--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- complain[ln]                          writes the given objects onto stderr --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  function complain (...)
    for i = 1,arg.n do
      io.stderr:write(tostring(arg[i]));
    end;
  end;

  function complainln (...)
    for i = 1,arg.n do
      io.stderr:write(tostring(arg[i]));
    end;
    io.stderr:write("\n");
  end;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- cry[ln]                 synonyms for complain[ln] (for historical reasons) --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  cry   = complain;
  cryln = complainln;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- exit                         leaves the script and it's (Java) environment --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  local SystemClass = luajava.bindClass("java.lang.System");

  function exit (ExitCode)
    if (ExitCode == nil) then SystemClass:exit(0); end;

    local realExitCode = tonumber(ExitCode);
    if (realExitCode == nil) then
      error("non-numeric \"ExitCode\" given: \""..ExitCode.."\""); -- not fool-proof!
    else
      SystemClass:exit(realExitCode);
    end;
  end;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- print[ln]                             writes the given objects onto stdout --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  function print (...)
    for i = 1,arg.n do
      io.stdout:write(tostring(arg[i]));
    end;
  end;

  function println (...)
    for i = 1,arg.n do
      io.stdout:write(tostring(arg[i]));
    end;
    io.stdout:write("\n");
  end;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- require             an updated version of the intrinsic "require" function --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  local _require = require;                    -- preserve the original function

  function require (PackageName)                      -- and define a better one
    if (PackageName == nil) then error("missingArgument: no \"PackageName\" given"); end;

    if (type(PackageName) ~= "string") then
      error("illegalArgument: given \"PackageName\" is not of type \"string\"");
    end;

    PackageName = string._trim(PackageName); -- normalize the package name a bit
    if (PackageName == "") then error("emptyArgument: given \"PackageName\" is empty"); end;

    if (io.FolderSeparator ~= "/") then
      PackageName = string.gsub(PackageName, "/", io.FolderSeparator);
    end;

--**** check if that package is currently being loaded ****

    if (_LOADING ~= nil) and (type(_LOADING) == "table") and _LOADING[PackageName] then
      return true;           -- avoid recursive loading of the requested package
    else
      if (_LOADING == nil) or (type(_LOADING) ~= "table") then
        _LOADING = {[PackageName] = true};       -- mark package as being loaded
      else
        _LOADING[PackageName] = true;
      end;

      _require(PackageName);

      if (_LOADING ~= nil) and (type(_LOADING) == "table") then
        _LOADING[PackageName] = nil;                           -- unmark package
      end;
    end;
  end;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- say[ln]                    synonyms for print[ln] (for historical reasons) --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  say   = print;
  sayln = println;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- io.getFolderSeparator determines the platform-specific separator character --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  local FileClass = luajava.bindClass("java.io.File");

  function io.getFolderSeparator ()
    return FileClass.separator;
  end;

  io.FolderSeparator = io.getFolderSeparator();    -- shortcut for direct access

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- string._trim   yields a copy of "Argument" without leading/trailing blanks --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  function string._trim (Argument)
    return string.gsub(string.gsub(Argument, "^%s+", ""), "%s+$", "");
  end;