Local variable of type ObjectReference is set to "Empty" when reloading scene

So, we have a local variable with an object reference like so:



I save the scene, and reopen it; the view changes to this:



I get a few of these will changing the variable name and the object reference, not sure if this is related:

Code (csharp):

1. Could not reach source property name 'm_StringReference.m_LocalVariables.Array.data[0]' while extracting diffs, the reference does not exist in the source serialized data

At runtime, I get error message upon displaying that string, although the string is in fact correctly resolved and displayed...

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. FormattingException: Error parsing format string: Object reference not set to an instance of an object at 23
3. Drücke den {button.Name} für Massenvernichtung nach Aufladung
4. -----------------------^
5. UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.SmartFormatter.FormatError (UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Parsing.FormatItem errorItem, System.Exception innerException, System.Int32 startIndex, UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Formatting.FormattingInfo formattingInfo) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Smart Format/SmartFormatter.cs:347)
6. UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.SmartFormatter.Format (UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Formatting.FormattingInfo formattingInfo) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Smart Format/SmartFormatter.cs:319)
7. UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.SmartFormatter.Format (UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Formatting.FormatDetails formatDetails, UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Parsing.Format format, System.Object current) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Smart Format/SmartFormatter.cs:286)
8. UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.SmartFormatter.FormatWithCache (UnityEngine.Localization.SmartFormat.Core.Formatting.FormatCache& cache, System.String format, System.IFormatProvider formatProvider, System.Collections.Generic.IList`1[T] args) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Smart Format/SmartFormatter.cs:257)
9. UnityEngine.Localization.Tables.StringTableEntry.GetLocalizedString (System.IFormatProvider formatProvider, System.Collections.Generic.IList`1[T] args, UnityEngine.Localization.Pseudo.PseudoLocale pseudoLocale) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Tables/StringTable.cs:176)
10. UnityEngine.Localization.Settings.LocalizedStringDatabase.GenerateLocalizedString (UnityEngine.Localization.Tables.StringTable table, UnityEngine.Localization.Tables.StringTableEntry entry, UnityEngine.Localization.Tables.TableReference tableReference, UnityEngine.Localization.Tables.TableEntryReference tableEntryReference, UnityEngine.Localization.Locale locale, System.Collections.Generic.IList`1[T] arguments) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Settings/Database/LocalizedStringDatabase.cs:244)
11. UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString.RefreshString () (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Localized Reference/LocalizedString.cs:206)
12. UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString.AutomaticLoadingCompleted (UnityEngine.ResourceManagement.AsyncOperations.AsyncOperationHandle`1[TObject] loadOperation) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Localized Reference/LocalizedString.cs:700)
13. UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString.HandleLocaleChange (UnityEngine.Localization.Locale _) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Localized Reference/LocalizedString.cs:690)
14. UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString.ForceUpdate () (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Localized Reference/LocalizedString.cs:593)
15. UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString.add_StringChanged (UnityEngine.Localization.LocalizedString+ChangeHandler value) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Localized Reference/LocalizedString.cs:109)
16. UnityEngine.Localization.Components.LocalizeStringEvent.RegisterChangeHandler () (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Component Localizers/LocalizeStringEvent.cs:130)
17. UnityEngine.Localization.Components.LocalizeStringEvent.OnEnable () (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.localization@1.0.2/Runtime/Component Localizers/LocalizeStringEvent.cs:81)
18. UnityEngine.GameObject:SetActive(Boolean)

This is on Unity 2019.4.21f1 and Localization 1.0.2.

 

It sounds like this https://forum.unity.com/threads/smart-strings-local-variable-references-get-lost-on-runtime.1209598/ but I think its a different issue, since in my case the entire association is lost, and in fact at design time and not at runtime. And I did not want to hijack that thread.

Bug persists in Localization 1.0.5.

I managed to reproduce this in a demo project: Case 1388872.

Thank you for looking into this.