function dump(value, desciption, nesting)  
    if type(nesting) ~= "number" then nesting = 3 end  
  
    local lookupTable = {}  
    local result = {}  
  
    local function _v(v)  
        if type(v) == "string" then  
            v = "\"" .. v .. "\""  
        end  
        return tostring(v)  
    end  
  
    local traceback = string.split(debug.traceback("", 2), "\n")  
    print("dump from: " .. string.trim(traceback[3]))  
  
    local function _dump(value, desciption, indent, nest, keylen)  
        desciption = desciption or "<var>"  
        spc = ""  
        if type(keylen) == "number" then  
            spc = string.rep(" ", keylen - string.len(_v(desciption)))  
        end  
        if type(value) ~= "table" then  
            result[#result +1 ] = string.format("%s%s%s = %s", indent, _v(desciption), spc, _v(value))  
        elseif lookupTable[value] then  
            result[#result +1 ] = string.format("%s%s%s = *REF*", indent, desciption, spc)  
        else  
            lookupTable[value] = true  
            if nest > nesting then  
                result[#result +1 ] = string.format("%s%s = *MAX NESTING*", indent, desciption)  
            else  
                result[#result +1 ] = string.format("%s%s = {", indent, _v(desciption))  
                local indent2 = indent.."    "  
                local keys = {}  
                local keylen = 0  
                local values = {}  
                for k, v in pairs(value) do  
                    keys[#keys + 1] = k  
                    local vk = _v(k)  
                    local vkl = string.len(vk)  
                    if vkl > keylen then keylen = vkl end  
                    values[k] = v  
                end  
                table.sort(keys, function(a, b)  
                    if type(a) == "number" and type(b) == "number" then  
                        return a < b  
                    else  
                        return tostring(a) < tostring(b)  
                    end  
                end)  
                for i, k in ipairs(keys) do  
                    _dump(values[k], k, indent2, nest + 1, keylen)  
                end  
                result[#result +1] = string.format("%s}", indent)  
            end  
        end  
    end  
    _dump(value, desciption, "- ", 1)  
  
    for i, line in ipairs(result) do  
        print(line)  
    end  
end