Grab Yer Assets (GYA) v3 - UnityPackage Import & Management

Hi Remiel-

Let's see if we can get you going here. First off, have you tried the steps from the first page?

Here's a copy/paste of them for brevity:

If GYA reports a problem downloading the 'Purchased Assets List', try the following:
1) Log out of the Asset Store from within Unity
2) Switch to the Old Store
3) Log back in to the Asset Store from within Unity and make sure to enable 'Remember My choice'

Note: If you log in via the New Store, you may have to click on the 'Shop on Old Store' in the upper right. Once it switches to the Old Store, everything is updated properly and you can go back to the New Store as desired. Sometimes, it can take a few moments.
​

Give that a shot if you haven't already and let me know.

Regards

 

Thanks for the response. I'll give that a shot and see how it goes.

 

Uh... I have a question / feature request?

When I purchased Grab Yer Assets I was under the impression that this would solve my asset management issues. But it seems to me now that Grab Yer Assets is only useful for batch importing asset packages and it solves no asset management issues at all. Not even the most basic of issues.

I would think that one of the basic features of such an asset would be to remember which assets are in the current project, including their versions? But I can't seem to find such a feature.

I can't view a list of imported asset packages in my project, even though all of them were imported through Grab Yer Assets, let alone view their versions. How am I supposed to import assets if I don't even know which are already in the project? How am I supposed to update assets that require updates when I don't even know what assets are in there, let alone their versions?

I would think this would be a basic feature, no?

Especially if you are working on a project from multiple pcs, like when you are working in a team. One person might have imported an asset in the project, but another hasn't even downloaded that asset so how would he know which version of that asset is in the project, let alone know if there are updates for it? This issue persists even if you are the only person working on the project but have switched from working on your desktop pc to your laptop.

Also, is there a way to show assets that are NOT in a custom group? In a failed attempt to keep track of what assets are in my project, I created a custom group and added those assets in it. But then when I am confronted with several hundreds of assets I can import, I have no idea if I've already imported that asset in my project or not. Each time, I have to switch my view to my custom group and then comb down the list to check if that asset is already in it.

(Mind you, this "group tracking" workflow for tracking what assets are in the project still doesn't solve the issue of multiple pcs, because the information of the groups isn't saved in the project itself. But in a lack of a better way, I had hoped that we could designate one person as the "asset importer" and he would handle asset management.)

How are these essential features not implemented yet? Or are they implemented and I don't know how to use Greb Yer Assets? Are you still actively improving Grab Yer Assets or are you just fixing bugs?

 

Make a group for the project, add the assets you're using into that group.

Yes. If you'd looked at the 'Categories and Package Types' options you'd have seen 'Ungrouped'.

Well maybe you could consider that other people consider different things 'essential.' GYA is described as a package importer and manager, not a project manager; it wouldnt track non-packaged assets either. In a team I would suggest using an appropriate project management tool (or a textfile) for tracking asset imports and revisions, especially since official 'Packages' sit outside the Asset Store mechanism now.

 

Yes, as I already mentioned, I am currently doing that.

Thanks for that one. Is there a proper documentation for this asset that I am missing? Nothing that comes with it besides a readme file, and no link to it on the asset store.

Exactly. But I assumed it also allows one to manage packages that are in a project, not just packages that aren't. It seems illogical to do one and not the other, especially since it is easier to manage packages that aren't in a project than it is to manage those that are. And people tend to prioritize automatizing things that are the most tedious to do manually.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not going to storm off to the asset store in self-righteous rage and leave a negative rating. On the contrary, Grab Yer Assets is a useful tool that does many things well. I will definitely be using it in the future, and as such seeing it getting further improved is, of course, something that would be most welcome . Also, I am not angry, just surprised and a bit disappointed that it didn't have a feature that I was really looking forward to.

This is what I was doing before Grab Yer Assets. But it is a time consuming, manual, tedious work for something that could be easily automated. I suppose now that I am using Grab Yer Assets, this process can be automated a bit by exporting a custom group of assets to csv, instead of manually adding those lines. So yay for that.

 

It may seem 'illogical', but unless Unity provides a sane mechanism for package discovery, then that's not going to be possible. As I already said, Assets can be imported in multiple ways, and as soon as any Asset is brought in in any way outside GYA then GYA has no way to 'retroactively' track that.

And the contents of packages have no identifier that links them to the package they were in, or its version, or anything, as far as I can see. As far as Unity seems to be concerned, once you've imported the contents of a package you have as much information about the original package as if you just manually copied the contained its contents into your project folder.

