Corona sdk local variable not getting the set data inside scene

Question

I am new in corona and i am trying to create a gps inside a tab scene. I created a local variable loc where it is where the string of location data will be placed

local loc = "Loading" -- as initial value

then a location handler put a new value to it

local function locationHandler( event )
...
    loc = "the gps location"
end

function scene:createScene( event )
    local group = self.view

    -- create a white background to fill screen
    local bg = display.newRect( 0, 0, display.contentWidth, display.contentHeight )
    bg:setFillColor( 255 )  -- white

    local title = display.newRetinaText(loc, 0, 0, native.systemFont, 20 )
    -- this is where the loc is placed in the title

    title:setTextColor( 0 ) -- black
    title:setReferencePoint( display.CenterReferencePoint )
    title.x = display.contentWidth * 0.5
    title.y = 170
end

the problem is loc still contains "Loading" when run in the device it works in the simulator though. I have checked and gps works fine and text that should be put in loc variable is ready to go in the inside handler, checked using logcat.

What am I doing wrong?

thanks

Answer 1

This code:

local title = display.newRetinaText(loc, 0, 0, native.systemFont, 20 )

makes a copy of a loc variable and passes it to RetinaText. To change the title use

title.text = "new text"

Consider this example:

local test = "1"
local function change( test )
    test = "2"
end
print(test)
change(test)
print(test)

It prints:

1
1