SSCaster - convert strings into objects

ItIsArtemosik · February 28, 2025, 12:37pm

SSCaster (simple string caster) - simple module for converting strings to some objects and for calling functions.

It will be easier to show with a couple of examples demonstrating some capabilities of the module:

“Enum.Material[‘Neon’]” → Neon material
“game:GetService(‘ReplicatedStorage’).GameSettings:Clone()” → cloned GameSettings instance
“warn(‘This will be printed in the console’)” → nil, and the message will be in the console
“{true, Vector3.zero, {1.5, -2, nil}}” → { true, (0, 0, 0), { 1.5, -2, nil } }

Basic Usage

local ssc = require(Path.To.Module) -- Download at the bottom of the post

local success, result = pcall(function()
	return ssc.Cast("game.Workspace") -- returns: Workspace
end)
if success then
	print("yappy:")
	print(result) -- Workspace
else
	print("eh:")
	error(result)
end

Settings

To change the settings, import the type from the module:

local sscSettings = ssc.StringCasterSettings

To create a settings object you can use StringCasterSettings.new{...}:

local settings = sscSettings.new{}

List of all options

ValidateOnly

ValidateOnly: boolean = false
A mode for checking the validity of a string. When used, it returns either true (if no errors occurred) or false (if an error occurred).

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{ValidateOnly = true}

local result = ssc.Cast("game.Workspace", mySettings)
print(result) -- true

local result = ssc.Cast("emag:LoseSecondParent('Relaxgalaxy')", mySettings) -- it's like game:FindFirstChild('Workspace'), but, like, you know, different
print(result) -- false

When used with SafeMode, it returns either true (if no errors occurred) or, if an error occurred, its message.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{ValidateOnly = true, SafeMode = true}

local result = ssc.Cast("Vector2int16.new(0, 32767890)", mySettings)
print(result) -- true

local result = ssc.Cast("error('%%%Trick...')", mySettings)
print(result) -- Trick...

SafeMode

SafeMode: boolean = false
A mode that is used instead of pcall. It returns a table:
{
Result = [result, if no errors occurred],
Error = [error message, if one occurred]
}

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{SafeMode = true}

local result = ssc.Cast("game.Workspace", mySettings)
print(result.Result, result.Error) -- Workspace nil

local result = ssc.Cast("fredyFazber", mySettings)
print(result.Result, result.Error) -- nil "Type 'fredyFazber' was not found"

When used with ValidateOnly, it returns either true (if no errors occurred) or, if an error occurred, its message.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{ValidateOnly = true, SafeMode = true}

local result = ssc.Cast("Vector2int16.new(0, 32767890)", mySettings)
print(result) -- true

local result = ssc.Cast("error('%%%Trick...')", mySettings)
print(result) -- Trick...

DisablePropertyAccess

DisablePropertyAccess: boolean = false
Prohibits access to any properties of globals.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{DisablePropertyAccess = true}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Enum", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- Enums
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Enum.Material", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Accessing properties is not allowed
end

DisableFunctions

DisableFunctions: boolean = false
Prohibits calling any functions.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{DisableFunctions = true}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- function: 0x...
  -- (because we didn't call the function, we just received it)
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new()", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Function calls are not allowed
end

Custom

Custom: table = {}
A list of custom globals.

local myCustomGlobals = {
	["ssc"] = ssc
}

local success, result = pcall(function()
	return ssc.Cast(
		"ssc.Cast('Vector3.new(1, 2, 3)')", 
		sscSettings.new{Custom = myCustomGlobals}
	)
end)
if success then
	print(result) -- 1, 2, 3
else
	error(result)
end

AllowedGlobals

AllowedGlobals: table = nil
A list of all globals that are allowed to be used. If a string contains a global that is not in this list, an error is raised. Does not work with BlockedGlobals.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{AllowedGlobals = {Vector3}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new(1, 2, 3)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- 1, 2, 3
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("os.clock()", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Global 'os' is not allowed
end

BlockedGlobals

BlockedGlobals: table = nil
A list of all globals that are blocked from being used. If a string contains a global that is in this list, an error is raised. Does not work with AllowedGlobals.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{BlockedGlobals = {Vector3}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("os.clock()", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- 1047350.8672366
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new(1, 2, 3)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Global 'Vector3' is not allowed
end