If you could suggest an actual mechanism for reconstructing that information, that might be useful, but, honestly, I cant think of a way to do that.

WRT automation, if you can parse a JSON file, you can get GYA's version of the assets you currently have downloaded. Automating writing that into a textfile after you import would give you the version that came in. Something like that might be a helpful FR, but not even close to a solution if you want anything not brought in any other way.

 

Remiel-

As sxa has kindly answered most of your concerns and done so quite well, thank you sxa, I will try not to belabor the points. simply expand upon them a bit.

As you already know, the Group feature can be used as a simplistic alternative. Granted, it's not automated and not assigned to a specific project path, the Groups feature does offer the option to lock a version of an asset to a Group which perhaps could be used in this scenario. After updating to a new version of the asset, simply update the locked version in the group.

As to the groups info not being saved within the project for access by multiple PC's. The main reason it is stored externally of the Unity projects is so that the data is available globally from all projects on that PC and is not affected by what transpires within the project. Example: accidental deletion, etc.

In any case, I'll do some thinking on it and if you have any ideas/thoughts on it, send them along.

Regards

 

Yes, but that also means that all you have to do to solve the issue is use GYA to import all of your asset packages. GYA would then be able to track what is imported and be able to create some kind of tracking file with a list of the assets (and their versions) that have been imported into the project.

It could then load that file to display the list of those assets inside GYA interface under "Current Project" or something of the sort. It could then use all of the already available features in GYA to display if there are updates available, etc.

Implementing the feature would be easy (and very helpful) because you'd just need to write info about the packages imported through GYA into the GYA folder within the project.

Since it would be stored within the project itself (unlike current groups), you could use version control systems and work within a team, and everyone would know exactly what is in the project and be able to update and import new assets.

@Xeir Having groups saved externally is of course very helpful if they are used for what they were meant to be used for.
But using them to track what packages are in the current project is like using a sword to cut meat - it leaves much to be desired because it is not really made for that purpose in the first place.

Anyway, I sent you my feature request / ideas / hopes your way and it's up to you if you are willing to implement it or not.

Cheers.

 

Remiel-

I'll continue to give it thought as I do think it may indeed be a useful addition.

Just to note, as is usual for this time of year, I will be out of town for the next 3-4 weeks. So it won't be until I return, that I can dig in to it seriously.

Regards

 

Hi;
Ive just opened GYA in a version of 2019 (ie 2019.1) for the first time, and the font size in the main asset list of GYA seems markedly smaller than it used to be.
Its small enough now on my 2K screen that its no longer immediately legible for me; I basically cant 'look' at it and read it, I have to focus on it to read it, if you see what I mean. However the checkboxes and icons still look they're the same height as always. (Im also not seeing any obvious differences in Unity's own UI, FWIW)

Is there something that can be changed to increase the font size? I cant see a preference setting for that.

 

I am away for the next few weeks, but I will take a look and see what can be done.

 

Ok, quick fix, in GYA.cs, search for:
int fontSize = 10;
and change the size to 11 or higher.

A more complete way would be to search for:
UNITY_2019_1_OR_NEWER
Replace with:
UNITY_2019_1_OR_NEWER_DISABLED

That will disable all 2019 specific GUI changes for the moment.

When I return, I will include an override and/or make the needed adjustments to account for the recent changes.

Update: Forgot to mention that the fix was pushed out as a silent update as it wasn't a major change.

 

Cheers, that quick fix restores things perfectly.

 

Hi!

Thanks for the great asset! But it's not working for me in 2019.2.9

I seem to get this every time I do anything.

GYA - Import failed - Asset not found:
UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object)
XeirGYA.GYAExt:Log(String, String, Boolean) (at Assets/Plugins/Editor/GrabYerAssets/GYAExt.cs:442)
XeirGYA.GYAImport:ImportSingle(String, Boolean) (at Assets/Plugins/Editor/GrabYerAssets/GYAImport.cs:70)
XeirGYA.GYA:TBPopUpCallback(Object) (at Assets/Plugins/Editor/GrabYerAssets/GYA.cs:2456)
UnityEditor.GenericMenu:CatchMenu(Object, String[], Int32) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/GUI/GenericMenu.cs:119)

 

Hey dean0-

Thanks for letting me know, I'll download that version and check it out.

 

@dean0
I just tested out version 2019.2.9 and everything appears to works as expected.
I started a conversation so we can check a few things.

Edit: Tried to start a conversation, it wouldn't let me, so ..

