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Find References 2 - A powerful asset reference management tool

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by thienhaflash, Mar 26, 2016.

  1. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

    Joined:
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    Posts:
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    I'm very excited to announce that after several months of work, FindReference2 is now ready to upload to asset store.

    Buy on Asset store ($20) | Online Documentation | Video





    Display the usage count of each asset in project panel
    You know immediately which asset is being used and which is not, plus how many times it's being used.



    Quickly see all assets that use the selected assets, even being used indirectdly : in the screenshot below, part_flash_diff.tif is being used (referenced) by the material part_blast_mat.mat, you can also see that part_blast_mat.mat is being used by 4 prefabs, which then being used by 5 other prefabs and finally used by the scene Done_Main.unity



    See scripts' definitions and dependencies* : In the screenshot below



    • FR2_Window.cs uses (depends on) 3 other class FR2_Asset.cs, FR2_Cache.cs, FR2_Unity.cs
    • FR2_Window.cs also depends on FR2_Export.cs as it's a class that FR2_Asset.cs depends on.
    • Right-click on FR2_Export.cs you can also see that there is 1 class definition inside this cs file and FR2_Export uses 3 definition outside this file named FR2_Cache, FR2_Unity, FR2_AssetType

    Quickly find and replace duplicated assets usage : Very helpful to organize the project as you can see all the duplicated textures, materials, shaders, terrains ... and more than that, merge, so that all assets will use the only asset you selected. You can then safely remove all other duplications without worrying about missing any reference.




    Quickly spot unused assets* (assets that has not being referenced by any other assets)


    Multiple Group Modes : Group By Dependency, Path, AssetType, Extension









    Other features








    This comes with a very good performance and being battle tested with some 3-5 GB projects.

    Any ideas, critics or comments are more than welcome as usual !
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2018
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  2. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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  3. redbull5988

    redbull5988

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    nice tool !!
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  4. andymakesthings

    andymakesthings

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    Great tool. Very useful and covers more stuff than other options.

    There is a problem with big projects though. When the tool is in a big project and you open the editor, unity hangs forever and won't let you do anything.

    Workaround I have to do.

    Close unity.
    Delete the FindReferences2 folder.
    Open unity.
    Import FindReferences2 again.

    I'm guessing it's stuck rebuilding the cache? But seems to take way longer than normal (never ends?)

    Is there a way to make it not build the cache until you open the FR2 window?

    Thanks!
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  5. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    @andymakesthings : thanks for your feedback. It sounds like you found a bug, I will double check and also stop build the cache by default but wait for first opening of FR2 window.

    Thanks a lot !
     
  6. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    @andymakesthings : I made the fix but not yet submit to the asset store as there are several other things to polish before submit. Please pm me if you want the update now.

    Thanks a lot.
     
  7. andymakesthings

    andymakesthings

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    Awesome. Thanks.
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  8. hansadler

    hansadler

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    Hello, I'm having the same problem with FindReference2 hanging forever when I start Unity. How can I get the update now?
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  9. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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  10. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today, FindReference2 v1.2.2 is uploaded to the asset store and will be available soon
     
  11. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    FindReference2 v1.2.2 is available now !
     
  12. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today,

    FindReference v1.2.4 is uploaded to AssetStore today and will be available soon.

    - FR2 now works in PlayMode
    - Scripts references now scan files faster and yield more accurate
    - FR2 will now add a timestamp to the cache automatically refresh when the cache is old enough (1 day). This will help when Unity's OnAssetPostProcess not triggering due to library swap.
    - Some other minor fixes and UI / Document improvement
     
  13. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    FR2 v1.2.4 is now live !
     
  14. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    We finished the new artwork for FR2 today, with more attractive and professional look we hope it can attract more buyers.

    For everyone who bought FR2 : Please help me by rating and write a short review about your experience using FR2!



    Thanks a lot !
     
  15. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Bad news, we have just found a nasty bug on Duplicate tab that may prevent duplicated file to be deleted.

    The good side is the hot fix for Find Reference 2 (version 1.2.5) is uploaded to the asset store and will be available in several days. Please update if you used that feature.

    Thanks a lot!
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2016
  16. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today,

    Find Reference 2 (version 1.2.6) is uploaded to the asset store today and will be available in several days.

    What's new:
    - Various performance optimizations for parsing scripts
    - Added an enable check box to quickly turn off (disable) FR2 while not in use (FR2 uses zero CPU power in this case)
    - Added a slider to adjust the reference scanning priority (0-5).

