[Released] Serializable Dictionary Lite - Now allowing custom editor for key field

Great news, version 2.6.6 is now live!

 

Hi, thanks for all your hard work. I am trying to implement this using <string, List<string>> however I get a null reference when it goes to draw it in the inspector, presumably because the List<string> isn't initialised. How would I go about making this work?

 

You need to wrap your list with a class or structure. See section Advanced Dictionary (page 9) of the documentation.

 

I have this bug and don't know how to fix it. Source is "prefabs", which is
[Serializable]
private class DiceDictionary : SerializableDictionaryBase<int, Dice3D> { }

 

That's an odd bug since it's not pointing to any of my scripts. Can you tell me the steps to reproduce it? If needed you can send me your script(s) via pm or email.

 

Ever since upgrading to Unity 2019, I've been getting this warning message:

I'm running the latest versions of Unity (2019.1.4f.1) and SerializableDictonary (2.6.6). I have also tried completely removing SerializableDictionary and re-installing it.

Any suggestions?

 

You can ignore that warning, it's going to be fixed with the new update, but that's on the editor side.

 

Ok, thanks... I wondered if that was going to be the case.

 

Version 2.6.7 has been submitted to the asset store for review. This version includes:

• Included new preferences setting for 2018.3+.
• Fixed issue with custom drawer in keys.

 

Great news, version 2.6.7 is now live!

 

Excellent. I use this all the time. Can you maybe add a companion SerializableHashSet? I have a simpler one but it'd be great if the same inspector support were available for sets.

 

The new version 3.0 (which will be a paid version) will contain 2 new data structures added, one of them is the HashSet, alongside many huge changes to the way the data is stored and serialized. Keep an eye to this thread since it will be posted here once the version is sent for approval.

Note that, while the new version will be a paid version, the previous 2.x version will NOT be deprecated, but it will not receive any new features.

 

So I wanted to store a dictionary with a component as the key but it doesn't seem to support serializing monobehaviour derived classes? I was using a list of the same class before and it serializes fine.

 

Thanks for the report, this is the first time that anyone has tried to use a component as key so this was an unknown issue.

There is a way to make it work, same as with generic as key you need to add it to a references Scriptable Object. The only different thing is that you will need to setup a default value on the Scriptable Object (a dummy prefab will work fine). Here's an example of what I mean:

Here you can see the reference to a dummy prefab added to the references Scriptable Object (it's an empty game object with the script component)


Then when a new element is added to the dictionary it will use the dummy as the default (null) value


This should allow you to continue using the system without any problems.

 

Ah thanks, that makes sense. I'll give it a shot. Basically I want a gameobject but I want to guarantee it has a certain component and this method usually works well for me. Unity will also only show objects with that component in the dropdown which is pretty nice.

 

i want to use this method on editor

Code (CSharp):

1.  public static bool ChangeKey<TKey, TValue>(this IDictionary<TKey, TValue> dict,
2.                                            TKey oldKey, TKey newKey)
3.     {
4.         TValue value;
5.         if (!dict.TryGetValue(oldKey, out value))
6.             return false;
7.  
8.         dict.Remove(oldKey);  // do not change order
9.         dict[newKey] = value;  // or dict.Add(newKey, value) depending on ur comfort
10.         return true;
11.     }

unity Dictionary can work
but serializable Dictionary don't work

 

When you say on editor you mean while not in play mode? What do you mean with "unity Dictionary can work"?

 

Hi! I have the next problem:

I have an Dictionary:

Code (CSharp):

1.   [System.Serializable]
2.     public class IngridientDataToInt : SerializableDictionaryBase<IngridientData, int> {
3.  
4.     }

And i can't add more then one item to a dictionary.


When I press "+" nothing happens.
I try to create <string,int> dictionary and it works fine. Can I use ScriptableObjects as keys in dictionary?

I have read this branch, but did not find the same situation.

 

Hello,

Could you send me your code via PM so I can test it out?

 

Done.

 

Got it and responded with a solution

 

Hi @Rotary-Heart ,

I imported your package and set up a dictionary like so:

Code (CSharp):

1. [Serializable]
2.     public class BonesDictionary : SerializableDictionaryBase<string, string> {}

I'm not getting any errors or warnings in the console but the dictionary is just not showing up in the inspector.
I'm using Unity 2019.3.0b3.

