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Question Can't figure out how to use a public string to return a value.

Discussion in 'Editor & General Support' started by MasterElement, May 26, 2023.

  1. MasterElement

    MasterElement

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2016
    Posts:
    132
    So I am following an official Unity youtube tutorial about making a text game. I got to a part where he uses a public string as a method. It works for him, but when I do the same code, I get an error that's very frustrating.
    Here is the code
    Code (CSharp):
    1. public string GetObjectsNotInInventory(Room currentRoom, int i)
    2.     {
    3.  
    4.     }
    Here is the video. The part I'm talking about is at 5:50

    What am I doing differently?
     
  2. spiney199

    spiney199

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2021
    Posts:
    7,606
    Your method doesn't return anything yet. This is normal when setting up a method with a return value.

    Just keep following the tutorial.
     
  3. MasterElement

    MasterElement

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2016
    Posts:
    132
    Sorry I forgot to post the error message, my bad.
    Here it is.
    Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
    Error CS0161 'InteractableItems.GetObjectsNotInInventory(Room, int)': not all code paths return a value Assembly-CSharp.Player C:\Users\Ben\Text game Test\Assets\Scripts\InteractableItems.cs 7 Active
     
  4. spiney199

    spiney199

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2021
    Posts:
    7,606
    Literally changes nothing about my response. You will always get this error temporarily when you set up a method with a return value; its normal. Just keep following the lesson.
     
  5. Kurt-Dekker

    Kurt-Dekker

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2013
    Posts:
    38,514
    You didn't do the same code. Go back and look. As Spiney points out, it's obvious you fail to return anything.

    Before you waste too much more time with whatever hack-and-slash approach you are using, switch instead to this VASTLY superior two-step approach:

    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.

    Look in the documentation. Every API you attempt to use is probably documented somewhere. Are you using it correctly? Are you spelling it correctly?

    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.
     
  6. MasterElement

    MasterElement

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2016
    Posts:
    132
    But I have tried it just like he did including with the return and I still get the same error. Not all code paths return a value.
    Code (CSharp):
    1. public string GetObjectsNotInInventory(Room currentRoom, int i)
    2.     {
    3.         InteractableObject interactableInRoom = currentRoom.interactableObjectsInRoom [i];
    4.     }
    I have looked at it over and over and I just can't spot any difference. And I did try to find the answer myself, but the truth is I don't have the finest idea what I would be looking for in the documentation
     
  7. spiney199

    spiney199

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2021
    Posts:
    7,606
    Oh FFS.

    Keep watching the tutorial!

    They fill out more of the method as they proceed. Watch the whole video before you post here.
     
  8. MasterElement

    MasterElement

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2016
    Posts:
    132
    I will, buit the thing is in the video he is not getting an error. Plus when I got the error I was stumped because the only thing that made sense to me is that the string should be a void, but it works as a string for him.
    (Edit) I think part of the problem is I don't understand the context of return in this case. Should the code in the brackets after the public string, be the return?
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
  9. spiney199

    spiney199

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2021
    Posts:
    7,606
    Its an old video from 2015 and they're using an old less-featured IDE called monodevelop, while you're likely using Visual Studio which gives more immediate feedback.

    Again. It's normal. Follow the whole video.
     
  10. MasterElement

    MasterElement

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2016
    Posts:
    132
    Thanks for your help guys