Discussion Adding Text to a Grid Layout Group

I created objects with text component using " Grid Layout Group " inside a panel. What I want to do is place random words like in "word search puzzles" games.

I have attached the code and editor screenshot.

I watched many tutorial videos but it was very confusing. I couldn't find exactly how to access the objects in the grid and add a letter of the word to the text object.

Is my way wrong? What way should I follow? Thank you for your help.

Code (CSharp):

1. using System.Collections;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using UnityEngine;
4. using UnityEngine.UI;
5.  
6. public class PuzzleControl : MonoBehaviour
7. {
8.     public GameObject LetterPrefab;
9.     public int BoardSize = 15;
10.     public Transform WordGameBoard;
11.  
12.  
13.     void Start()
14.     {
15.         CreateBoard();
16.     }
17.  
18.     // Update is called once per frame
19.     void Update()
20.     {
21.      
22.     }
23.  
24.     public void CreateBoard()
25.     {
26.         for (int i = 0; i < BoardSize; i++)
27.          
28.             {
29.                 GameObject letter = Instantiate(LetterPrefab, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity, WordGameBoard);
30.             }
31.     }
32.  
33.     public void SelectWords()
34.     {
35.         // select words from list
36.     }
37.     public void PlaceWordsRandom()
38.     {
39.         // placing selected words randomly (vertical, horizontal, cross)
40.     }
41.     public void FillBlanks()
42.     {
43.         // fill in the blanks with random letters
44.     }
45. }
46.  

 

A Google search came up with this series. Maybe the code on how to populate a word search board is covered somewhere.

 

It sounds like perhaps you're not watching the tutorials correctly?

Often times people try to skip Step #2 below, and you simply cannot skip Step #2. It is mandatory always.

Tutorials and example code are great, but keep this in mind to maximize your success and minimize your frustration:

How to do tutorials properly, two (2) simple steps to success:

Step 1. Follow the tutorial and do every single step of the tutorial 100% precisely the way it is shown. Even the slightest deviation (even a single character!) generally ends in disaster. That's how software engineering works. Every step must be taken, every single letter must be spelled, capitalized, punctuated and spaced (or not spaced) properly, literally NOTHING can be omitted or skipped.

Fortunately this is the easiest part to get right: Be a robot. Don't make any mistakes.
BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO HERE!!

If you get any errors, learn how to read the error code and fix your error. Google is your friend here. Do NOT continue until you fix your error. Your error will probably be somewhere near the parenthesis numbers (line and character position) in the file. It is almost CERTAINLY your typo causing the error, so look again and fix it.

Step 2. Go back and work through every part of the tutorial again, and this time explain it to your doggie. See how I am doing that in my avatar picture? If you have no dog, explain it to your house plant. If you are unable to explain any part of it, STOP. DO NOT PROCEED. Now go learn how that part works. Read the documentation on the functions involved. Go back to the tutorial and try to figure out WHY they did that. This is the part that takes a LOT of time when you are new. It might take days or weeks to work through a single 5-minute tutorial. Stick with it. You will learn.

Step 2 is the part everybody seems to miss. Without Step 2 you are simply a code-typing monkey and outside of the specific tutorial you did, you will be completely lost. If you want to learn, you MUST do Step 2.

Of course, all this presupposes no errors in the tutorial. For certain tutorial makers (like Unity, Brackeys, Imphenzia, Sebastian Lague) this is usually the case. For some other less-well-known content creators, this is less true. Read the comments on the video: did anyone have issues like you did? If there's an error, you will NEVER be the first guy to find it.

Beyond that, Step 3, 4, 5 and 6 become easy because you already understand!

Finally, when you have errors, don't post here... just go fix your errors! Here's how:

Remember: NOBODY here memorizes error codes. That's not a thing. The error code is absolutely the least useful part of the error. It serves no purpose at all. Forget the error code. Put it out of your mind.

The complete error message contains everything you need to know to fix the error yourself.

The important parts of the error message are:

- the description of the error itself (google this; you are NEVER the first one!)
- the file it occurred in (critical!)
- the line number and character position (the two numbers in parentheses)
- also possibly useful is the stack trace (all the lines of text in the lower console window)

Always start with the FIRST error in the console window, as sometimes that error causes or compounds some or all of the subsequent errors. Often the error will be immediately prior to the indicated line, so make sure to check there as well.

All of that information is in the actual error message and you must pay attention to it. Learn how to identify it instantly so you don't have to stop your progress and fiddle around with the forum.

 

Thank you for answering. I had a look at this series. This is one of the training videos that is difficult for me to understand. In this video, he creates a table in the editor and throws words and letters there. It was very confusing to me. It felt like a much longer road. He also categorized the words himself. Seems a bit advanced to me and more than I need. Thanks anyway.

 

Word search isn't a simple mechanic.
https://forum.unity.com/threads/need-urgent-help-with-word-search-game-code-c.915380/
Here @PraetorBlue describes the basic logic.

Since you are instantiating your letter boxes, you'll need a way to track what row and column each is in so when your direction is picked, you know what box to check next.