Joining Sync Code With Async Addressables

I took a look at the addressables package just recently to see if it might be a replacement for a hacked-together system I was using to hold template data objects during runtime.

I like the package's pitch, and did some feasibility testing to see if I could migrate, but got concerned when I tried to test the system using my debugging console. The console works by invoking a callback in a Dictionary, and printing whatever the callback returns: "not enough arguments", "made you invincible", etc. With an asynchronous function, I can't just have the asset returned, so I either need to pass a callback to LoadAssetAsync().Completed, use a Coroutine, or use an async function. None of these allow for me to fulfill the requirements of this:

Code (CSharp):

1. public static string GiveItem(string[] args)
2.         {
3.             if (args.Length != 1)
4.                 return "Please pass only 1 argument.";
5.  
6.             ScrollData scroll;
7.             Database.GetDataObject("Scroll_MagicBullet",
8.                 (ScrollData s) =>
9.                 {
10.                     scroll = s;
11.                     Game.GetPlayer().AddItem(new Item(scroll));
12.                 });
13.  
14.             return $"Giving {scroll}...";
15.         }
16.  
17. public static void GetDataObject<T>(string address, Action<T> callback)
18.             where T : IDataObject
19.         {
20.             Addressables.LoadAssetAsync<T>(address).Completed +=
21.                 (AsyncOperationHandle<T> handle) =>
22.                 {
23.                     callback.Invoke(handle.Result);
24.                 };
25.         }
26.  
27.  

Because the return will not fall in line behind the callback. The console not working doesn't break my whole project, but what I gather from this is that somewhere in any given call stack, one method has to be synchronous, at which point a race condition is created.

Is there some clever pattern I'm missing which will let me load addressables without worrying about what happens elsewhere?

 

The alternative approach is using await op.Task, so you can chain async in a sync style function.

 

I was expecting to need to do something like this; I was just hoping I wouldn't have to start converting a large portion of my codebase to asynchronous just for one feature.

 

Hi David, we're trying to use the example in github, we're on Addressables 1.2.4 + Unity 2019.2.9 - there are some compile issues with the api ( providerTypes etc ) in the example.

We tried to work around the compile issues but not sure if our fixes are sufficient

Note: Every time we load an asset via SyncAddressables.LoadAsset<GameObject> it fails in the op.IsDone exception

Is there something else we need to do?

I am in fast mode, we have tagged the group as SyncBundledAssetProvider and SyncBundleProvider

* Actually it seems the Instantiate flow works but the LoadAsset Sync does not work in the example - seems actually SyncFast needs to be on, our bad...just testing more now.
thanks

 

Hey David, it was our bad, we hadn't set SyncFast in the Addressables Settings but

SyncAddressables.Instantiate worked in 'Fast' mode, SyncAddressables.Load didn't

Once we set to SyncFast mode they both work fine in the Editor.

The only thing we had to do for Addressables 1.2.4 is fix up this code in the SyncFastModeBuild.cs

Edits in bold to get it to compile

On device, we're still seeing the 'Exception: Sync LoadAsset failed to load in a sync way!' - still investigating

thanks

protected override string ProcessGroup(AddressableAssetGroup assetGroup, AddressableAssetsBuildContext aaContext)
{

var errorString = string.Empty;

PlayerDataGroupSchema playerSchema = assetGroup.GetSchema<PlayerDataGroupSchema>();
if (playerSchema != null)
{
m_legacy = CreateLocationsForPlayerData(playerSchema, assetGroup, aaContext.locations, null);
return errorString;
}

var allEntries = new List<AddressableAssetEntry>();
foreach (var a in assetGroup.entries)
a.GatherAllAssets(allEntries, true, true, true);

var typeName = typeof(SyncAssetDatabaseProvider).FullName;
foreach (var a in allEntries)
a.CreateCatalogEntries(aaContext.locations, false, typeName, null, null, null);

return errorString;
}

 

Hello! I also get the same message in the example and in my project.
'Exception: Sync LoadAsset failed to load in a sync way!'

Unity version 2018.4.6f1
Addressables version 1.2.4

 

is it still not working correctly on device?

What's the actual setup to get it working on device?

 

Any update on this?

 

+ ?

 

https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/Addressables-Sample/issues/36

 

I am struggling with the same problem as the OP. I am a bit disappointed in the Addressable API design and examples. It doesn't correlate well to existing paradigms in other languages and frameworks in my opinion. Making the learning curve frustrating.

Is this some sort of limitation with C#? This is trivial to do in any Swift or JavaScript framework I've worked with.

It seems to me that from a high level being able to load and then return data should not have such levels of friction. That should be a full stop. This makes it really hard to move from the older, no longer recommended system, to this new system.

Seems like Unity is recommending this new solution too soon.

 

Is there any update on this? We want to use this for our project, but we can't change the whole flow to make it async.

 

It's been there has been a few versions already

 

Hmm, but I have the last version available for 2020.3.x and all the sync versions (LoadAsset, etc) are marked as obsolete.

 

https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.addressables@1.17/manual/SynchronousAddressables.html