[UnityEvent] Static function call. Feature request.

Unity 4.6.0b19.
This code works great.

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. ...
3.     [System.Serializable]
4.     public class ClickEvent : UnityEvent<bool> {}
5.     public ClickEvent OnClick = new ClickEvent();
6.  
7.     void Start()
8.     {
9.         image.color = normal;
10.         image.sprite = Checked?on:off;
11.         OnClick.AddListener(GameManager.Test);
12.         OnClick.Invoke(Checked);
13.     }
14. ...
15.  

But why I can't add this listener via editor? Tried static class with static method, singleton with static method.

Upd.
GameManager is not property, it is a class with static method Test.

 

Has this been addresses in the meantime? Or is there some other nice way to assign static functions via the inspector?

 

No it hasn't been addressed and still no nice way to assign static functions

 

Any update to this?

 

Just piling on in 2018 that this would be a nice feature! Doesn't seem to be in place as far as I can tell (2017.3)

Thanks!

 

We'd like to throw our hat into this ring as well. This thread has been here three and a half years, it could probably use all the support it can get.

 

Calling static methods would be really helpful. Making ScriptableObjects for each class just to pass function call is irritating.

 

@Tim-C

Are we still going to get static calls through unity events?
It's been awhile...

 

+1 for this! Been waiting for it since 2014 (5 years)!

 

Did anyone create a feedback item for it? That's how Unity Technologies wants us to report suggestions:
https://feedback.unity3d.com

Once a feedback item exists, people can vote on it and Unity Technologies is able to see it's demand.

 

Anyone who is still looking for this functionality should check out my free UltEvents plugin which serves the same purpose as UnityEvents, but has superior features (including the ability to call static methods) with fewer restrictions and an improved Inspector interface that requires fewer clicks to perform individual tasks.

 

Adding my +1 for this feature. Is this on the road map?

 

Lol still nothing? Hilarious!

 

I'll just bump this thread again and agree this would be a nice feature.

 

It would be a very useful feature indeed! +1

 

I would love to have this feature to help reference functions inside singletons. For now, I just reference a non-static function in a different script that then calls the static method inside a singleton, which makes me cringe in pain every time I see either function.

 

Someone else at Unity did static functions for UnityEvents, I'm not sure where it landed check out 19.3 maybe its there...

 

That sounds like it's already there or soon to be. Nice!

That's a problem a lot of users have, I guess. It's very difficult to find specific changes in the release notes because there's no official search functionality other than Google. Also, personally, I have a feeling that a lot of small changes and additions to the API are missing from the big release notes. For example, the ConfigObject API in EditorBuildSettings and a couple of other things like callbacks to add into the Scene context menu have totally slipped my eye although I always read through the release notes.

 

Yeah i have the same issue if not a little worse, i struggle at times to keep what feature releases when as i can't always make a cut off so the feature needs to wait, but then as it was done 2-3 months ago (depending on how close to the cut off it was) if feels like it should be in a earlier version then it actually is. This particular features is worse as even though my team owns UnityEvents we didnt do the improvement so its another layer of tracking that got lost.

If you really want to know a firm version i can try to dig through old notes and see.

 

Please do! It's one of those long requested awesome features, but it doesn't seem to be in 19.3.

Edit: Nevermind! I just found-out that I can call a static function via UnityEvent in 19.3, but it's not the feature I and probably most of the users in this thread were hoping for. UnityEvent still requires an object reference set as a target. So this means, I can drag and drop one of my MonoBehaviour components into the target field and then select one of its static functions, but that only solves part of what we would like it to do. A static function exists without the need for any instances of the class, so it makes no sense to connect them in this way. Also, most of the time, if a function is static, it's very likely that the entire class is static, for example, we would want to call Debug.Log from UnityEvent.

 

Sorry for the delay had to build a new machine.

So i think you can do what your asking via code. I think that likely the inspector wasn't updated to look for pure static methods without the object reference. Looking at the code when it goes to call the static function it doesnt use the target object. I think it was left that way on purpose to make finding functions easier.

 

Would it be possible to utilize the script itself as the reference? As of now a script reference is referenced as a MonoScript by the event drawer. But Since the UnityEventDrawer uses Reflection to populate the fields, adding a special case to reference static members of a script should be realistically possible with a direct reference to the code asset.

This isn't necessarily the reference-less feature most are asking for BUT it would allow us to make function calls without an object instance which is a huge feature imo.

 

I second this, would make the project a lot cleaner not having to have an object just to trigger a static function(ironic) from a UnityEvent. Code asset should definitely be enough.

 

Code assets don't exist at runtime so that won't work.

 

The static class still exists, you would use the code asset to get relevant information to trigger said static function in runtime. I'm probably overlooking something here but nevertheless it would be a nice feature to have and I'm sure someone smarter than me at Unity could figure it out.

 

Any updates to this feature? Would be a very nice one to have ....

Also functions should appear if they have one required paratemer if the others are optional we can call them with thieir defaults (ignore them basicly) i guess this should be in there too.

 

Would like this also. Scriptable objects don't make much sense when you aren't putting data in them, a static class is easier, and the static class even shows up selectable as a target for events, but I can't see my static functions listed.

 

This actually does make sense, i use scriptable objects for events and stuff like this all the time. You can assign them to unity's UI events and call w/e function you need!

For example, I use them for triggering hover/click sounds. I have a button as a prefab that i can customize. I add the onClick/Hover event listeners to it. Then i reference a scriptable object in the fields (AudioManagerObject) and call the method (PlayHoverSound) that calls the static AudioManager.PlayHoverSound.

it would be nice if we could just straight up use static classes as references but this is just one little extra step to make it work

 

9 years already and there's no simple way to have a way to reference a static function in inspector yet... there was a lot of times I wanted to do this to avoid creating useless stuff just to drag and call non-static methods.
Please make this happen!

 

How on earth is this still not a feature?
This regularly creates the need for a useless additional script that just forwards events...
Whenever you assign UnityEvents through the inspector, you want to be able to run scene independent tasks such as printing a Debug.Log(). In the current state this will always need to happen through an instance of a class that is defined within the scene before runtime...

My use-case:
I have a button script that has UnityEvents for OnDown, OnUp and OnClick.
I have a Singleton called AudioManager that is scene independent and persistent.
I have a button prefab in which i want to make the button events call a method inside the AudioManager.
And i absolutely expected to be able to just drag the AudioManager asset in and select either the Singleton Instance or at least a static method...

 

Alas, as usual, only promises