custom string pack

local arg_split = utf8.char(2^16-2)

local function sargs(str)
    local r = string.split(str,arg_split)
    local t = {}
    if 0 >= #r then
        r = {str}
    end
    for i,v in pairs(r) do
        if not (v and #v > 0) then
            r[i] = nil
        end
    end
    local c = 0
    for i,v in pairs(r) do
        c = c + 1
        t[c] = v
    end
    return t
end

local function unpack_str(str)
    return table.unpack(sargs(str))
end

local function pack_str(...)
    local t = {...}
    local r = ''
    for i,s in pairs(t) do
        s = string.gsub(s,arg_split,'')
        r = r .. s
        if #t > i then
            r = r .. arg_split
        end
    end
    return r
end

-- toast

local packed = pack_str('a','b','c')
print(packed)
warn(unpack_str(packed))