol::function b_call = b_metatable["__call"]; sol::function b_as_function = lua["b"]; int result1 = b_as_function(1); int result2 = b_call(b, 1); // result1 == result2 == 1 }