Localization tooling - getting locale in editor

Hello,
Currently I am trying to create some tool on top of the localization package.
For that, I am writing my own localization manager, but I am struggling to have a selected locale within the LocalizationSettings instance in editor mode, wich I need for editing and creating localized tables.

None of the following callbacks seems to be triggered :/
Is there a way to force the LocalProvider to preload in editor mode ?

Code (CSharp):

1. LocalizationSettings.Instance.OnSelectedLocaleChanged += OnLocalizationLocaleChange;
2. LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetInitializationOperation().Completed += OnLocalizationSettingsInit;
3. LocalizationSettings.InitializationOperation.Completed += OnLocalizationSettingsInit;
4.  
5. LocalesProvider provider = (LocalesProvider)LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetAvailableLocales();
6. provider.PreloadOperation.Completed += OnLocalesProviderPreload;

Event that don't seems to trigger the LocalizationSettings.Instance.OnSelectedLocaleChanged callback

Code (CSharp):

1. LocalizationSettings.Instance.SetSelectedLocale(LocalizationSettings.AvailableLocales.GetLocale(SystemLanguage.French));

 

Thanks karl_jones, I will take a look on that.

I assume the package workflow is supposed to be like:
1. create the collections and tables using the editor interface
2. add the localize components and bind them to the collections
3. at runtime, the locale will load at start, wich will update all the localize components, wich will update theirs respective targets (UI.Text, TextMeshPro, Image, ...)

I actually feel a bit wrong, localization is not something we do while setting up the scenes, but afterwards. Our artists will setup the UI and fill the text and images for their own language and are not supposed to care about localization at that point.
My objectives about my tool is :

1. a localization element I can add later, that element may not be a component since I would not only need it in GameObject, but also within ScriptableObject or EditorWindow (Actually I am embedding in a propertyDrawer).
2. I want the database to be generated from what the artists made
3. be able to visualize any screen for any locale in editor mode and not only at runtime. It means a shortcut to change the application locale and updating the UI elements when a new locale is setted (but as I said, the API is mainly about runtime)
4. the localization element have to works both in editor and runtime
5. possibility to export/import all strings as/from csv
6. a not-too-ugly editor layout (I am using Odin)

By the way, I now have regularly GameObjects "EventCollector" and "ResourceManagerCallbacks" spawning in my scene hierachy (attached file). It seems to be related to the adressables, and since the Localization package is the only one using it, can I assume it come from the Localization package (or some issue between the package and Odin) ?

 

Actually the project I am working for is a template to create projects faster. Projects are touristic mobile applications with some gamification elements (like geolocated points on a map, points are mini games with an inventory shared to those points).
I am currently working on the localization and inventory tools (which rely on the localization).

I do have a very basic InventoryItem ScriptableObject class wich holds 2 strings (name and description) and an image. I did achieve to localize it but by referencing 2 LocalizedString and one LocalizedSprite. But those implementations do not allow a designer to edit them directly, he would have to open the Localization Table Editor Windows and I want to avoid that (as said in my previous post, he should not care about localization at that point).
That said, I will probably wreate an EditorWindow to handle my Inventory, but I still think designer will always be tempted to edit the ScriptableObject asset directly.

As reference, here is where I am (attached file)
"Application Current Locale" is the shorcut to change the application Locale, with the idea changing that will update the whole application as reaction.
"Update when locale change" is a way to disable the locale update on for the element listed below.
The "Update Database" button will override the strings for the binds listed below for their corrsponding TextMeshPro element.
The "Read from Database" button will override the textmesh pro texts with the values from the database.
"TextMeshPro Fields" is a list of TextMeshProUGUI references associated with a Bind.
The Bind is actually similar to the Localization package LocalizeString, it is populated with the current tables and key in the Localization database. You can edit the path (format is tablename/key), if it does not exists in the database, the "+" button will allows to add it directly.
I plan to add more type list (direct string, images, etc..) and an event on the class invoked when all elements references are updated(*)

(*) In the current package implementation, the update is per-element based, but imo its actually rarely the case in real world scenario, you want to update the UI or objects only when every backing fields are ready and have a single method to update everythings. This is the idea I followed here.

 

I realized I am heavily relying on the

AssetTableCollection

definition without noticing it, which is actually part of the

UnityEditor.Localization

namespace , meaning I can't do that way at runtime.

For the runtime, are the

GetLocalizedStringAsync

from the

LocalizedStringDatabase

and

LocalizedString

GetLocalizedString()

method the only ways to fetch localized string ?

Since it can only be used with

TableReference

and

TableEntryReference

or

LocalizedString

definitions so it is very limitating/locked for custom code.

Could you simply provide overloads using simple strings for the table and the key for runtime context ?

