Beginner question - GameObjects active or not active with Array and loop

Hi,

I try to make a button where GameObjects can be activated or deactivated when clicked on a button or key. In first instance, the objects have to be visible or activated. The code beneath (in italic) this text shows my attempt to do this.
Strange is that the Debug.Log does behaves like it should be, but the regarding the loops it only runs the loop that comes last (in this case Keycode Q = False). It looks like for example that it ignores the if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.W)) code.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance,

Louis

Code (CSharp):

1. public class ShowHide : MonoBehaviour
2. {
3.  
4.     public GameObject [] HideObjects;
5.  
6.  
7.  
8.     // Use this for initialization
9.    void Start()
10.     {
11.  
12.         for (int i = 0; i < HideObjects.Length; i++)
13.         HideObjects[i].SetActive(true);
14.     }
15.    
16.  
17. // Update is called once per frame
18. void Update()
19.    {
20.         if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.W))
21.  
22.                 Debug.Log("Alles aan");
23.         {
24.                 for (int i = 0; i < HideObjects.Length; i++)
25.                 HideObjects[i].SetActive(true);
26.         }
27.         if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Q))
28.  
29.                 Debug.Log("Alles uit");
30.         {
31.                 for (int i = 0; i < HideObjects.Length; i++)
32.                 HideObjects[i].SetActive(false);
33.         }
34.     }
35. }

 

Your debug.log statements have to be inside the brackets.

 

Basic background:
'if' statements only run a single piece of code.
The way to run more than one line of code is by enclosing multiple lines inside the {} braces. These braces group statements and declarations and effectively appears as one piece of code, hence why they are often used with conditionals.

So:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. if (condition)
3.     Debug.Log("Test");
4.  
5. //If condition is true, Test, else nothing
6.  

Is exactly the same as

Code (CSharp):

1. if (condition)
2. {
3.     Debug.Log("Test");
4. }
5.  
6. //If condition is true, Test, else nothing
7.  

However:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. if (condition)
3.     Debug.Log("Test");
4.     Debug.Log("Test2");
5.  

is actually the same as

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. if (condition)
3. {
4.     Debug.Log("Test");
5. }
6. Debug.Log("Test2");
7.  
8. //If condition is true, Test, Test2
9. //else Test2
10.  

Your code:
What your code is actually doing is running the debug calls based off the if statement but only that line.
The code within the braces is actually just part of the Update method so your code is effectively:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. void Update()
3. {
4.     //If we are pressing W, debug message
5.     if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.W))
6.     {
7.         Debug.Log("Alles aan");
8.     }
9.  
10.     //Set all HideObjects to active
11.     for (int i = 0; i < HideObjects.Length; i++)
12.     {
13.         HideObjects[i].SetActive(true);
14.     }
15.  
16.     //If we are pressing Q, debug message
17.     if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Q))
18.     {
19.         Debug.Log("Alles uit");
20.     }
21.  
22.     //Set all HideObjects to inactive
23.     for (int i = 0; i < HideObjects.Length; i++)
24.     {
25.         HideObjects[i].SetActive(false);
26.     }
27. }
28.  

Can you see the mistake now? (edit: Comments added for clarity)

So you are actually running a conditional debug, setting everything to active, running another conditional debug, then setting everything to inactive, every update loop! This is the cause of your debug confusion (In particular why it seemed like pressing Q was working correctly - Debug message (conditional on keypress) and all inactive (happening every frame anyway so it appeared to be working; just the activation appeared to not be working)). Hopefully this background helps you understand conceptually a bit more.

Solution:
As per fire7side's comment

 

Wauw, Thank you very much for the extensive explanation Mick!

Thanks fire7side you're suggestion works!

Regards Louis