Any idea what's going on?

 

Hello,

How did you declared your dictionary field?

 

Hello,

I'm attempting to create a finite state machine using a dictionary and thought your tool might be useful to store the states and their related states they can transition to. I'm using Daniel Everland's Scriptable Object Architecture to create the StringVariable scriptable objects. I have one StringVariable object to store the game object's current state. I have a dictionary of StringVariable Objects to a) store key of a possible state of StringVariable object (i.e. Idle) and b) store a value of a list of StringVariable objects (i.e. Walking, Jumping) as the states the original state can transition to.

I'm able to create a Dictionary with a single key, but adding more I get this error:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Couldn't find ScriptableObjectArchitecture.StringVariable reference.
3. UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object)
4. Standard_Assets.Rotary_Heart.SerializableDictionary.SerializableDictionaryBase`2:UnityEngine.ISerializationCallbackReceiver.OnAfterDeserialize() (at Assets/Standard Assets/Rotary Heart/SerializableDictionary/SerializableDictionaryBase.cs:340)
5. UnityEngine.GUIUtility:ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Modules/IMGUI/GUIUtility.cs:179

Following the docs, I edited the RequiredReferences to include objects of StringVariable type. And used the newly modified RequiredReferences asset in my attached script. My code:

Code (csharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using ScriptableObjectArchitecture;
3.  
4. namespace Standard_Assets.Rotary_Heart.SerializableDictionary.References
5. {
6.     public class RequiredReferences : ScriptableObject
7.     {
8.         // ...
9.         // Custom
10.         [SerializeField] private StringVariable _stringVariable;
11.     }
12. }

Reading over the comments again on RequiredReferences I noticed "This should only be used for UnityEngine.Object inherited classes".

Here is the current script attached to the game object:

Code (csharp):

1. using System;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using ScriptableObjectArchitecture;
4. using Rotary_Heart.SerializableDictionary;
5. using UnityEngine;
6.  
7. namespace Enemy
8. {
9.     public class EnemyStates : MonoBehaviour
10.     {
11.         [Serializable]
12.         public class StateList : SerializableDictionaryBase<StringVariable, ToStatesListClass>
13.         {
14.             public SerializableDictionaryBase<StringVariable, ToStatesListClass> stateList;
15.         }
16.  
17.         [Serializable]
18.         public class ToStatesListClass
19.         {
20.             public List<StringVariable> toStates;
21.         }
22.  
23.         [SerializeField] private StateList stateToStatesList;
24.     }
25. }

Is it possible to use custom object types in the dictionary outside of UnityEngine.Object?

 

Oops, just saw this post. Inserting a dummy StringVariable object into the field in RequiredReferences.asset seemed to fix it. Can add keys now. Thank you so much for making this asset!

 

I'm glad to see that you were able to resolve your issue. Enjoy!

 

Hey @Rotary-Heart ,

I just started using your asset today and its been a blast so far. One thing I'm having a devil of a time getting nested serialized dictionaries to save. I referenced a post you made some time ago, and hoped you might provide some insight.

In the code below, I have my

Save

object saving and loading

RealmStateDictionary

successfully. However, each RealmStateDictionary needs to save a dictionary of BuildingData and so far I've not had much luck.

Any advice?

