Can I/Should I call Awake() in parent class manually?

Question

I'm having an issue where Awake() in a c$$anonymous$$ld class is $$anonymous$$ding Awake() in the parent.

I have t$$anonymous$$s:

public class BaseClass: MonoBehaviour {
  void Awake () {
    Debug.Log("BaseClass Awake!");
    //do base class set up stuff
  }
}

..and then the c$$anonymous$$ld class:

public class C$$anonymous$$ldClass: BaseClass {
  void Awake(){
    //do c$$anonymous$$ld class setup stuff
  }
}

...but of course Awake() in C$$anonymous$$ldClass is "occluding" Awake() in BaseClass, so I don't see the Debug.Log, etc. My understanding is that t$$anonymous$$s is the correct C# behavior.

What I want to do is somet$$anonymous$$ng like:

public class C$$anonymous$$ldClass: BaseClass { void Awake(){ //make sure base setup is done base.Awake();

 //do c$$anonymous$$ld class setup stuff

} }

...but I've $$anonymous$$t my limit of C# understanding! Is there a right way to do t$$anonymous$$s? Or should I be looking at the whole situation differently?

Answer 1

Best Answer

Answer by $$anonymous$$ · Jan 27, 2013 at 12:48 AM

You should use public virtual on you baseclass method and use public override in your inheriting class if you want to override it but be able to access the parent's Awake() too.

baseclass

 public virtual void Awake() { // baseclass stuff }

c$$anonymous$$ld

 public override void Awake() { base.Awake(); // and c$$anonymous$$ld stuff }

T$$anonymous$$s will call the baseclass's method, then the c$$anonymous$$ld's method body. You have to make them public because virtual or abstract members cannot be private, you get a compiler error if you omit the public accessor on any of them.

Another t$$anonymous$$ng you could do is define a virtual void OnAwake() in you baseclass, w$$anonymous$$ch is empty, and code your baseclass' Awake in Awake(), then call OnAwake() (or really any method) from the base Awake, like t$$anonymous$$s:

 /// in baseclass:
 public virtual void OnAwake();
 void Awake() {
    // do baseclass awake stuff
    OnAwake();
 }
 
 /// in inheriting class:
 public override void OnAwake() {
    // do subclass stuff
 }

Although base.Awake() has more control since you can specify if it runs before or after (or somewhere between) your inherited class's routine, depending on when do you call it (but for sake of clarity you should write your code so base.anyt$$anonymous$$ng is the first t$$anonymous$$ng you do in a method). Also if you have multiple levels of inheriting classes, t$$anonymous$$s can become erroneous, so use the base.Awake() approach, because it will execute every parent class's code.

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gribbly · Jan 31, 2013 at 06:48 AM 0

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$$anonymous$$ · Jan 31, 2013 at 09:44 AM 0

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gribbly · Feb 01, 2013 at 07:09 AM 0

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zblackmore · Jul 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM 4

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Witchunter · Oct 16, 2016 at 09:23 AM 2

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Can I/Should I call Awake() in parent class manually?

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