Types that need to show up in the inspector

int? myInt = null; This variable and its value should show up in the inspector.

So should this
public int myInt { get; set; }

Lets get this implemented also Unity staff. Would be nice if Unity used C# 6.0
public int myInt { get; set; } = 5;

 

Agreed, that would be nice.
With some fidgeting you can get them to show up via custom inspectors/editors, but getting them serialized is harder.

 

Feedback goes here.

 

According to Unity's rules, only types that are serializable by its serialization system are shown in the inspector (by default).

This is just syntactic sugar for a Nullable<int> type - a value type that holds a value and a flag to denote whether it's actually holding a value or not.

This is not a "variable" as you call it, but a property. After compilation, this get converted into a method, this is not a field access (again, this is syntactic sugar for making it more "natural" to access fields + being able to add custom logic to accessing them, controlling their protection level, etc).

None of these options are derived from UnityEngine.Object or is marked with [Serializable] so there's no reason why they should appear in the inspector for now.

I do agree though, that there are probably some missing stuff that would've been nice if they did show up in the inspector.

 

public int? myInt = null;

^ This is a field, it is public, it is not static, it is not a property. According to Unity's rules this should be serializable and show up in the inspector.

public int myInt { get; set; }

^ This may compile to a to a method but it still has a field. Even though the field cannot be accessed directly there is no reason Unity cannot get that field and display it.

There are some times I absolutely need to be able to watch the value of a variable while debugging. So I find myself doing this.

public float myInt {get; set;}
public float myIntForDispaly;

Then in Update() ill add

myInt = transform.position.x;
myIntForDispaly = myInt;

Not that I would do this to view transform.position.x just an example

This is silly to have to do there is no reason Unity cannot handle this in the background so fields generated by auto properties can be viewed in the inspector.

Unity may only display fields that are serialized however it would be nice if it could display private fields, nullable types, static fields, and fields generated by auto properties.

 

I find myself using the inspector to watch values for debugging not just changing values during runtime. Perhaps I am just using the inspector incorrectly.

 

Where did you see those rules? they only serialize primitive types, or anything that's derived from UnityEngine.Object.
If you define your own class and put it as a public field it also won't get listed.. (you have to mark it explicitly as serializable).

I am just describing things as they are RIGHT NOW... that's not to say that i don't think they should improve it. I'm totally with you with supporting properties and other types (e.g: Dictionaries)

 

Yes dictionaries too, that would be amazing!

 

http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/editor-PropertyDrawers.html

I often want watch a property or result without dumping to the console. Drawers are great for that. (And other things as well)

 

You can create an inspector of your own to display properties... shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Yea, you can do that too. the nice thing about property drawers is that you don't need to do a full inspector for each class. They will automatically display the property every where it is declared.

 

Ah, yes, property drawers let's get that fixed too. I had to quit using these as they have a tendency to not always show. Especially after resizing the inspector window.

 

I'm glad you brought up property drawers I think I'll give that another go. It was a few unity versions ago that I was having display issues.