Let's check a few basics:

If the asset files, unitypackages, have been moved/deleted/updated or if the files are located on a network share that is not currently available since the last time GYA performed a scan, GYA's data will be out of sync.

So, let's refresh GYA's data by clicking on the refresh icon in the upper right. then try to import an asset.

If still not working, let's verify that the asset(s) you are trying to import are actually downloaded and in the folder as expected. You can right-click on an asset and select 'Open Folder'. Compare the folder path to the one shown in the 'Package Info' window at the bottom of GYA for the selected asset.

What selections within GYA are you making prior to importing the asset? Walk me thru the steps if needed.

Let me know!

 

@dean0

Haven't heard back from you, so wanted to check in and see if you were still having a problem.

 

Hi @Xeir - would it be possible to have Grab Yer Assets automatically import labels from the Unity Asset Store Asset List? I like using the label feature to organize my assets, but don't want to have to create groups in GYA to reflect the labels. Or if this feature is already available, please let me know how to use it. Thanks!

 

I'm currently away for the holidays, but when I return, I'll look into it.

 

Hello there! I've noticed that several of my assets have warning icons next to them in the Grab Yer Assets window and selecting them shows [Damaged] in yellow. In some cases, I have imported a couple and not seen any obvious issues.

What are the criteria that are used to determine if an asset is considered damaged?

 

Hey there!

The bulk of them are related to the embedded JSON in each file and while it may not cause an issue during import, something abnormal has been detected within the JSON.

Such as:
Blank/Missing Title
Corrupt JSON
JSON Length Mismatch
Missing GZip Header
File Length Too Short - While not a JSON issue, it would certainly cause a problem during import.

GYA will adapt when possible. Example: if the title is blank/missing it will either use the filename as the title or IF another version of the package is available, it will use the embedded title, if it is not damaged.

Hope that answers your question. Enjoy!

 

Yes, this answer is very helpful, thank you!

 

Sale: 50% off - GYA will remain on sale until mid-April.

During these troubling times, when uncertainty abounds everywhere, some things don't have to be worrisome, difficult or costly.

So don't forget to Grab Yer Assets! You'll still have enough left over to buy a roll of toilet paper!

In all seriousness, keep your spirits up and be safe!

 

Hello there! I'm currently using the latest version of the asset and enjoy it immensely. I download all of my assets from the Unity Asset Store and keep them updated, but this tool makes it so easy to find and import the package (I can't stand going through the Web interface to do it).

Not sure if this is a bug or not as I don't know if the URLs for the assets come from the metadata or if they are built dynamically, but it seems that navigating to the URL or the URLs that are exported as a CSV file using maintenance are going to the old asset store links. There is apparently a new URL and format for the URL for the assets, so the links aren't that useful.

Also, when exporting to CSV files, when opening in Excel, the links show as "link" instead of something meaningful like the title. I wrote a small C# LINQPad script which I use to actually use the description along with the URL so it's a readable, clickable URL. I do this by processing the original CSV file and writing a new one. At some point, I'll be enhancing it to remove some of the columns I don't need as well. Just in case it is of benefit to anyone:

Code (CSharp):

1. void Main()
2. {
3.     DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
4.     string inputFile = @"C:\TEMP\CurrentUnityAssets_Raw.csv";
5.     string outputFile =  @$"C:\TEMP\UnityAssets_{now.Year}{now.Month:d2}{now.Day:d2}.csv";
6.    
7.     using (var inputStream = File.OpenText(inputFile))
8.     {
9.         using (var outputStream = File.OpenWrite(outputFile))
10.         {
11.             using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(outputStream))
12.             {
13.                 while (!inputStream.EndOfStream)
14.                 {
15.                     string inputLine = inputStream.ReadLine();
16.                     string[] delimited = inputLine.Split(',');
17.  
18.                     if (delimited.Length > 2)
19.                     {
20.                         string description = delimited[1];
21.  
22.                         if (description.Length > 2)
23.                         {
24.                             string replacement = description.Substring(1, description.Length - 2);
25.  
26.                             if (replacement.Length > 0)
27.                             {
28.                                 inputLine = inputLine.Replace("\"\"link\"\"", string.Format("\"\"{0}\"\"", replacement));
29.                             }
30.                         }
31.                     }
32.                    
33.                     writer.WriteLine(inputLine);
34.                 }              
35.             }
36.         }
37.     }
38. }

 

@JDelekto -

Hey there! That is certainly GYA's primary purpose, glad to hear you like it.