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. namespace Project
3. {
4.  
5.     [System.Serializable]
6.     public class BuildingData
7.     {
8.         public int Level { get; set; }
9.         public BuildingType Type { get; set; }
10.         public ResourceType ResourceType { get; set; }
11.     }
12.  
13.     [Serializable]
14.     public class RealmState
15.     {
16.         public List<int> BuildingCount = new List<int>();
17.  
18.         public Dictionary<Vector2Int, BuildingData> buildingData = new Dictionary<Vector2Int, BuildingData>();
19.     }
20.    
21.     [Serializable]
22.     public class RealmStateDictionary : SerializableDictionaryBase<Vector2Int, RealmState> { }
23.  
24.     [Serializable]
25.     public class BuildingDataDictionary : SerializableDictionaryBase<Vector2Int, BuildingData> { }
26.  
27.     [Serializable]
28.     public class SaveData
29.     {
30.         [Serializable]
31.         public struct PlayerRealms
32.         {
33.             public int Seed;
34.             public int StructureCount;
35.             public Vector3 CameraPosition;
36.             public BiomeType BiomeType;
37.             public Vector2Int WorldPosition;
38.             public List<Data.ResourcePair> Resources;
39.             public List<Vector2Int> destroyedEntities;
40.         }
41.  
42.         public Vector3 RealmsCameraPosition;
43.         public Player PlayerData = new Player();
44.         public List<WorldEntities> Entities = new List<WorldEntities>();
45.  
46.         [SerializeField]
47.         public Dictionary<Vector2Int, RealmState> Realms = new Dictionary<Vector2Int, RealmState>();
48.     }
49.  
50.  
51.     public class Save
52.     {
53.         private static SaveData _save;
54.         private static SaveData save
55.         {
56.             get
57.             {
58.                 if(_save == null)
59.                 {
60.                     _save = Load();
61.                 }
62.                 return _save;
63.             }
64.         }
65.  
66.         [SerializeField]
67.         public static RealmStateDictionary dataHolder;
68.  
69.         private static SaveData Load()
70.         {
71.             BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
72.             applySurrogates(ref bf);
73.             SaveData data = new SaveData();
74.             string filePath = Application.persistentDataPath + "/game.save";
75.  
76.             if (!File.Exists(filePath))
77.             {
78.                 Debug.Log("Save doesn't exist, creating");
79.                 using (FileStream file = File.Create(filePath))
80.                 {
81.                     var tmpSave = new SaveData();
82.                     dataHolder = new RealmStateDictionary();
83.                     dataHolder.CopyTo(data.Realms);
84.                     bf.Serialize(file, data);
85.                     return data;
86.                 }
87.             }
88.             else
89.             {
90.                 using (FileStream file = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Open))
91.                 {
92.                     data = (SaveData) bf.Deserialize(file);
93.                     return data;
94.                 }
95.             }
96.         }
97.     }
98. }
99.  

 

Hello,

Are you getting any errors when trying to save it? Also, by save it, do you mean using the BinaryFormatter to save the data to a file? I don't see any saving logic here, so it's hard to tell what could be happening. Also, your RealmStateDictionary field is static so why do you need the serializable dictionary?

 

Hi Rotary,

I do get an error, which you covered before.

SerializationException: Type 'RotaryHeart.Lib.SerializableDictionary.DrawableDictionary' in Assembly 'Assembly-CSharp, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' is not marked as serializable.

 

That error would only appear if you are serializing/deserializing a serializable dictionary, on the code above I don't see you doing that anywhere. Did you miss any function when you pasted it here?

 

Version 2.6.8 has been submitted to the asset store for review. This version includes:

• Patch fix to allow custom property drawers to show the dictionary without problems.

 

Great news, version 2.6.8 is now live!

 

Huge fan! This has been making my life a lot easier.

I'm running into an issue with a dictionary of classes which derive from an abstract class and for the life of me I can't pinpoint why it won't draw in the inspector. Works wonders on everything else except for this abstract base class.

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

RotaryHeart.Lib.SerializableDictionary.DictionaryPropertyDrawer.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at Assets/Rotary Heart/SerializableDictionary/Editor/DictionaryPropertyDrawer.cs:315)

 

Send me your code so I can see what the issue is.

 

Hello, I'm using your asset and I have a question, this is what I have :

Code (CSharp):

1. [Serializable]
2. public class ChestItems : SerializableDictionaryBase<ItemData, Item> { }
3.  
4. [Serializable]
5. public class Player
6. {
7.    public ChestItems ChestItems = new ChestItems();
8. }

ItemData and Item are [Serializable] too.

I need to serialize to Json the Player class with :

Code (CSharp):

1. string jsonData = JsonUtility.ToJson(Player.Instance, true);

This is working well, in jsonData I have all my datas and the dictionary ChestItems but I have a lots of unecessary datas, if I check the jsonData string I have :

Code (JavaScript):

1. "ChestItems":{
2.       "reorderableList":{  },
3.       "reqReferences":{  },
4.       "isExpanded":false,
5.       "_keyValues":[  ],
6.       "_keys":[  ],
7.       "_values":[  ]
8.    },

In this case I only need the _keyValues array like :

Code (JavaScript):

1. "ChestItems":{
2.       "_keyValues":[  ],
3.    },

or without _keyValues like directly :

Code (JavaScript):

1. "ChestItems":{
2.       [  ]
3.    },

How can I do that ? Thanks !

