[Released] Session Restore

Session Restore
Latest version: 2.0.1 released 28 June 2022​

Hi Everyone,

We've just released a must-have productivity Unity extension called Session Restore. This is an editor extension for anyone working on multiple Unity scenes/projects and knows how distracting context switching is and wants to improve the workflow of their team.


The first feature is that it restores your Hierarchy window state in Unity. This means when you start Unity or switch between scenes, it will set the Hierarchy window to the state when you worked on it last (same GameObjects expanded, same GameObjects selected).

Without this script Unity always opens up the Hierarchy view collapsed and with nothing selected, which personally I find annoying It also resets the Hierarchy when you make a build or play the scene which compounds the issue.

This script also restores the scene view and prefab windows so you can continue where you left off when switching between multiple Unity projects.

Features:

• Restores hierarchy window
• Restores selection state
• Restores scene view camera
• Improves workflow and sanity
• No setup, just import the package and it starts working immediately
• Highly optimised, you won't even know it's there
• Unity 5.6 - 2022.x supported
• All Unity platforms supported
• Full source code included

You can find it here on the Unity Asset Store.

Thanks,

 

Please post reviews on the Asset Store if you do try it out

 

I thought about this the other day. Then this appeared.

Haven't tried it yet but I appreciate the creation.

 

*BUMP* Please comment here or post reviews on the Asset Store if you do try it out

 

Any feedback? Anyone tried it?

 

Hi Everyone,

Version 1.3 has just been released. Changes are:

• Fixed issue where “Maximise on Play” would spawn another Hierarchy window
• Fixed Unity 5.0.x script compile errors
• Improved detection method for Hierarchy window

Drop us a review/message if you like this script

Thanks,

 

Hi Everyone,

Version 1.4 has just been released. Changes are:

• Added support for Unity 2018.3.x as it changed some internal classes
• Added support for expanding collapsed scenes
• Improved detection of changed hierarchy window
• Refactored reflection caching code
• Fixed a deprecated method warning for hierarchyChanged

Drop us a review/message if you like this script

Thanks,

 

I like it!

 

I have one request, when I press play it also loses my selected hierarchy object ,can you also make it to keep this selected ?

Mac with 2018.3.0f2


Edit: Its working after a restart of unity

 

Thanks for the feedback
Yes, there are a few edge cases where it doesn't save the selection immediately...it should be fine in 95% of cases though. Thanks,

 

Hi Everyone,

Version 1.4.1 has just been released. Changes are:

• Added support for the new Prefab Mode editor in 2018.3.x, so that the plugin doesn’t operate while the hierarchy window is in this mode

Drop us a review/message if you like this script

Thanks,

 

This is just what I need, but I can't seem to get it to work. I downloaded and imported it into my project. It shows in the Project window, but not in the Hierarchy window. If I build, or if I close Unity and reopen it, my hierarchy gets collapsed. The manual says it's supposed to automatically work. Did I miss a step? (I'm fairly newbie.) I'm using 2019.2.4f1. Thank you.

 

Yeah it probably doesn't yet support some of these newer Unity versions.....

 

Would you have time to make it work with 2019.4 ?

Thanks

 

Yeah...it's on my mental list of things to do Just no time right now.....Hopefully soon!

 

Hi Everyone,

Hierarchy Restore version 1.5.0 has just been released!

You can find the updated version on the Asset Store
Changes in this version include:

• Added support for Unity 2019 and 2020
• Added new feature to restore the scene view window
• Better detection of changes in hierarchy collapsed state
• Added options to Unity’s Preferences window
• Minimum supported version is now Unity 5.6

Thanks to everyone that reported bugs that were fixed in this release

 

Thanks for the update! really welcome

 

hello, I made some changes (fixes for me) that you could implement in a more elegant way.

