serialization for computercraft NF 1.21.1+

local serialization = {}

-- Function to serialize a table and write it to a file
function serialization.saveTableToFile(tbl, fileName)
    if type(tbl) ~= "table" then
        error("The first argument must be a table", 2)
    end

    local file = fs.open(fileName, "w")
    if file then
        local serializedData = textutils.serialize(tbl)
        file.write(serializedData)
        file.close()
        return true
    else
        return false, "Failed to open file for writing."
    end
end

-- Function to read a file and deserialize its contents into a table
function serialization.loadTableFromFile(fileName)
    if not fs.exists(fileName) then
        return false, "File does not exist."
    end

    local file = fs.open(fileName, "r")
    if file then
        local serializedData = file.readAll()
        file.close()
        local deserializedTable = textutils.unserialize(serializedData)
        if deserializedTable then
            return deserializedTable
        else
            return false, "Failed to deserialize the file content."
        end
    else
        return false, "Failed to open file for reading."
    end
end

return serialization