How to "Get" prefabs from project View by code

How do I instantiate a prefab in the Assets folder (.prefab) but not an already present in scene one ?

From code as far as I could get, I got the prefab in scene with

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. myObj = GameObject.Find("NameOfThePrefab");
3. myClone = Instantiate(myObj, transform.position, transform.rotation);
4.  

but this gets me only the prefab already in scene, not the one in the assets.

If I remove from the scene the manually dragged instance, the code breaks, and returns me a Null reference exception on the line trying to Find("prefabname").


I tried also renaming differently the Project prefab, and "looking" for that one, with Find, but no luck!

I really don't want to waste a draw call or even a gameobject memory allocation for a prefab that I could instantiate directly from the Assets folder.
Perhaps I got it all wrong, and this simply cannot be done. And I MUST instantiate before the prefab in scene...

If is possible, how do I write the same operation with an Assets prefab ?

I'm using unity iphone though, but I think the mechanism should be the same...


I ask this, because after 4 months development, I discovered that I don't like to have gameobjects with other Transform or GameObjects assigned through a panel. This is hassle when you have many levels/scenes, and every time you have to link back dozens of objects in dozens of scripts vars. Much better do a GameObject.Find at Start/Awake and getting the name, unfortunately this is working for me only with prefabs already present in scene.

From Unity iPhone documentation, I read:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. var wreck : GameObject;
3.  
4. // As an example, we turn the game object into a wreck after 3 seconds automatically
5. function Start () {
6.     yield WaitForSeconds(3);
7.     KillSelf();
8. }
9.  
10. // Calls the fire method when holding down ctrl or mouse
11. function KillSelf () {
12.     // Instantiate the wreck game object at the same position we are at
13.     var wreckClone = Instantiate(wreck, transform.position, transform.rotation);
14.  
15.     // Sometimes we need to carry over some variables from this object
16.     // to the wreck
17.     wreckClone.GetComponent(MyScript).someVariable = GetComponent(MyScript).someVariable;
18.  
19.     // Kill ourselves
20.     Destroy(gameObject);
21. }

But

Code (csharp):

1. var wreck : GameObject;

Implies that I choose from a crazy pulldown with 1820 objects the proper one every time! (for every scene o for every prefab I put in a scene which carries a script which references to the Wreck object)

What is the way to "Get" or "Find" the objects in Assets ??


Thanks in advance for the help,




Tommaso Lintrami
Breakdown Studios

 

Whooops I possibly answered my self...

Are the EditorUtility.FindAsset EditorUtility.InstantiatePrefab

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. static function FindAsset (path : string, type : Type) : Object
3. static function InstantiatePrefab (target : Object) : Object

The functions I should look at ?

Maybe not...because I'd need this at runtime...

 

The documentation covers this:
http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Manual/Instantiating Prefabs.html

 

Actually, what you probably want is Resources.Load(path : String), where path begins at Assets/Resources.

 

Did you get an answer to this?

No it doesn't. That link tells you how to drag a prefab onto a game object to reference it, not how to get it by name from the list of assets in the project view.

I've looked around for ages for this and can't find an answer either, sure it's simple!

This should explain the problem entirely...

Code (csharp):

1. var position = Vector3(Random.Range(-6, 6), 0, 12);
2. Instantiate(IWantToTypeAPrefabNameInHere, position, Quaternion.identity);

 

It has already been answered.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Instantiate(Resources.Load("PrefabName"), position, rotation)
3.  

Also, the Prefab has to be in a folder named Resources which can be anywhere. Example
> Prefabs> Resources> PrefabName

 

Thanks GibTreaty, this solved my issue.

My goal was to persist the LeapUnityBridge since it would blow up when it's objects get recreated from a LevelReload. So I then added DontDestroyOnLoad to the LeapUnityBridge. The led to LeapUnityBridge being recreated on each LevelReload which also wasn't good, though it didn't really break anything.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. public class LeapUnitySingleton : MonoBehaviour
3. {
4.     void Awake()
5.     {
6.         // see if the object exists, if not, instantiate it
7.         var theObject = GameObject.Find("LeapUnityBridge(Clone)");
8.    
9.         if (theObject == null)
10.         {
11.             Instantiate(Resources.Load("LeapUnityBridge"),Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
12.         }
13.     }
14. }
15.  

Also thanks to MatthewJCollins http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/41233-Trouble-with-DontDestroyOnLoad-(-) for the singleton awake method.

Anyone with suggested improvements?

 

I ran into the same problem. I designed a method on my GameControl Script to Instanciate any Object if it needs Respawn.
Those lines solved the problem with those prefabs:

C#

1. //This overloaded Version of the Method pretty much copies the Original
2. GameObject New_Object = Instantiate<GameObject>(Original_Object);
3. //Cleanup
4. GameObject.Destroy(Original_Object);
5. 
   
6. //Check for Activation
7. if (!New_Object.activeSelf)
8. {
9. New_Object.SetActive(true);
10. }

I ended up having a new GameObject with the name of the old one + "(Clone)".
Anyway, all components are set up and working.