The URL data is built from components within the embedded JSON. However, I will take a look at what needs to be done to have it point towards the updated AS links.

I choose to simply put link in there instead of duplicating the asset's title to keep the table somewhat more clean. I take a look at that as well.

Thank you for providing an option to existing users, it is always appreciated.

Regards

 

I can certainly see why you didn't duplicate the title, it does look funny seeing it twice. On that note, I still end up tweaking the final spreadsheet to remove some columns I don't need.

I just tend to keep a copy of the updated spreadsheet handy to occasionally visit the asset on the store to see if there have been any new versions (with discounts for existing owners) released or to find and provide the descriptions and links for assets as a recommendation to others.

I also have around 800+ assets now, so I need a quick way to scan for them to see which I want to pull into a project.

On that note of duplicating the title and removing the columns, what would be excellent is perhaps a re-orderable list with check-boxes that can be used to select which columns and in which order they will appear in the CSV file. This would allow you to use the actual title for the link and have the user deselect the title itself as well as prune any other columns they don't need for their final document.

Cheers!

 

Hi;

Im seeing a couple of issues with GYA right now. Tested latest GYA on latest 2018.4 and latest 2019.3 to confirm.

1) Is already reported I think; 'Open URL>Asset' and 'Open URL>Publisher' dont work for an external browser, though they do work if the 'Open URLS in Unity' is checked.

2) The action to remove a single asset from a group ( Right-click>Remove From Group) doesnt update the Group list, whereas the multi-selection 'Remove From Current Group' does.

3) Finally, there's an inconsistency in how a multiple-selection is maintained after some actions, which basically makes multiple-selections problematic for specific things. Basically there are three differing behaviours Ive tracked down:

A. From a user-created group, check multiple items, use 'Add To Group><whatever>' from the 'multi' menu dropdown.
result :

• the items remain in the group list (as expected)
  
• the items are unchecked
• the number of selected items is reset to 0.

B. From a user-created group, check multiple items, use 'Remove From Group' :
result :

• the items disappear from the group list (as expected)
  
• the number of selected items stays as it was
• Deselect All doesnt reset the number of items to 0. (I need to do a full 'refresh' of GYA to get it to zero)

C. From a 'calculated' group, specifically Packages Of Type>Ungrouped, check multiple items, use 'Add To Group><whatever>' from the 'multi' menu dropdown.

result :

• the items disappear from the group list (as expected)
  
• the items are unchecked
• the number of selected items is reset to 0.

The problem for this last one is basically the B scenario : The items are left in the multi-selection but since 'Deselect All' doesnt work, I cant deselect them unless I track them down manually from the 'ALL' list or do a full refresh of GYA. I'd assume behaviour more like scenario C; all the items get deselected automatically.
Ironically, in scenario A where I can still see them to deselect them manually, it gets done for me.

 

I'll see what I can do to add some options to the CSV creation as I can certainly see where a custom list would be of use.

I'll walk thru each of the scenarios you documented above and report back. Thank you for for the information provided!

sxa: Issue 1 resolved, old AS links no longer supported. Looking into the others. Once everything is addressed, I'll post an update.

 

New version has been submitted: 3.20.4.2201

- 3.20.4.2201
- Fixes related to the new Asset Store: Open Asset URL, Open Publisher URL, etc.
- Fixes for Group handling as reported by 'sxa'

 

I'll run through testing these today.. Cheers for the incredibly swift update!

 

Hi Xeir.

Problems 2 and 3 look resolved, cheers.

However, Im not so sure about 1. Im finding that the problem is fixed for opening in an external browser, but now the in-Unity version doesnt seem to do anything at all.

 

The In-Unity call I still have to look at as it is handled differently. Thanks for checking the update out!

Edit: Found the required change, will push an update soon.

 

New version has been submitted: 3.20.4.2301

- 3.20.4.2301
- Fixed Open Asset URL in Unity
- Fixed Asset URL in saved CSV files

 

Asset URL now working fine. Unfortunately Ive realised that Publisher URL lookup isnt. Its opening.

https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers//packages/slug/6144

when the correct page is (i think)

https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/6144

Also, Publisher URL seems to launch in an external browser whether or not the 'Open URLs in Unity' preference is set.

Meanwhile (and Im really sorry just to be throwing an endless list of random bugs at you) Ive also noticed that GYA doesnt seem to be up to date with flagging what's deprecated or not.
For example
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/essentials/beta-projects/legacy-cinematic-image-effects-51515
isn't flagged as deprecated. Yet plenty of other packages are correctly flagged.
Unfortunately I cant work out a pattern in what's flagged properly or not, it might be the date of when it was actually deprecated.