 

Instead of having to use

Code (CSharp):

1. LocalizedString myLocalizedString;
2. LocalizedStringDatabase stringDatabase = LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetStringDatabase();
3.  
4. TableReference table = myLocalizedString.TableReference;
5. TableEntryReference entry = myLocalizedString.TableEntryReference;
6.  
7. stringDatabase.GetLocalizedStringAsync(table, entry).Completed += (AsyncOperationHandle<string> op) =>
8. {
9.   string localizedStringResult = op.Result;
10. };

... being able to query with string like

Code (CSharp):

1. LocalizedStringDatabase stringDatabase = LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetStringDatabase();
2.  
3. string table = "myTable";
4. string entry = "myKey";
5.  
6. stringDatabase.GetLocalizedStringAsync(table, entry).Completed += (AsyncOperationHandle<string> op) =>
7. {
8.   string localizedStringResult = op.Result;
9. };

 

Actually... no.
I saw theirs interface definition but assumed it had to be fully initialized to be used. The idea of creating an instance and just fill them like that didn't even crossed my mind to be honest (and if it did, I probably wouldn't even try assuming it would not be sufficient). I will try that. Thanks!

By the way, did you finished reading my yesterday post ?

 

Still messing a bit around the API.

I have a LocalizedString set up in the editor and referencing an entry in an actual localized table, but those lines

Code (CSharp):

1. string tableName = _stringReference.TableReference.TableName;
2. string key = _stringReference.TableEntryReference.Key;

actually holds "GUID:bed3f1bfcb3f9fe459a58df7c1ff935e" and an empty string as values. The keyid and Gui holds the expected values.
Is it the expected behavior ?

 

The point was more I was expecting TableName to be "TestStringTable" and Key to be "Country" as the LocalizedString appears as "TestStringTable/Country" in the inspector. The field do access these info since they are displayed in the editor when expanding the LocalizedString property ("Table Collection" and "Entry Name"). Are

TableEntryReference.Key;

and the entry name supposed to be 2 differents things ?

I understand the GUID and the entry keyid are more reliable, but the natural language string values could be accessible for convenience (and debug!) and filled once the bind is done.

 

ow I am supposed to read/write the database in editor mode without tableName and entryKey as strings ?
I didn't find relevant methods in

LocalizationEditorSettings

and I tried

Code (CSharp):

1. public static void GetLocalizedText(TableReference table_reference, TableEntryReference entry_reference, Action<string> callback)
2. {
3. LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetStringDatabase().GetLocalizedStringAsync(table_reference, entry_reference, ActiveLocale).Completed +=
4.   (AsyncOperationHandle<string> op) =>
5.   {
6.     callback.Invoke(op.Result);
7.   };
8. }
9.  
10. public static void SetLocalizedText(TableReference table_reference, TableEntryReference entry_reference, string text)
11. {
12.   LocalizationSettings.Instance.GetStringDatabase().GetTableEntryAsync(table_reference, entry_reference, ActiveLocale).Completed +=
13.   (AsyncOperationHandle < LocalizedDatabase<StringTable, StringTableEntry>.TableEntryResult > op) =>
14.   {
15.     op.Result.Entry.Value = text;
16.   };
17. }
18.  

But the Completed delegate are never invoked.

The issue disapeared at some point and came back now. They were popping after Unity recompile and I opened my localization property in the inspector. Now this is when I click on a button.
I modified theirs scripts to make them run in editor with

[ExecuteInEditMode]

to get a call stack log:

EventCollector:

Code (CSharp):

1.  

ResourceManagerCallbacks

Code (CSharp):

1. InvalidOperationException: The following game object is invoking the DontDestroyOnLoad method: ResourceManagerCallbacks. Notice that DontDestroyOnLoad can only be used in play mode and, as such, cannot be part of an editor script.
2. MonoBehaviourCallbackHooks.Awake () (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.addressables@1.5.1/Runtime/ResourceManager/Util/MonoBehaviourCallbackHooks.cs:13)
3. UnityEngine.ResourceManagement.AsyncOperations.AsyncOperationBase`1:<.ctor>b__27_0(AsyncOperationHandle)
4. DelegateList`1:Invoke(AsyncOperationHandle) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.addressables@1.5.1/Runtime/ResourceManager/Util/DelegateList.cs:69)
5. UnityEngine.AddressableAssets.ResourceProviders.InternalOp:OnCatalogLoaded(AsyncOperationHandle`1)
6. DelegateList`1:Invoke(AsyncOperationHandle`1) (at Library/PackageCache/com.unity.addressables@1.5.1/Runtime/ResourceManager/Util/DelegateList.cs:69)
7. UnityEngine.AsyncOperation:InvokeCompletionEvent()

 

Sounds like you skipped the first line of my previous post
This was more or less what I was doing (but without linq nor Undo handling) but the point was I don't have the TableName and the KeyName as strings, only the guid and the entryid. Wich is frustrating since they appears in the inspector, so they are resolved somehow at somepoint.
I can't find a guid value in LocalizedTable or a way to get a LocalizedTable from an AssetTableCollection using a guid.
I am not familiar with the addressable API, but I guess I should not retrieve the LocalizedTable from it directly anyway.

