Question Loading Localized Anything Fails the First Time

Using 0.7 of the Unity Localization Preview

I should not that I have preloading turned on for all of my tables - though it doesn't seem to make a difference.

During my initial loading screen, I've added

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.         var test = LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetInitializationOperation();
3.         while(!test.IsDone)
4.         {
5.             yield return null;
6.         }
7.  

I wanted to make sure that the preload would be finished before continuing on.

Then later, when loading a specific UI panel, it accesses a localized string thusly

Code (CSharp):

1. nameText.text = currentSelected.info.LocalizedName();

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. [SerializeField]
3. private LocalizedString localizedname;
4. public string LocalizedName()
5.     {
6.         var resolvedName = localizedName.GetLocalizedString();
7.         if(resolvedName .IsDone)
8.         {
9.             // This line will NEVER be hit the first time a particular name is accessed
10.             return resolvedName .Result;
11.         }
12.         Debug.Log($"Unable to localize card name for ID {cardNumber}");
13.         //Return the result anyway because no matter what I return here, this is what's going to be displayed
14.         return resolvedName .Result;
15.     }
16.  

So for the purposes of an easy example, let's say I have a text field, and when you click on it, it cycles through a list of objects that have localized names. When the scene loads, Object1's name loads in, and it's an empty string because "IsDone" is false, so nothing is displayed. Then you click, Object2's name loads in, and it's an empty string because IsDone is false. Etc, etc, etc, etc until it cycles back around the Object1, and now the .IsDone is finished and the correct name displays.

This happens for all of my string tables, and all of my asset tables. Which is particularly frustrating because I'm supposed to be playing localized dialogue on top of localized text, but the LocalizedAudioClip will never play the first time it's accessed.

I understand why this is happening - GetLocalizedString is an async function, and my code is immediately moving onto the IsDone line before the async function has time to finish running. I just thought that preloading the tables was supposed to solve this problem.

Is there a way of doing this that will solve this problem? This is the first time I've bothered with localizing anything.

 

Any chance this affects preloaded assets also?

When can we expect the next version?

 

Amazing, glad to hear it! I sincerely hope this is the issue I'm having... Now I just need to figure out how to work around it until then so my team can move forward for the next month.

Thanks for your help!

 

At the moment we have 6 string tables and 1 asset table of audio clips. The workaround I've been using so far is to hide localized strings off-screen during loading screens that pre-load the strings I want a second time.

 

Aaahhh, got it! Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate it! I'm relying heavily on ScriptableObjects whose LocalizedStrings are set in the editor, so now I understand where the problem is coming from. I can devise a good way that we can still rely on the editor but also work around this issue for now. Thanks again!

 

So I saw you pushed an update to Localization a few days after I opened this, and I saw in the changelog that the fix for the inspector stuff was included.

So inspector stuff is working now - but nothing I'm using programmatically is working, and I've found the reason why.

In the localization tutorials here, the way it's suggested to load in a localized string is as such:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using UnityEngine.Localization;
3.  
4. public class LocalizedStringExample : MonoBehaviour
5. {
6.     public LocalizedString myString;
7.  
8.     void OnGUI()
9.     {
10.         var localizedText = myString.GetLocalizedString();
11.         if (localizedText.IsDone)
12.         {
13.             GUILayout.Label(localizedText.Result);
14.         }
15.     }
16. }

This is.... wrong. By definition this will never work the first time you access a localized asset.

OnGUI

is a synchronous function and

GetLocalizedString()

appears to be asynchronous. So

OnGUI

is firing off the call to

GetLocalizedString()

and doesn't bother to await the asynchronous function to be finished. So for me, what's happening is that

IsDone

is always false the first time a localized string is accessed, Unity pitches a fit, and then the second time I access the localized string, it works fine because IsDone is now set to true from the last time I called

GetLocalizedString()

.

Now the concerning thing is that, as mentioned, I'm preloading all of my tables, so I would expect this not to happen. I would expect every string in my table to be loadable on demand in the way the code implies it is.

I'm not really doing anything special with these tables, the localized strings, or with my project. It's a relatively small project, so I don't really know why this wouldn't work for me if it does work for you, for example.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the quick reply, looking forward to it!

 

Yesterday's update fixed my issue! Just wanted to come back and thank you for your hard work and communication!

 

I don't suppose this bug might also exist with LocalizedAudioClips?

Accessing it in much the same way:

Code (CSharp):

1. public AudioClip LocalizedAudioClip()
2.     {
3.         if(loadedLocalizedAudioClip != null)
4.         {
5.             return loadedLocalizedAudioClip;
6.         }
7.         if(!localizedAudioClip.IsEmpty)
8.         {
9.             var result = localizedAudioClip.LoadAssetAsync();
10.             if (result.IsDone)
11.             {
12.                 loadedLocalizedAudioClip = result.Result;
13.             }
14.         }
15.         return loadedLocalizedAudioClip;
16.     }

The first time the code passes over this, much like with the strings last time, the asset can't be accessed so it's just returning null. The second time it passes over it, it works as it should every time.

 

Yes, I meant to include that in my previous post - all of my tables are marked as preload (because they're small enough at this point that I don't mind doing it). Does this change your answer at all?

 

I added a Debug.Log, see here at line 3

Code (CSharp):

1. if(!localizedAudioClip.IsEmpty)
2.     {
3.         Debug.Log(LocalizationSettings.InitializationOperation.IsDone);
4.         var result = localizedAudioClip.LoadAssetAsync();
5.         if (result.IsDone)
6.         {
7.             loadedLocalizedAudioClip = result.Result;
8.         }
9. }

On the first run through this code, that outputs true.

I suspected that this would be the case because I have a load screen before the main title screen that waits for

GetInitializationOperation()

to be finished before it allows the user to progress.

 

Bug submitted, thanks for your input!