 

Unfortunately that can't be done with current version and JsonUtility, if you use any other Json system that allows you to mark fields to ignore you will be able to do it.

The pro version, which is under development and to be published soon, has been completely re written to allow this to be used without extra data on the json string.

 

Code (CSharp):

1. [Serializable]
2. public abstract class Vital
3. {
4.     protected Entity entity;
5.     protected AttributeDict attributes;
6.     protected SkillDict skills;
7.  
8.  
9.     public Vital()
10.     {
11.         entity = Player.localPlayer;
12.         attributes = entity.attributes;
13.         skills = entity.skills;
14.     }
15.  
16.     public abstract float max { get; }
17.     public abstract float level { get; set; }
18.     public abstract float threshold { get; }
19.     public abstract float recoveryRate { get; }
20.     [TextArea(10,20)] public string tooltip;
21. }
22. abstract and a derived class, nothing special
23. [Serializable]
24. public class Stamina : Vital
25. {
26.     public override float max { get;  }
27.     public override float level { get; set; }
28.     public override float threshold { get { return max * -1; } }
29.     public override float recoveryRate { get; }
30. }

Code (CSharp):

1. [Serializable]
2. public class VitalsDict : SerializableDictionaryBase<string, Vital>
3. {
4.     public VitalsDict()
5.     {
6.         int i = 0;
7.         foreach (string name in Enum.GetNames(typeof(VitalName)))
8.         {
9.             //Add(name.Replace("_", " "), new Vital());
10.             i++;
11.         }
12.     }
13. }

Dictionary class here

Code (CSharp):

1. public class Player : Entity
2. {
3.     public static Player localPlayer = new Player();
4.  
5.     public void Awake()
6.     {
7.         localPlayer = this;
8.  
9.         foreach (Attributes att in attributes.Values)
10.             att.level = 50;
11.  
12.         vitals.Add("Stamina", stamina);
13.     }
14. }

Player class where Stamina is added to VitalsDict

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

RotaryHeart.Lib.SerializableDictionary.DictionaryPropertyDrawer.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at Assets/Rotary Heart/SerializableDictionary/Editor/DictionaryPropertyDrawer.cs:315)

UnityEditor.PropertyDrawer.OnGUISafe (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/ScriptAttributeGUI/PropertyDrawer.cs:23)

UnityEditor.PropertyHandler.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label, System.Boolean includeChildren, UnityEngine.Rect visibleArea) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/ScriptAttributeGUI/PropertyHandler.cs:139)

UnityEditor.GenericInspector.OnOptimizedInspectorGUI (UnityEngine.Rect contentRect) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/GenericInspector.cs:100)

UnityEditor.UIElements.InspectorElement+<CreateIMGUIInspectorFromEditor>c__AnonStorey1.<>m__0 () (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorElement.cs:495)

UnityEngine.GUIUtility:ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/unity/build/Modules/IMGUI/GUIUtility.cs:179)

Dictionary won't draw in inspector at runtime. Tried to track it down but it was a bit above my pay grade. If I remove abstract from the base class it displays normally.

Thanks for all your hard work, this dictionary really has made my life much easier

cheers

 

That's because unity doesn't serialize abstract classes, if you try to serialize any abstract class it won't be shown on your inspector. So the issue you are seeing is the dictionary trying to find a serializable type (Vita) that Unity won't serialize, so it doesn't find anything. That's an Unity serialization limitation. Try adding

public Vital stam;

to any script and you'll see that it doesn't show on the inspector.

 

I'll have to sort out a way to avoid having the base class abstract. Good to know, thanks for getting back!

 

Hello, quick question, because I couldn't find any similar problem in previous posts.

I have a dictionary which uses an enum as a key, and it works great. Now, if I have that serialized dictionary with an enum selected in the editor and delete that enum in the code, the editor bugs out and it doesn't let me click on any item of this dictionary. Also, the "-" icon disappears. All other serialized dictionaries work fine.

