transform.parent can't go with gameObject.find

Question

I'm trying to create a script where function update finds the main camera, then childs the current object to it (The object the contains this script), but I've run into a problem. If I change transform.parent to gameObject.parent, it finds the camera, but doesn't parent the object. If I do transform.find, the whole thing doesn't work at all. Is there something that I can use to replace gameObject that is compatible with transform.parent? Here is the script:

var cecked = gameObject.Find("Main Camera").GetComponent(HoldSend).holding;

 var cam = transform.Find("Main Camera");
 
 
 function Update () {
 cecked = gameObject.Find("Main Camera").GetComponent(HoldSend).holding;
 cam = transform.Find("Main Camera");
 }
 
 function OnMouseOver () {
 if(cecked == true){
 transform.parent = cam;
 }
 if(cecked == false){
 transform.parent = null;
 }
 }

Answer 1

Best Answer

Answer by save · Jul 17, 2013 at 12:12 AM

You should try to not find objects each frame, it's extremely resource heavy so try to move away from that type of habit. Instead cache your components. HoldSend could for instance be cached and accessed at any point.

Example:

 private var cameraTransform : Transform;
 private var cameraHoldSend : HoldSend;
 
 function Start () {
     cameraTransform = Camera.main.transform;
     cameraHoldSend = cameraTransform.GetComponent(HoldSend);
 }
 
 function OnMouseOver () {
     if (cameraHoldSend.holding)
         transform.parent = cameraTransform;
     else
         transform.parent = null;
 }

For the record you're also able to access the main camera through Camera.main, where you can access any derived components.

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Answer 2

transform.parent requires a Transform reference, and you should use GameObject.Find instead of gameObject.Find (GameObject is the class name, while gameObject is a property). But it's much faster and easier to get the main camera reference from the variable Camera.main:

 function Update(){
   var cam: Camera = Camera.main; // get a Camera reference to the main camera
   cecked = cam.GetComponent(HoldSend).holding; // copy holding to cecked
   if (cecked){
     transform.parent = cam.transform;
   } else {
     transform.parent = null;
   }
 }

Better yet, if your main camera is always the same, save a reference to its script HoldSend at Start and use it in Update:

 private var holdSendScript: HoldSend; // reference to the HoldSend script
 
 function Start(){
   holdSendScript = Camera.main.GetComponent(HoldSend);
 }
 
 function Update(){
   if (holdSendScript.holding){
     transform.parent = Camera.main.transform; // child to the camera's transform
   } else {
     transform.parent = null;
   }
 }

Answer 3

Answer by ExplodingCookie · Jul 17, 2013 at 12:17 AM

You cannot assign an object variable in the initial declaration. Use this script to hopefully solve your problem

 var cecked : HoldSend;
 var cam : GameObject;
 
 // Assign the variables
 function Start () {
     cam = GameObject.Find("MainCamera");
     cecked = cam.GetComponent(HoldSend);
 }
 
 function OnMouseOver () {
     if(checked.holding) {
         transform.parent = cam.transform;
     } else {
         transform.parent = null;
     }
 }

Hope this solves your problem :)

~ExplodingCookie

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transform.parent can't go with gameObject.find

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