Creating a list of prefabs indexed by enums

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Hello!

First question here:)

I'm trying to create a list of prefabs with an enum as the index so that i can easily and quickly instantiate these prefabs from code. The list will be quite long if i manage, i want to put every game object there. The intended use would be somehting like this:

 public List<GameObject> myPrefabs = new List<GameObject>();
 
 public GameObject CreateGraphic(Graphic aGraphic)
 {
    GameObject newGraphic = GameObject)GameObject.Instantiate(myPrefabs[(int)aGraphic]);
         return newGraphic;
 }

EDIT: The question is, how do i fill the List with Prefabs in the enum order? I realize i that if i make the list public i can drag and drop prefabs in the editor, but that seems unreliable to me as there is no actual connection to the enum, just very careful and mistake prone ordering.

What i hope to find is a way to find these prefabs from code so i can enter them in the correct positions at Start(), using the enum as index.

Is this possible in any way? I tried with public dictionaries and hash tables, no luck. Am i going about this the wrong way?

Answer 1

Best Answer

Answer by Berenger · Jan 31, 2013 at 08:28 AM

If your enum is going from 0 to x, you can use (int)theEnum. But if it starts at 5, or if the order can change, you can use a dictionary to link the enums with an index.

 Dictionary<Graphic, int> dico = new Dictionary<Graphic, int>();
 
 dico.Add( Graphic.something, 0 );
 dico.Add( Graphic.somethingElse, 1 );
 ...

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Cousken · Jan 31, 2013 at 08:55 AM 0

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This is very true, but dont dictionaries have worse performance than arrays?

Still, the questions is how to get the prefab in script, while it is not present in the scene, only in assets. I manage to put them in a data structure just fine :)

Berenger · Jan 31, 2013 at 09:07 AM 0

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O$$anonymous$$, I see your point. Here is another thought.

You want to load an asset based on an enum, but there is no connection between them. If you don't affect them somewhere in the inspector, you'll have to use Resources.Load. To know which one to load for a given enum :

Create an array of strings with the names of the prefabs to load, that match the order of the enum. No real diff with affecting the prefab directly.
Create that same connection enum / asset in an external file, like xml. At runtime, load it, deserialize, and load the assets based on that.
$$anonymous$$yEnum.FirstEnum.ToString() will result in "FirstEnum". So you could name each asset after the enum (or the other way around, then call (Resources.Load( aGraphic.ToString )).

PS : those are three different ways, not three steps.

Cousken · Jan 31, 2013 at 09:09 AM 0

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Thanks that really does answer my question :) Will try it out Asap.

Answer 2

Answer by PAEvenson · Jan 30, 2013 at 09:21 PM

I think you are looking for

 using System.Collections.Generic; //need to include this to use List
 
 
 List&lt;GameObject&gt; myprefabs = new List&lt;GameObject&gt;();

You can then drag them into the inspector.

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Cousken · Jan 31, 2013 at 08:16 AM 0

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Thanks for the reply! It made me realize that i wasn't clear about what the problem was. It was late, i apologize :) As you can see i was already using a list, the problem is more putting the prefabs in it in the correct order from script. I made an edit to make the question clear.

Creating a list of prefabs indexed by enums

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