dump                = {}
dump.depth          = 0
dump._string        = function(s) return string.format("%q", s) end
dump._number        = function(n) return tonumber(n) end
dump._boolean       = function(b) if (b) then return "true" end return "false" end
dump._userdata      = function(u) return "<userdata>" end
dump._function      = function(f) return "<function>" end
dump._nil           = function(n) return "nil" end
dump._thread        = function(t) return "<thread>" end
dump._lightuserdata = function(l) return "<lightuserdata>" end

dump._table = function(t)
    local buf = ''
    if (dump.depth > 0) then
        buf = buf .. '{\n'
    end
    dump.depth = dump.depth + 1;
    for k,v in pairs(t) do
        buf = buf..string.format('%s[%s] = %s;\n',
              string.rep("\t", dump.depth - 1),
              dump["_" .. type(k)](k),
              dump["_" .. type(v)](v))
    end
    dump.depth = dump.depth - 1;
    if (dump.depth > 0) then
        buf = buf .. string.rep("\t", dump.depth - 1) .. '}'
    end
    return buf
end