Iterating Over Characters and Accounts

LibSavedVars can manage saved data at multiple levels:

• Account-wide settings.
• Character-specific settings.
• Multiple characters within an account.

For advanced addon features, it may be useful to inspect or process saved data across characters or accounts.

Common use cases include:

• Creating account summaries.
• Migrating data between characters.
• Displaying character profiles.
• Synchronizing settings.
• Building management tools.
• Debugging saved variables.

---

Understanding Saved Variable Structure

ESO stores saved variables using a hierarchy based on the storage type.

A character-specific saved variable typically has a structure similar to:

MyAddonSavedVariables
{
    ["Default"] =
    {
        ["@AccountName"] =
        {
            ["Character One"] =
            {
                settings = {}
            },

            ["Character Two"] =
            {
                settings = {}
            }
        }
    }
}

An account-wide saved variable typically has:

MyAddonSavedVariables
{
    ["Default"] =
    {
        ["settings"] = {}
    }
}

The exact structure depends on the ESO saved variable API used and whether the addon uses account-wide or character settings.

---

Account Iteration

Account-wide settings normally contain a single shared data set.

Example:

local accountSettings =
    LibSavedVars:NewAccountWide(
        "MyAddonSavedVariables",
        1,
        nil,
        defaults
    )

Access the active account-wide settings:

local settings = accountSettings

For normal addon operation, direct access is preferred:

settings.theme = "Dark"

There is usually no need to iterate accounts because an account-wide saved variable represents the current player's account.

---

Character Iteration

Character iteration is useful when an addon stores per-character data.

Example character data:

Account
|
+-- Character A
|       level = 50
|       class = "Dragonknight"
|
+-- Character B
        level = 25
        class = "Sorcerer"

An addon may want to process:

• All known characters.
• Character-specific profiles.
• Character history.
• Character settings.

---

Using Raw Saved Variable Data

Character and account iteration generally requires access to the underlying SavedVariables table.

Example:

local rawData = characterSettings:GetRawDataTable()

The raw table contains only stored values.

It does not include values supplied from defaults.

---

Iterating Characters

A typical character iteration pattern:

local rawData =
    characterSettings:GetRawDataTable()

for characterName, characterData in pairs(rawData) do

    d(characterName)

    -- Process characterData

end

Example:

for characterName, data in pairs(rawData) do

    local level = data.level

    d(zo_strformat(
        "<<1>> is level <<2>>",
        characterName,
        level
    ))

end

---

Iterating Accounts

When working with shared SavedVariables structures, an addon may encounter multiple account entries.

Example:

SavedVariables
|
+-- @AccountOne
|       Character A
|       Character B
|
+-- @AccountTwo
        Character C

Iteration:

for accountName, accountData in pairs(savedVariables) do

    d(accountName)

    for characterName, characterData
        in pairs(accountData) do

        d(characterName)

    end

end

---

LSV_Data and Character Management

LSV_Data is designed primarily for managing the current user's active settings.

It provides:

• Active account-wide settings.
• Active character settings.
• Pinned account settings.
• A unified settings view.

Example:

local active =
    data:GetActiveSavedVars()

The returned table represents the current active configuration.

It is not intended to replace direct iteration over the underlying SavedVariables structure when inspecting every character.

---

Iterating Active Settings

For normal settings processing, use:

for key, value in data:GetIterator() do

    d(key, value)

end

This returns the effective settings view, including:

• Character settings.
• Account-wide settings.
• Pinned account keys.

Example:

Active Settings

window
theme
combat
filters

---

Comparing Characters

A common use case is comparing character settings.

Example:

local characters = {
    "Tank",
    "Healer",
    "Damage"
}

for _, character in ipairs(characters) do

    local settings =
        rawData[character]

    -- Compare settings

end

Possible uses:

• Copying profiles.
• Detecting differences.
• Displaying character summaries.

---

Copying Settings Between Characters

A migration or management tool may copy settings:

rawData["Character B"].theme =
    rawData["Character A"].theme

Care should be taken:

• Validate the source exists.
• Avoid overwriting user data unexpectedly.
• Use migrations when changing permanent data formats.

---

Iteration and Migrations

Migrations usually operate on one saved variable object at a time.

Example:

settings:Migrate(3, function(savedVars)

    for key, value in pairs(savedVars) do

        -- Convert old data

    end

end)

Avoid migrating every character manually unless the saved data format requires it.

---

Performance Considerations

Large addons may have:

• Many characters.
• Large history tables.
• Cached information.

When iterating:

• Avoid scanning all characters during frequent events.
• Perform large scans during initialization or user-requested actions.
• Cache results when appropriate.
• Avoid modifying tables while iterating.

---

Best Practices

When iterating characters and accounts:

• Use the normal LibSavedVars interface for current settings.
• Use raw data access for administrative operations.
• Do not assume every character has the same data.
• Handle missing settings gracefully.
• Avoid modifying saved data during simple inspection.
• Use migrations for permanent structural changes.

---

Summary

LibSavedVars provides two different approaches depending on the goal:

Task	Recommended Method
Access current settings	settings.key
Iterate active settings	GetIterator()
Inspect stored values	GetRawDataTable()
Process all characters	Iterate raw character data
Manage current storage mode	LSV_Data

Understanding the difference between the active settings view and the underlying SavedVariables structure is essential when building advanced account and character management features.