Not sure there is any guard to prevent loading that way (or warnings/errors should be raised), AsyncOperation probably relies on Coroutines, which relies themselves on MonoBehavior update loops, since they are not called in Editor, they can't reach their completion point.

 

Thanks again karl_jones, I feel like I am close to achieve my goal (at least for the TextMeshPro references, I will continue with images and raw strings)

At some point, I will try to isolate the localization code into a different repository, at least to submit the addressable bug (ResourceManagerCallbacks and EventCollector gameobjects) and to export the solution to a production repository (the one I am working on is a prototype/proff of concept one with messy stuff other than localization), would you be able to fetch it from the bug submission ?


Also, I just noticed that

LocalizationEditorSettings.ActiveLocalizationSettings.SetSelectedLocale(value);

don't seems to raise the

LocalizationEditorSettings.ActiveLocalizationSettings.OnSelectedLocaleChanged

event in editor mode.

 

I am more or less satisfied about strings, now I am trying the same with Texture for RawImages.

And I am stuck :/
The only way I can find are asyncronous and don't run in editor mode.
Can you give me any clue how how I can achieve that ?

I am to that point :

• For getting a texture from the database, I can get the right LocalizedTable (then cast it as AssetTable)
  
  Code (CSharp):

  1.  AssetTable.GetAssetAsync<Texture>(key_id).Completed += (AsyncOperationHandle<Texture> op) =>
  2. {
  3.   Texture result = op.Result;
  4. };
• For setting a texture to the database, I do have the right LocalizedTable/AssetTable as well, and the corresponding AssetTableEntry. Then I don't know how I can use it, by using the guid to override the existing texture maybe, but how ?

 

Thanks! Pretty sure I wouldn't figure this out.
Actually I have my own manager to handle higher level calls that use one method or another according the context (runtime or editor). Public methods are

Code (CSharp):

1. public static string GetLocalizedText(Guid table_guid, uint key_id, Locale locale = null)
2.  
3. public static void SetLocalizedText(Guid table_guid, uint key_id, string text, Locale locale = null)
4.  
5. public static void SetLocalizedTexture(Guid table_guid, uint key_id, Texture texture, Locale locale = null)
6.  
7. public static Texture GetLocalizedTexture(Guid table_guid, uint key_id, Locale locale = null)

Maybe it could be less confusing to have something similar in the localization package api.

It works so far for TextMeshPro texts and RawImage textures, but after some cleaning and refactoring, I want to add some security checks.

Can I check if the asset is the same as the one in the table ? (to not replace an asset by himself)
Can I know somehow if the asset is actually referenced somewhere else ? (to not remove the entry if its the case, especially if I can't update the content but have to delete and create)

 

For the first, I was not talking about being used by multiple locale. Actually I am managing list of element (so far a list of TextMesh, and a list of RawImage) and have editor buttons to save/load. When saving, I am iterating over all listed RawImage and set their texture for the current locale, but ending setting a texture the same as already in the table (since it didn't actually changed). I was wondering if I could prevent that.

For the second, a single texture can be used by multiple UI component in multiple scene. Since I update all texture when pressing my button, I need to prevent deletion of a texture used in another UI element, since it could be in another scene, I can't scan all references to see if any guid match. I think I saw the addressable are loaded when needed and they keep a reference count to prevent unloading the asset when released but still in use somewhere else (the counter is just decreased). I am actualling looking for something similar in the Localization, a way to now from the database how many references is using that specific entry.

Also I submitted the project for the GameObjects spawn bug (Case 1230916) if you want test my wip localization tool

 

Editor mode, changing the localization table in runtime would be as tricky as hacky

This is why I am hoping having something like that in the package instead of a custom solution
I was more thinking about adding a readable link based on guid in the serialization so the count could be done by reading the scenes serialization using regex (at startup and/or based on some actions for example). Something like that. I might actually possible right now since the package Localized fields uses guid, but didn't look in the scene serialization yet.

To explain the questions with an example:

• I do have an asset table with on key : flag and 2 locale : french and english. The assets are texture of their respective flag.
• I am keeping a list of RawImageReference, wich consist of a RawImage reference, and and LocalizedSprite.

The first question was

• At start, and when the Locale change, the LocalizedSprite will load the sprite referenced by its table/key reference, and update its associated RawImage texture.
• When I press a Save button, I iterate over that list and ask the LocalizedSprite to save the current texture in use by the associated RawImage.
• The things is, if I never change the LocalizedSprite table reference since it loaded, I will override the texture in the Localization table with the exact same thing (since this is where it came from at first).
• Is there a way to detect they are the same texture ?

The second question was

• If I change the french flag with another, lets say the US flag.
• I press Save again
• Maybe I do have other UI element that use the french flag and for those cases I don't want them to show the US flag.
• To avoid breaking something else, I want to detect that and prevent it, then send a message to the user
• Is there a way to know how many element are using my french flag (and maybe which ones) ?

Thanks again for your numerous replies!