added emu.keypost function to lua, and made autoboot_command execute that one instead of direct execution, note that you need to add \n for new line at the end now (nw)

src/emu/luaengine.c

@@ -53,14 +53,27 @@ lua_engine* lua_engine::luaThis = NULL;
 //  emu_gamename - returns game full name
 //-------------------------------------------------
 
-int lua_engine::emu_gamename(lua_State *L) {
+int lua_engine::emu_gamename(lua_State *L) 
+{
 	lua_pushstring(L, luaThis->machine().system().description);
 	return 1;
 }
 
+//-------------------------------------------------
+//  emu_keypost - post keys to natural keyboard
+//-------------------------------------------------
+
+int lua_engine::emu_keypost(lua_State *L) 
+{
+	const char *keys = luaL_checkstring(L,1);
+	luaThis->machine().ioport().natkeyboard().post_utf8(keys);
+	return 1;
+}
+
 static const struct luaL_Reg emu_funcs [] =
 {
   { "gamename", lua_engine::emu_gamename },
+  { "keypost", lua_engine::emu_keypost },
   { NULL, NULL }  /* sentinel */
 };
 
@@ -141,12 +154,11 @@ void lua_engine::report_errors(int status)
   }
 }
 
-
 //-------------------------------------------------
-//  execute - setup lua VM and load script
+//  createvm - setup lua VM and load script
 //-------------------------------------------------
 
-void lua_engine::execute(const char *filename)
+void lua_engine::createvm()
 {
 	close();
 	
@@ -155,13 +167,35 @@ void lua_engine::execute(const char *filename)
 	luaL_openlibs(m_lua_state);
 	luaL_requiref(m_lua_state, "emu", luaopen_emu, 1);	
 	lua_sethook(m_lua_state, hook, LUA_MASKLINE, 0);		
+}
 
+//-------------------------------------------------
+//  execute - load and execute script
+//-------------------------------------------------
+
+void lua_engine::execute(const char *filename)
+{
+	createvm();	
+	
 	int s = luaL_loadfile(m_lua_state, filename);     	
 	report_errors(s);
 
 	mame_printf_verbose("[LUA] Start executing script\n");
 }
 
+//-------------------------------------------------
+//  execute_string - execute script from string
+//-------------------------------------------------
+
+void lua_engine::execute_string(const char *value)
+{
+	createvm();	
+	
+	int s = luaL_loadstring(m_lua_state, value);     	
+	report_errors(s);
+
+	mame_printf_verbose("[LUA] Start executing script\n");
+}
 //-------------------------------------------------
 //  lua_execute - execute slice of lua script
 //  this callback is hooked to frame notification

src/emu/luaengine.h

@@ -62,12 +62,14 @@ public:
 	void lua_execute();
 	void report_errors(int status);
 	
-	void execute(const char *filename);
-	
+	void createvm();
+	void execute(const char *filename);	
+	void execute_string(const char *value);
 	void close();
 	
 	//static 
 	static int emu_gamename(lua_State *L);
+	static int emu_keypost(lua_State *L);
 private:	
 	// internal state
 	running_machine &   m_machine;                          // reference to our machine

src/emu/machine.c

@@ -239,11 +239,10 @@ TIMER_CALLBACK_MEMBER(running_machine::autoboot_callback)
 		m_lua_engine.execute(options().autoboot_script());
 	}
 	if (strlen(options().autoboot_command())!=0) {
-		astring val = astring(options().autoboot_command());
-		val.replace("\\n","\n");
-		val.replace("\\r","\r");
-		ioport().natkeyboard().post_utf8(val);
-		ioport().natkeyboard().post_utf8("\r");	
+		astring cmd = astring(options().autoboot_command());
+		cmd.replace("'","\\'");
+		astring val = astring("emu.keypost('",cmd,"')");
+		m_lua_engine.execute_string(val);
 	}
 }