    Higher priority value (like 5) use more CPU resources hence complete scanning process faster, good in case you are checking asset references.

    Lower value (like the default zero - 0) use less CPU resources and takes more time to finish, good in case you are working on something else but want FR2 to build up the cache for later access.

    Screenshot :


    Thanks a lot for your support, everyone !
    p/s : Please rate and leave a positive comment on FR2 page if you are completely satisfied with what FR2 offers.
     
  17. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today,

    FR2 v1.2.6
    is finally available in the asset store! You can now turn off FR2 whenever it's not being used to save performance !

    Thanks @vr_unity a lot for reporting the performance issues with a 100 GB asset project and the idea of turn off FR2 while not in use! Please download the update and change the asset rating!

    If you have any idea to improve the products, please don't hesitate to tell! It will absolutely help!
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2016
  18. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello everyone,

    To celebrate new year of 2017, Find Reference 2 offers 50% OFF

    Thanks a lot to our customers for supporting us by buying the package.

    We at VietLabs wish you all a Happy new year!

    p/s : Please if you haven't rate yet, do rate or leave a comment!
     
  19. Asset_Store_Deals

    Asset_Store_Deals

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    Just to let you know we are adding Find Reference 2 to AssetStoreDeals.com.

    When you have other sales, you can add them to this website yourself simply by pasting the link to your asset in the designated area.

    Best of luck to you with your new year sale!
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  20. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today, Find References 2 v1.2.8 is now available adding multiple Group modes, filtering and searching ...

    Thanks a lot everyone for supporting us! And please please don't forget to rate the asset!



    Just to let you know, we are working on deep asset scanning that will spot exactly which GameObject / Component are referenced to selected assets .... so stay tune for the next update!
     
  21. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Hello, I am thinking about buying this tool but I have a question.

    Does it scan all the scenes in the project when I am searching for a reference or does it only search the loaded scene?

    Because, when I search for a reference, I want to see the results from all scenes.
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  22. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello Xtro,

    Thanks a lot for your interest, for your questions:
    It does scan all the scenes, prefabs, materials, scriptable objects and even script dependencies... virtually everything readable by Unity.
     
  23. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Hi bought FR2 today and played with it a little bit. It looks like a good and powerful tool but there are important missing features. I'll try to list some of them here:

    1) It doesn't have settings option or I couldn't find it. It's like every behavior is hard coded.
    2) I want to hide the reference number labels which appeared in the project window. I really don't wanna see the reference number next to each file.
    3) Cache file is created in the root of the project. I don't keep 3rd party files in project root. Cache file's location should be configurable.
    4) Alternating row color in "uses" and "used by" tabs is not everyone's favorite. I don't like it for example. There must be a way to disable that feature.
    5) Applied filters aren't saved. They reset after I switch tabs. Very bad feature :(
    6) I would be very happy if there was an option to hide the "selection" section in "uses" and "used by" tabs. I really don't need to see what I already selected. I know what I selected and I can see my selection in the project window.
    7) It would be nice to be able to click the entire row to highlight the file in project window instead of being have to click the small icon.

    Is it possible to add these features in the near future?
     
    thienhaflash likes this.
  24. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    @Xtro : Firstly thanks a lot for supporting us by buying the product and secondly thanks a lot for taking time writing your feedback here so I got a chance to improve it!

    For your concerns:

    1. Doesn't have a settings option - I will include one in next update
    2. Hide the reference number - Should be in the setting above so will be coming next
    3. Cache file path should be configurable - coming next in the setting
    4. Disable / Selectable color in alternative rows - coming next in the setting panel
    5. Applied filters aren't saved - Should be fixed in next update too
    6. Hide Selection part - should be com as an option so you can quickly toggle it on or off
    7. Click whole line to ping - coming next by default and can adjustable in the setting panel

    I will be able to have a look at it tomorrow and will be able to submit the update before Monday.

    Thanks a lot again Xtro, your feedback are awesome and I'm happy to have you with us!
     
  25. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Thank you for amazing reply. :)
     
  26. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Moving the FR2 submenu from top of the context menu to a lower section would be nice too. People are used to see the "Create" submenu first.
     
  27. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today!

    An update to FR2 v1.2.10 has been submit to AssetStore included what @Xtro suggested!



