My script sets this value in editor. How can I keep the the changes when saving the scene?

class Anchor:
	var offset: Vector3
	var connected: Node3D
	var end: bool

var anchors: Array[Anchor]

I found this issue, so I tried fiddling with _get_property_list(), but that didn’t work. It also doesn’t seem that I can export the var.

Thanks

    • Bezier@suppo.fiOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      Tried that already:
      @export var anchors: Array[Anchor]

      Line 15:Export type can only be built-in, a resource, a node, or an enum.

      Is there a way to get around this?

  • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Tried your code on a ready entity of my project, and indeed, @var anchors: Array[Anchor] can’t be exported if it’s in the same script.

    What you could do, however, is initialize anchors as an empty array, @export var anchors = [] - This solves half of the problem, as you still won’t be able to add Anchor objects within the editor, because they “don’t exist”.

    The likely solution in this case is making that Anchor class a standalone .gd file and add it to the Autoload list (Project Menu -> Project Settings -> Autoload tab). With this done, your original @export var anchors: Array[Anchor] will now work, because now that Godot autoloads it (makes it globally accessible), it “exists”

    EDIT - Here’s the doc on _get_property_list https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/classes/class_object.html#class-object-method-get-property-list - From the example there, it added new things that don’t “exist” that should now show up on the editor. The thing is, it doesn’t specify if a locally created class would also work there.

    #Might still be worth a shot, eh?

func _get_property_list():
var properties = []
    properties.append({
        "anchor_offset": Anchor.offset,
        "anchor_connected": Anchor.connected,
        "anchor_end": Anchor.end
    })
return properties
    • Silicon Dryad@eldritch.cafe
      4·
      1 year ago

      @ICastFist @Bezier I agree with your overall explanation, but I would instead recommend using the class\_name directive instead of adding it as an auto-load.

      Auto-load will make it that a single Anchor instance always exists in the root scene, and that Anchor elsewhere in your code will always reference that single(ton) instance.

      If you want Anchor to behave like other built-in classes in your scripts and the editor, you need to give it a class\_name and *not* use the same name ("Anchor") for an auto-load.

      • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        Had to look up how to do that, as apparently the docs don’t have that kind of information. I did come across this SO question. So, the solution would be:

        #anchor.gd
class_name Anchor

var offset: Vector3
var connected: Node3D
var end: bool

        And that would create this new, readily accessible class throughout the project, correct?

        • Silicon Dryad@eldritch.cafe
          3·
          1 year ago

          @ICastFist more or less, but you still probably want your Anchor to extend something, be it Object, Node, Node2D, Control, etc.

          If your anchors are going to be part of the scene tree, as in you’re adding them as node children of (an)other node(s), then you will need to at least extend Node. If you want your anchors to have a position, then Node2D (or 3D depending on how you need it to behave). If your anchors are part of your ui, then Control might directly be the best, and so on.

          If your anchors are not going to be part of the tree itself, but just stored and/or passed around by nodes as data, I would encourage you to give this page of the docs a read: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/best_practices/node_alternatives.html

          • Bezier@suppo.fiOP
            3·
            1 year ago

            Thanks for that link, I now have learned why it didn’t originally work (and that other features like reference counting aren’t employed by default!).

            The solution, if anyone needs this in the future:

            # Separate file
extends Resource
class_name Anchor

@export var offset: Vector3
@export var connected: Node3D
@export var end: bool

            It adds namespace pollution, but I’ll deal with it by prefixing it with the original script’s class.

            • Silicon Dryad@eldritch.cafe
              2·
              1 year ago

              @Bezier yeah it’s good to know about the differences between Object and RefCounted when you’re making custom data containers.

              Personally, I’ve been suffixing my custom/“game object” resources with “-Rs”, as in I have PlayerRs, FileRs, DownloadRs, etc.

              The namespace pollution is definitely part of the trade-off from just preloading wherever you need the class.