Question Is it possible to create an SO from an asset via context menu?

Hi everyone,

So, you know how it's possible to create a shader, then right-click the shader asset und go create > material, and the material will then automatically reference said shader? Essentially, I would like to achieve something like that for scriptable objects.

My use case is that I have a kind of SO that is basically holds an asset property together with some data around it. So it would be really convenient if I could just right-click such an asset and go create > SO, and then the SO's asset property will be set automatically.

Is something like that possible?

 

I think so... if you right click on your base SO, then select the appropriate context item (such as make new), I believe the SO you were on is still the selected object in the editor.

I think you could use this in OnValidate() or perhaps even OnEnable()... and just do it once, eg, if the field you wish to populate is empty.

You might need to call EditorUtility.SetDirty() after that though

 

Is this what you are looking for?

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/ContextMenu.html

 

Hey, thanks for the replies, but I'm afraid neither is what I'm looking for.

The script for my SO contains the createAssetMenu attribute. That is, the SO is created via right-click context menu. What I want to achieve is to right-click some other, already existing asset in the project folder, say a sprite asset, and then have the created SO automatically reference that sprite.

I thought that Selection.activeObject might do the trick, but for some reasons, it's not allowed in SO constructors. :/

 

Constructors aren't even allowed in SOs!

This is Unity after all. You could never call new to make a ScriptableObject... you must always use the CreateInstance<T>() method, which then hits Awake and OnEnable.

It's possible that by the time that happens, the Selection has changed... but that's first what I would try.

Definitely don't try anything in the ctor. It isn't even called on the main thread!

 

Read through the page for Menu Item: https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/MenuItem.html

It shows how to create right click menus for specific asset types. From there it's just a matter of editor coding.

 

Thanks, that's what I was looking for!