    Note that from this version FR2_Cache.asset can be move freely inside the project. FR2 always know where the cache was.

    Thanks a lot @Xtro for spending time to help us!
     
  28. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Thank you for this fast update. I'm excited to try the new features. :)
     
  29. Xtro

    Xtro

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    I just tried the new features and it looks amazing. In just couple of days, you added almost all of my requests. Thank you very much.

    Ok!!! Are you ready for second round of feature requests? Let's go... (Haha. Not too long this time)

    1) I still don't see an option to hide the usage counts in the project window. I hope you can add that too.

    2) An ignore option in "duplicate" and "no ref" tabs would be amazing :) I think we should be able to ignore some entries based on file name(all files with the same name) and/or file id. Please see the screenshot I made you. We would need "Show ignored" option too in case we want to unignore something later.

    Have a nice day.
     

    Attached Files:

  30. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Here goes another and very important one... :)

    3) "Show usages" option in right click context menu to open FR2 window for selected file("Used By" tab by default). I would prefer to have this option just above the "Find References In Scene" option instead of inside FR2 submenu. You decide the better.

    Thank you.
     
  31. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello Xtro,

    1. Hide usage count in project panel
    Please uncheck "Show usage count in project panel" (lower left corner in the screen shot above)

    2. An ignore option in "duplicate" and "no ref" tabs
    Actually I'm working on that since long but never finish. I know it's essential, it should be in for the next update

    3. "Show ignored" option
    Should be in next update as well. Great idea, Xtro! Thanks a lot for this!

    4. "Show usages" option in right click context
    I'm not sure I understand this correctly, do you mean that RightClick > Show Usages should bring up FR2 panel and focus on the tab "Used By"? Great idea I think, should be in next update also.

    Thanks a lot Xtro for your nice ideas! If you have any 3rd or 4th round of request don't hesitate to let them coming. I myself use FR2 a lot but I would love to hear what FR2's users actually want to have!
     
  32. Xtro

    Xtro

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    1) Wait! what? How did I not see that option there. I'm surprised now :)

    4) Yes, that's what I meant. :)

    Thank you again.
     
  33. Xtro

    Xtro

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    2) Ignoring by folder path is needed too, I guess.
     
  34. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Hello. Is there any update about "ignoring" feature?
     
  35. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello Xtro,

    Sorry I was busy with a client project recently and was not able to finish the ignoring feature yet. I got some time to work on it today. I will come back if I finish something.

    Thanks a lot!
     
  36. Xtro

    Xtro

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    Hello. I know you may be busy with other stuff but I wanted to ask if you had time to update FR2. I'll list needed features here again along with my new ideas, If that's OK for you.

    2. An ignore option in "duplicate" and "no ref" tabs (Ignore single file and/or a folder path),

    4. "Show usages" option in right click context: In the root menu, not in FR2 sub menu for quick access,

    5. Sticky selection:
    I think this is very important. When I select an object in "Used By" list, I lose the original selection and the list. A lock button similar to the one on top of the inspector window would be very useful for FR2.

    6. Being able to select a script in a DLL and see its usages instead of seeing the usages of DLL file itself: As you can see in the screenshot, when I select a script in a DLL, FR2 gets the guid of the DLL instead of the script itself; therefore, I can't see the usages of only the script. It shows me the usages of ALL the scripts in the DLL which is not easy to navigate.

    I hope you can add these very important features to your great product. Thank you.
     

    Attached Files:

  37. delphinius81

    delphinius81

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    Will FR2 find dependencies/asset usage in Timelines?
     
  38. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Heyo!

    I notice that this plugin has a bunch of great reviews and looks like it had active support... all until late last year. Is that because it hasn't needed attention, or because it's stagnated?
     
  39. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    So I went ahead and purchased it. Generally seems pretty neat and super useful, but I have a question:

    How does reference counting actually work?

    I'm getting what appear to be inconsistent results. Do some objects count references from themselves?

    Example 1:
    This asset lists a reference count of 1.
    upload_2018-6-22_11-44-49.png

    In the FR2 window the "Direct Usage" group shows 1 element.
    upload_2018-6-22_11-45-33.png
    This makes perfect sense, and is as I would expect.

    Example 2:
    This asset lists a reference count of 4.
    upload_2018-6-22_11-46-3.png

    In the FR2 window the "Direct Usage" group shows 3 elements.
    upload_2018-6-22_11-46-59.png
    This does not make sense, is not as I would expect, or in line with the description in the documentation. Why are the numbers different?

