newbie question - allocating viewId...

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question... in the example about allocating network view ID's:
http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/ScriptReference/Network.AllocateViewID.html

Code (csharp):

1. function OnGUI ()
2. {
3.   if (GUILayout.Button("SpawnBox"))
4.   {
5.     var viewID = Network.AllocateViewID();
6.     networkView.RPC("SpawnBox",
7.     RPCMode.AllBuffered,
8.     viewID,
9.     transform.position);
10.   }
11. }
12.  
13. @RPC
14. function SpawnBox (viewID : NetworkViewID, location : Vector3) {
15.   // Instantate the prefab locally
16.   var clone : Transform;
17.   clone = Instantiate(cubePrefab, location, Quaternion.identity);
18.   var nView : NetworkView;
19.   nView = clone.GetComponent(NetworkView);
20.   nView.viewID = viewID;
21. }

Why is the viewId generated first and passed through the RPC, as opposed to being generated in the SpawnBox function?

I think this is a really fundamental concept about viewId's that I'm not quite getting, so a short answer would be really helpful for me.

Cheers!
spookynote

 

Okay, after investigating further I think I understand now...

It has to do with ownership. Whoever allocates the viewId has ownership over any network view that is assigned to that Id. Is that correct? And are there any other important distinctions I should know about?

Thanks!