Is there a way for scripts on prefabs to reference in-scene objects?

Hello,

In my project, I have a lot of objects that get spawned and need references to things that don't get spawned (Camera, UI etc...). To find those objects, I have to use silly-looking code:

Code (CSharp):

1. GameObject yesNoButtons = GameObject.FindWithTag("Canvas").transform.Find("InSettlementUI").Find("YesNoButtons").gameObject;

Also, if I rename an object or break a parent/child relationship, it can break a lot of other code.

Is there a better way to do this?

Thank you!

 

Maybe referencing all the things you need in one script that is in the scene as a singleton (Kinda like a "ReferenceManager" would work for you?

You could do it with something like this:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. public class ReferenceManager : MonoBehaviour {
3.    
4.  public static ReferenceManager Instance {
5.         get {
6.             if (instance == null) {
7.                 instance = FindObjectOfType<ReferenceManager>();
8.             }
9.             return instance;
10.         }
11.     }
12.     private static ReferenceManager instance;
13.     public GameObject importantReference;
14.  
15.  
16.     public void Awake() {
17.         if (Instance != null && Instance != this) {
18.             Destroy(this);
19.         }
20.     }
21. }

Where you could store all your references in the inspector of you scene.

In your prefab scripts you can then simply do something like this:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.     public GameObject importantReference;
3.     public void Awake() {
4.         importantReference = ReferenceManager.Instance.importantReference;
5.     }

(Or just use those references directly instead of referencing them again.)

Don't forget to check for null of course.

Greetings
Roy

 

You could take a look at dependency injection.