    I also have a bunch of stuff with a reference count of 1 and nothing listed under "Direct Usage".

    To solve my immediate needs, knowing which of the two numbers I should look at would be fine. Should I go by the listed Direct Usage, or by the reference count number?

    Edit: Oh... I haven't confirmed this, but it looks like the items with an unaccounted-for reference might all be objects with child elements. Could this be related?
     
  40. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello everyone,

    It's been long since my last post, I finally got some progress on FR2, here are some notes:
    - Ignore folder / asset option is now supported as suggested by @Xtro and others
    - Lock (Sticky) selection should be working now, again as suggested by @Xtro and others
    - References in scene is now supported as requested by many (both in scene cross references & asset usage in scene)
    - Marking (temporarily select assets without actually change selection) and do some action later (like moving all the marked files to a folder? or delete them all?)

    Here are some screenshots:
    • Scene objects using assets

    • Scene objects cross references (used by components of other GameObjects)


    • Asset used by currently opened scenes & other assets

    • Mark and commit selection the powerful batch

    • Other small improvements


    Still in early stage yet but it's kind of work, much of clean up, optimizations and other polishings but that's it!

    Thanks a lot everyone for going this far to support me and FR2!
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2018
    Lars-Steenhoff and C_p_H like this.
  41. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Thanks for the updates!
     
    vietlab likes this.
  42. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Hello everyone,

    It's now time for an open beta test, I will need the help of 10 or so volunteers to help testing out the new features before releasing it to the store.

    Please pm me if you would like to help!

    Thanks a lot! I'm really excited for the coming updates that we were working on for so long!
     
  43. thienhaflash

    thienhaflash

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    Good news for today, FR2 - v2 is live in store now!
     
    C_p_H likes this.
  44. me4lmnts

    me4lmnts

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    Hi thienhaflash!
    I think this would be a awesome tool. Just purchased it and wanted to reimport it in an existing project I am working on since 18 months. When I open the FR2 Window, it says: "FR2 requires serialization mode set to FORCE TEXT!"
    I am now deeply worried to change this setting from binary to text and what it could do to my project.
    I am working on Unity 2017.4, single seat.
    Can you give me a save advise? Is it save to change to text, without losing any progress on the project?
    Thank you very much in advance for your reply.
    4lmnts
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2018
    vietlab and thienhaflash like this.
  45. andymakesthings

    andymakesthings

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    @me4lmnts . You should use text mode for files even if you don't use this asset. It is much better for doing version history in svn/git as well as easier to fix issues that come up.

    So yes do the convert to text and everything will be fine.
     
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  46. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Ignoring any particular piece of software, never trust your computer to crunch lots of irreplacable data without breaking anything. Always have a backup! Even if your software is good, what happens if there's a power break or something? Or your HDD fails?

    Better yet, as @andymakesthings says, use version control.

    Once you have a backup, go ahead and change your serialisation to text. That on its own shouldn't break anything.
     
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  47. me4lmnts

    me4lmnts

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    Thanks for all your advice. I'll check it out!
     
    vietlab likes this.
  48. me4lmnts

    me4lmnts

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    vietlab and angrypenguin like this.
  49. Michael-Ryan

    Michael-Ryan

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    The following three warnings are received on Unity 2018.3.0f2.

    Assets\Middleware\FindReference2\Editor\Script\FR2_Asset.cs(1146,24): warning CS0618: 'TerrainData.splatPrototypes' is obsolete: 'Please use the terrainLayers API instead.'

    Assets\Middleware\FindReference2\Editor\Script\FR2_Asset.cs(1758,32): warning CS0618: 'TerrainData.splatPrototypes' is obsolete: 'Please use the terrainLayers API instead.'

    Assets\Middleware\FindReference2\Editor\Script\FR2_Asset.cs(1774,21): warning CS0618: 'TerrainData.splatPrototypes' is obsolete: 'Please use the terrainLayers API instead.'

    My project's Player is configured with:
    • Scripting Runtime Version: .NET 4.x Equivalent
    • Scripting Backend: Mono
    • Api Compatibility Level: .NET Standard 2.0
     
    Lars-Steenhoff likes this.
  50. Greyborn

    Greyborn

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    Could we please get an update on the above post about a fix for the Unity 2018.3 warnings? Thanks!
     
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