lua recursive function gets true and then false within a false - recursion

Question

not sure what is happening. i have a recursive function getting data from a table. and it's finds an key to be true and then false twice within it being false..
i am wanting to check the isActive boolean and if it's false return false. if it's true then continue the script.
DUMMY_DATA
local DummyData = {
data = {
['id'] = 34523456,
['question'] = 'whats milk?',
['isActive'] = true,
['questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'] = (60),
}
}
RECURSIVE
function FindQuestionInfo(Object)
local Data = {
['id'] = '',
['question'] = '',
['isActive'] = true or false,
['questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'] = (0),
}
for index, child in pairs(Object) do
local ChildIsTable = type(child) == 'table'
if not ChildIsTable then
local isActive = index == 'isActive'
local isId = index == 'id'
local isQuestion = index == 'question'
local isQuestionCountDDownTImerInSeconds = index == 'questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'
if isQuestion then
Data['question'] = child
end
if isId then
Data['id'] = child
end
end
if ChildIsTable then
local FoundItem = FindQuestionInfo(child)
if FoundItem then
return FoundItem
end
end
end
return Data
end
PRINT

Answer 1

Your code doesn't make too much sense. I'm not even sure what you want to achieve with it.
I'll just mention a few issues:
['isActive'] = true or false
As Nifim already pointed out in his comment true or false equals true. Sou you could simply do
['isActive'] = true
You don't need parenthesis around numbers as in ['questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'] = (0)
You don't mention how you use this code. I assume you call FindQuestionInfo(DummyData)
So let's run your code. First you define Data
local Data = {
['id'] = '',
['question'] = '',
['isActive'] = true or false,
['questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'] = (0),
}
Then you traverse over the table Object with a generic for loop and the pairs iterator. Assuming Object is DummyData this will give us a key value pair of DummyData each cycle.
First you check if child (our value) is a table. I don't see how it can be a table with the provided code. If it is not a table you create various booleans.
local isActive = index == 'isActive'
local isId = index == 'id'
local isQuestion = index == 'question'
local isQuestionCountDDownTImerInSeconds = index == 'questionCountdownTimerInSeconds'
And then you assign values conditionally.
if isQuestion then
Data['question'] = child
end
if isId then
Data['id'] = child
end
So only if index equals one of the keys you assign the same table field from Object to Data.
This whole loop doesn't make sense. If you want to assign values from one table to another you simply assign them. You don't traverse over the entire table until you find the right key to assign.
Aside from your isTable condition which seems to be always false you can replace that for loop by
Data.isQuestion = Object.isQuestion and Object.isQuestion or Data.isQuestion
Data.isId = Object.isId and Object.isId or Data.isId
Because you simply assign those values if they exist in Object.
Then there is this section which I cannot make sense of as I don't see how child will ever be a table:
if ChildIsTable then
local FoundItem = FindQuestionInfo(child)
if FoundItem then
return FoundItem
end
end
Also FindQuestionInfo(child) always returns Data so the condition
if FoundItem then
return FoundItem
end
is not necessary.
So unless your Object will have a table inside that you didn't show in your example I don't see any reason to have this code at all. Especially not the recursive part.
You only copy parts of Object into a new table Data.
I cannot make sense of your problem description either.
I'm assuming you're asking about a xy-problem here. So I suggest you ask a new question about the actual problem you're trying to solve rather than about how to fix this code.