I can get around the problem by creating a dummy enum, which then auto replaces the missing enum in the editor, and then I can delete it. But it's a bit of a hassle
Anything I'm doing wrong? Is it a known bug?

 

Quick followup on this issue. While the abstract class may still have played a role, I think the error was due to varying amounts and types of fields between different derived classes I had stored in my dictionary. It appears it won't play nice if the dictionary contains KVP's if the different classes(values) contain different fields to be serialized.

The solution was to declare all the members I need for the derived classes in the parent class. Some of the derived classes wind up with an unused property or two, but the functionality works and the dictionary serializes happily.

 

Is it throwing any error? This is the first time someone reports this bug.

 

Nope, didn't get any errors, but I haven't tested it more. I guess it's easily reproducible if you want to check for yourself.
It doesn't bother anyway, I mentioned it just in case there was something I was doing incorrectly. Thanks for the answer anyway

 

Great news everyone!

New version Pro is almost complete and ready to be published, it has been completely rewritten to allow many new features. A full feature list will be available once it's ready to be published, but one of the key features is the new serialization/deserialization method used that gives better data handling, thus making it better. Here's a quick comparison for a serialized Json using the same dictionary in both versions.

Spoiler: Lite version

Code (CSharp):

1. {
2.     "reorderableList": {
3.         "canAdd": true,
4.         "canRemove": true,
5.         "draggable": true,
6.         "expandable": true,
7.         "multipleSelection": true,
8.         "isExpanded": true,
9.         "label": {
10.             "m_Text": "Keys",
11.             "m_Image": {
12.                 "instanceID": 0
13.             },
14.             "m_Tooltip": ""
15.         },
16.         "headerHeight": 18.0,
17.         "footerHeight": 13.0,
18.         "slideEasing": 0.15000000596046449,
19.         "verticalSpacing": 2.0,
20.         "showDefaultBackground": true,
21.         "elementDisplayType": 0,
22.         "elementNameProperty": "",
23.         "elementNameOverride": "",
24.         "elementIcon": {
25.             "instanceID": 0
26.         }
27.     },
28.     "reqReferences": {
29.         "instanceID": 0
30.     },
31.     "isExpanded": true,
32.     "_keyValues": [
33.         "Key1",
34.         "Key2",
35.         "Key3",
36.         "Key4"
37.     ],
38.     "_keys": [
39.         "Key1",
40.         "Key2",
41.         "Key3",
42.         "Key4"
43.     ],
44.     "_values": [
45.         1,
46.         2,
47.         3,
48.         4
49.     ]
50. }
51.  

Spoiler: Pro version

Code (CSharp):

1. {
2.     "m_val": 7,
3.     "reqReferences": {
4.         "instanceID": 0
5.     },
6.     "m_keys": [
7.         "Key1",
8.         "Key2",
9.         "Key3",
10.         "Key4"
11.     ],
12.     "m_values": [
13.         1,
14.         2,
15.         3,
16.         4
17.     ]
18. }

 

I got a error when I call Remove function without GameObject selecting in Hierarchy.
It seems like if Serializable Dictionary dont show dict table in Inspector at least once, _keys and _values won't hold a intact list of dict keys and values.


Error message:

ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection.
Parameter name: index
System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException (System.ExceptionArgument argument, System.ExceptionResource resource) (at <437ba245d8404784b9fbab9b439ac908>:0)
System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException () (at <437ba245d8404784b9fbab9b439ac908>:0)
System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T].RemoveAt (System.Int32 index) (at <437ba245d8404784b9fbab9b439ac908>:0)
RotaryHeart.Lib.SerializableDictionary.SerializableDictionaryBase`2[TKey,TValue].Remove (TKey key) (at Assets/Rotary Heart/SerializableDictionary/SerializableDictionaryBase.cs:225)

 

How did you add your elements? When and where are you calling the remove? Could you send a repro project/package?

 

I added some elements in Inspector before game running, other elements added by code at runtime, remove is called by code at runtime too.

 

Can you send a repro project/package? I haven't seen this issue before and I cannot reproduce it.

 

I had send a conversation to you

 

I've sent you a possible fix