 

Fixed the Publisher URL for both browser and in Unity. I'll post an update shortly.

They used to use

"com.unity3d.kharma:<ref>"

but they changed it which tends to make it confusing.
Assets:

"/packages/slug"

for browser and

"content/"

for opening in Unity.
Publisher:

"/publishers"

for browser and

"com.unity3d.kharma:publisher/"

for opening in Unity.

With the new Asset Store, the 'Purchased Asset List' appears to no longer have access to the data.
I'm looking into it, but have not found a solution as yet.

Edit: Pushed a minor update up, should be available shortly

 

Hi;

Sorry if this is getting a bit 'wack a mole' but referring back to the issue I mentioned on April 22nd Ive today noticed the following behaviour with v3.20.4.2301. This is the equivalent situation for the 'C' behaviour I described before, but what it does is now slightly different, as follows:

C. From a 'calculated' group, specifically Packages Of Type>Ungrouped, check multiple items, use 'Add To Group><whatever>' from the 'multi' menu dropdown.

result :

• the items disappear from the 'Ungrouped' group list (as expected)
  
• the number of selected items stays as it was
• Deselect All doesnt reset the number of items to 0. (I need to show 'ALL' and do a reset from there. )

So its now no longer clearing the multiple selection, where it used to.

The problem seems to be that 'Deselect AlI' only works within the current group, and if you've Added something to a group from Ungrouped, that cant be done from Ungrouped any more. You cant start a new empty multiple selection within Ungrouped.

I was wondering if it might work to change Deselect All to the following?

Deselect All (in current group)
Deselect All (in all groups)

I also have to admit, after reporting what I was seeing in April and coming back to this, Ive realised that I missed something else in April. What I described as 'A' in April, and, at the time thought was okay, is actually a little bit of a problem.

This is how I described it

A. From a user-created group, check multiple items, use 'Add To Group><whatever>' from the 'multi' menu dropdown.
result :

• the items remain in the group list (as expected)
  
• the items are unchecked
• the number of selected items is reset to 0.

This is unchanged since April, but because its like this, Im now realising how awkward it is to move large numbers of assets completely from one User defined group to another because in this case the multiple-selection list.

So what Im currently having to do is Select them, Add them to the new Group, at which point the list is cleared so I have to Select them again, and then Remove them.

So I actually dont think the multiple selection should be getting cleared automatically at this point? Does that make sense?

Ive also come to think that maybe it would be useful to supplement 'Add To Group' and 'Remove from Group' with a 'Move to Group' that combines both?

FWIW, the 'B' scenario you fixed for me, does still work the way I said I'd expect it to. However, Ive realised that maybe someone might want that multiple selection maintained, and that automatically clearing the multiple selection isnt the problem. I now think that the problem is that Deselect All wasnt working outside the 'current' group. If you had 'Deselect All (in all groups)' and Deselect All (in current group) maybe that would be more useful ?

Does this make sense?

 

Reading back that seems unecessarily complicated a description, sorry. The TL;DR version is as follows.

Problem : the 'Marked' set of items is sometimes automatically cleared after an operation, and sometimes isnt, depending on the group (and maybe other things).
Problem : Deselect All only works for the currently-displayed Group, so if a 'Marked' set of items has been removed from that Group, they cant be Deselected

Potential Solution : The Marked items list should never be cleared automatically after an operation.
Deselect All should entirely empty the 'Marked' set of items. 'Deselect All In Group' should be added do what 'Deselect All' currently does.

Also, FR : A 'Move to Group' action which combines 'Add To Group' with 'Remove From Group'

 

I'll read over both posts more thoroughly in a bit and get back to you with any thoughts/questions/etc. Thanks for the TL;DR btw.

 

@sxa - I started a conversation so we can go over a few of the details, testing, etc.

 

Hello, I just picked up GYA. I was able to install it and setup a Sorted Assets Folder and moving assets I previously downloaded with the Package Manager works great. However, now the Package Manager shows that nothing has been downloaded which makes sense having the files in a different location, but I can't figure out how to get GYA to show me other things that I own but have yet to download.

I enabled "Retrieve Purchased Assets List" in prefs. When right-click on the refresh icon I get a console message that packages were refreshed, but I don't see anything added to the list that has not already been downloaded. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm running Unity 2020.2 if it helps, but I've also tried in 2019.

