Can't use \s in String

[JaquavionLukias (SkibidiSigma)]

I’m using a string with leading / following spaces. Coming from using other languages, I would always use “\s” to represent this in order to ensure the code is more readable (spaces before / after sentences often go unnoticed when re-reading code). However, when trying to write a string leading with “\s” on Roblox Studio just output “s” followed by the string as opposed to creating a blank space beforehand.

Example [Roblox Studio]:

print("\sHello world!")

Output:

Expected Output [Java]:

Output:

Is it possible to replicate on Roblox Studio without using the space key?
(I know it’s a niche problem but I code in abnormal ways)

[StrongBigeMan9]

If you use \n it’ll add a new line:

print("Hey there!\nHello world!")

--[[ Output:
Hey there!
Hello world!
--]]

print("Example2\n\nHello world!")
--[[ Output:
Example2

Hello world!
--]]

(I think this is what you were asking about, but if I was mistaken, let me know and I can make a correction)

[JaquavionLukias (SkibidiSigma)]

I don’t want a new line, I want a space [" "], however if I type it as " " into the String it’s generally harder to notice (especially at the start / end of the string) than \s

[Bergermate]

Pulling from the Lua documentation, we have the following escape sequences:

Escape sequence
\a	bell
\b	back space
\f	form feed
\n	newline
\r	carriage return
\t	horizontal tab
\v	vertical tab
\\	backslash
\"	double quote
\'	single quote
\[	left square bracket
\]	right square bracket

So, in short, we don’t have any such escape sequence. In your case, I would do:

print(" " .. "Hello world!")

to make the space very obvious.

[JaquavionLukias (SkibidiSigma)]

Thanks, shame they included practically all the escape sequences except \s

[C_Corpze (Corpze_TheDeadestOne)]

I know this should be obvious but Lua and Java are 2 entirely different langauges and as such also have different rules and ways that strings are handled.

I would honestly just type this instead.
print(" Hello world!")

I know it’s not the prettiest but this isn’t Java after all.

I recommend checking the documentation like some other suggested.
Fortunately Lua is fairly easy to pick up.

[StrongBigeMan9]

Oh, would \t work for this use case, then? (It’s the other special character mentioned on the “Strings” Roblox Creator Hub Guide that I referenced earlier.)

Interestingly, depending on the scale you have set for the Output in Roblox Studio, adding a singular \t could be the equivalent of 2 spaces or less (when it’s more zoomed in) or 4 spaces or greater (when it’s more zoomed out), so you may need to include a lot more or less depending on your preferred Output scaling.

• For an extreme example, the last screenshot shows that using 3 \t in a row can visually appear the same as 4 spaces when using a very high scaling for the Output.

I’ll include screenshot examples after the codeblock for reference:

print("Example print for comparison")

print("\tHello world!") -- Print statement that uses \t

print("    4 spaces added at the start, for comparison")

print("\t\t\tSo many spaces!") -- Print statement that uses \t 3 times

--[[ Output:
Example print for comparison
    Hello world!
    4 spaces added at the start, for comparison
        So many spaces!
--]]

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

[JaquavionLukias (SkibidiSigma)]

A tab is too big, however I appreciate the reply