AllowedFunctions

AllowedFunctions: table = nil
A list of all functions that are allowed to be used. If the string contains a function that is not in this list, an error will be raised. Does not workwith BlockedFunctions.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{AllowedFunctions = {Vector3.new}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
	return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new(1, 2, 3)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
	print(result) -- 1, 2, 3
else
	error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
	return ssc.Cast("Vector3.FromNormalId(Enum.NormalId.Front)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
	print(result)
else
	error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Used function is not allowed
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
	return ssc.Cast("Enum.NormalId.Front", mySettings)
end)
if success then
	print(result) -- Front
	-- (because no functions were used)
else
	error(result)
end

BlockedFunctions

BlockedFunctions: table = nil
A list of all functions that are prohibited from use. If the string contains a function that is in this list, an error will be raised. Does not work with AllowedFunctions.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{BlockedFunctions = {Vector3.new}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.new(1, 2, 3)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
	print(result)
else
	error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Used function is not allowed
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.FromNormalId(Enum.NormalId.Front)", mySettings)
end)
if success then
	print(result) -- 0, 0, -1
else
	error(result)
end

AllowedReturnTypes

AllowedReturnTypes: table = nil
A list of all allowed return types. If the string returns a type that is not in this list, an error will be raised. Does not stack with BlockedReturnTypes.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{AllowedReturnTypes = {"boolean", "Vector3", "function"}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("Vector3.zero", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- 0, 0, 0
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("{true, Vector3.zero}", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Wrong result type
  -- (because it is a table)
end

BlockedReturnTypes

BlockedReturnTypes: table = nil
A list of all prohibited return types. If the string returns a type that is in this list, an error will be raised. Does not stack with AllowedReturnTypes.

local mySettings = sscSettings.new{BlockedReturnTypes = {"boolean"}}

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("os.clock()", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result) -- 1049628.8949082
else
  error(result)
end

local success, result = pcall(function()
  return ssc.Cast("true", mySettings)
end)
if success then
  print(result)
else
  error(result) -- SSCaster:859: Wrong result type
end

To use ready-made useful settings presets, use StringCasterSettings.mode({modes}, overwrittenSettings):

local settings = sscSettings.mode()

List of all presets

noerror

SafeMode = true
validate

ValidateOnly = true
SafeMode = true
object

AllowedGlobals = {game}
DisableFunctions = true
AllowedReturnTypes = {“Instance”}

Additional modes:

property

AllowedReturnTypes = nil
enum

AllowedGlobals = {Enum}
AllowedReturnTypes = {“Enum”, “EnumItem”}

Additional modes:

enumonly

AllowedReturnTypes = {“Enum”}

enumitemonly

AllowedReturnTypes = {“EnumItem”}
basic

finalSettings.AllowedGlobals = {}
DisableFunctions = true

Example:

local mySettings = sscSettings.mode("noerror")
local result = ssc.Cast("os.clock()", mySettings)
print(result.Result, result.Error) -- 1057670.0072464 nil

local mySettings = sscSettings.mode(
	{"noerror", "enum", "enumitemonly"}, 
	sscSettings.new{DisableFunctions = true}
)
local result = ssc.Cast("Enum.Material.Neon", mySettings)
print(result.Result, result.Error) -- Enum.Material.Neon nil

Note

Using the module can be dangerous, for example, it can be used to change and delete any objects, so it is recommended to:

make sure that all user content is NEVER called on the server side and is always processed only on the client side.
use settings with restrictions for narrowly focused tasks (for example, if you use caster only to get an Enum from a string, use enum mode)

The module may contain errors, bugs and shortcomings, so please report them in the comments.

There will never be any updates to the module (POSSIBLY except for bug fixes).

This is a simple parser, in which you cannot create variables, functions, perform mathematical calculations, and it is created mostly only for simple tasks.

The module and all the code from it can be freely used anywhere without mentioning the source.

SSCaster - convert strings into objects

Basic Usage

Settings

Note

SSCaster.rbxm (10.3 KB)