 

Hi bjolet -

Welcome to GYA, let's go over a few things here and see if that answers your questions:
- If you've moved assets outside of Unity's default AS folder either manually or via the Sorted Assets selection, to get them to show up in GYA again simply make sure that you have assigned that same folder as a 'User Folder' as well. (Preferences->User Folders)
- Now, while GYA is primarily an offline package manager for handling the packages that you have already downloaded, as you mentioned, GYA does have an option to download the User's Purchased Asset List (PAL) which would allow the option to see Non-local packages by means of 'Packages of Type->Not Download' menu selection. However, it appears that changes to the Unity Asset Store and the way the information is being retrieved has changed. There is an update forthcoming that will bring a few new features and will temporarily disable the PAL option while I look further into this.

So no, you're not doing anything wrong. I hope that answered your questions.

Regards and Merry Christmas!

 

Should I assume PAL is now permanently broken in GYA?

 

At this point, I have not found an alternate means to provide access to that data anymore due to the changes. Sadly yes, the PAL feature will be dropped from GYA. As noted, this will not affect GYA's core features as the PAL only provided a little bit of extra data from the Unity Store, which was never required by GYA to function to begin with. Only the few PAL specific searches and features are obviously affected.

 

Thanks for letting me know. PAL is the feature that was most important for me. I have over 800 assets from the asset store and I was hoping GYA would create a DB for me to manage them.

 

GYA still maintains a complete list of everything that you have physically downloaded and you can export that list as needed.

I know the response is a bit delayed, sadly my laptop decided it was a good time to fail while I was traveling.

 

Hi,

apologies for the dumb question but - both here and on the main page of the asset I see a huge list of changes and improvements.

Yet, one thing that is maybe intentionally missing as maybe the asset is targeting a specific set of users:
(Or, maybe it's there and I could not find it)

What is the asset? I know it's about asset handling but - Could you please add the description+summary of what the asset is and what it does, maybe also listing the features?

As someone who's just stumbled on your asset, I was perplexed. I'm both intrigued and undecided. So I went around looking for info and stumbled on the reviews.

EDIT: I've just noticed the thread title is "Unitypackage import & management". But there it says it's "Package Import & Management for UnityPackages"

1. Is this a replacement for the asset store, without the purchasing part?
2. Does it work by scanning the folder where all the unitypackages get saved?
3. Does it access or uses APIs or content for which you need to be logged in Unity? (I wasn't aware there were any)
4. Which info can it get from my account, if any?
5. Is it integrated with the categories, tags, sorting, and lists you could create from within Unity?
6. Is there any plan to work on the docs? I read one review and while someone would say "it's obvious and straightforward, one plain text file is enough" - maybe it's not if the complaint is exactly about insufficient docs and info (which seems to get along well with the lack of information about the asset itself).

Sorry if it sounds a bit rough, I'm just trying to understand - and maybe this is going to help other users when they land on the main page of your asset.

 

@NeatWolf

Happy to clarify, which also means, I should probably re-organize the main page a little as updated info has pushed the main info down the list a bit, so thanks for pointing that out.

The main function and features of GYA is listed beginning under the '-- From GYA v2' tag just above the pictures.
GYA's primary purpose is to make importing unitypackages that you have already downloaded quicker and easier.

As to the management features: you can assign alternate folders besides the AssetStore folder for GYA to scan for unitypackages; you can create virtual groups of assets to keep them organized for quick reference, etc.; mark commonly used assets as favorites, again for quick reference; versatile search and sort features; import one, many or groups of assets at once; etc..

Now to answer your questions directly:
1- No, it is not a replacement. GYA simply makes importing the assets you have already downloaded quicker and easier.
2- Yes, it scans the AssetStore folder, yet it can also scan user defined folders as well.
3- No, it does not. GYA use to be able to download the users asset list from Unity, but that is no longer the case. So everything GYA does, is fully offline.
4- None.
5- It does not use Unity's tagging system.
6- Actually, I have worked on the doc's numerous times, and have never been happy, so they got pushed aside. I'll see about releasing something helpful, even if it is basic.

Not rough at all, hope that answered you questions.

Regards

 

Hello, I got this a very long time ago and it worked great. You use to be able to move the assets C: Drive to D drive or off line .. I can not find the command to do that ;-( If I remember it was under the Edit ,, and and also, the included screen Capture shows the assets are not listed like they used to be ;-( This is all I see

EDIT: I updated to the latest Unity it is working as expected, I am not sure what happened, but it is fine now! Sorry to bother.