table_from(recursive=True): an object referenced more than once converts to an empty table #297

Version: lupa 2.8 (latest release), Python 3.14.2. Reproduces on every backend: lua51, lua52, lua53, lua54, luajit20, luajit21.

When the same Python object is reachable from more than one place in the structure passed to table_from(..., recursive=True), the first occurrence converts correctly and every later occurrence becomes an empty Lua table. No exception is raised, so the data is lost silently.

from lupa.lua54 import LuaRuntime

rt = LuaRuntime()
shared = {"x": 1}
t = rt.table_from({"a": shared, "b": shared}, recursive=True)

count = rt.eval("function(v) local c = 0 for _ in pairs(v) do c = c + 1 end return c end")
print(count(t.a))                     # 1
print(count(t.b))                     # 0, expected 1
print(rt.eval("rawequal")(t.a, t.b))  # False, expected True

Three references give 1, 0, 0. It also happens when the shared object sits inside lists: {"a": [s], "b": [s]} yields a[1].x == 1 and an empty b[1].

The docstring states that nested structures are converted "handling loops and duplicates via identity de-duplication". Loops do work:

loop = {"x": 1}
loop["self"] = loop
t = rt.table_from(loop, recursive=True)
print(rt.eval("function(t) return rawequal(t, t.self) end")(t))  # True, correct

So the memo is consulted correctly for a self reference, but a sibling duplicate gets a fresh empty table instead of the memoized one.

Expected: t.a and t.b are the same Lua table, which is what identity de-duplication implies.

Impact: silent data loss. A structure built in Python that happens to share a sub-object, which is common when the same row or record is indexed under two keys, arrives in Lua with parts of it empty.

Workaround: recurse in Python and call table_from once per level.