Code (CSharp):

1. #if UNITY_5_3 || UNITY_5_4_OR_NEWER
2. #define RH_UNITY_FEATURE_SCENEMANAGMENT2
3. #endif
4. using UnityEngine;
5.  
6. #if UNITY_EDITOR
7. using UnityEditor;
8.  
9. //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. // Copyright 2017-2020 RenderHeads Ltd.  All rights reserved.
11. //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.  
13. namespace RenderHeads.Framework.Editor
14. {
15.     public partial class HierarchyNode : MonoBehaviour
16.     {
17.         static bool wasPayingFlag;//ugly but works
18.         private void Start()
19.         {
20.             ///second change
21.             if(wasPayingFlag)//if i was playing the game in the editor
22.             {
23.                 wasPayingFlag = false;//reset the flag
24.                 return;//The reason: I want the same behavior of unity when playing and then stoping.
25.                        //so instead of restoring the selection and hierarchy, when exiting play mode.
26.                        //I just use the default behavior.
27.             }
28.             ///
29.  
30.             if(!HierarchyRestore.IsEnabled) return;
31.             RestoreSelection();
32.         }
33.         private void UpdateSceneGUID()
34.         {
35. #if RH_UNITY_FEATURE_SCENEMANAGMENT2
36.             ///dint work for me
37.             ///the whole hierarchy is being reset, every time I hit play
38.             //_sceneGUID = GetSceneGUID(EditorSceneManager.GetActiveScene().path);
39.  
40.             ///first change
41.             _sceneGUID = gameObject.scene.path;//I have a script that dynamically changes the active scene, every time I hit play or stop.
42.                                                //so I prefer to get the scene from the object rather than the scene manager                                            
43.             ///
44.  
45. #else
46.             _sceneGUID = GetSceneGUID(EditorApplication.currentScene);
47. #endif
48.         }
49.  
50.         private void Update()//added just to set the flag
51.         {
52.             if(Application.isPlaying)
53.                 wasPayingFlag = true;
54.         }
55.     }
56. }
57. #endif

Thank you for this asset, for me, unity crashes all the time, so this is a time/sanity saviour.

 

Thanks tavovallejo for these changes! We will take a look and see whether we can get them into the next update.

 

So i made anther change, I set the Script Execution Order of HierarchyNode to -15000, to get rid of "[HierarchyRestore] Can't find node with path:" . Warnings are logged if you changed the name of the objects.

 

@NathanRH I just upgraded to Unity 2021.2 and got compile errors in

Scripts/HierarchyUitls.cs

. Looks like

IsHierarchyWindowInPrefabMode

is using the

UnityEditor.Experimental.SceneManagement.PrefabStageUtility

API, but this API is no longer experimental in 2021.2 The correct type name is now

UnityEditor.SceneManagement.PrefabStageUtility

. I'm guessing you'll want another precompiler define for whether or not prefab edit mode is experimental.

 

Also after updating to Unity 2021.2, I've noticed several warnings that say "SceneView rotation is fixed to identity when in 2D mode. This will be an error in future versions of Unity." It looks like the

RenderHeads.Framework.Editor.SceneViewState.RestoreState

method should be checking if the current scene is in 2D mode before restoring the scene view rotation. That is, there should be a

SceneView.in2DMode

check before the line

sv.rotation = Load("SceneView.Rotation", sceneId, sv.rotation)

.

 

@Rabadash8820 thanks for reporting these issues. We have not tested on Unity 2021 yet. We will get these issues fixed and release a new version soon.

Thanks,

 

Thanks again for reporting these issues - we've uploaded a new build to the Asset Store with these issues fixed.

 

Awesome, thanks for the quick turnaround!

 

This asset is a real time saver - thank you!

Any chance that multiple scenes will be supported in the future? Even if it's just to restore all open scenes when Unity loads ie no need to remember the hierarchy state (open/closed) if that's the main challenge.

Thanks!

 

What do you mean restore all open scenes? If you could give more information then it's certainly something we can look into.

If you have a moment we would really appreciate a short rating/review on the Asset Store

Thanks,

 

Ha, now that I try to reproduce the issue....I can't!

In essence, I had a project with two scenes open (ie using Open Scene Additive) but whenever Unity started up only one of them would be loaded ie I'd need to find the other scene in the project folder and do Open Scene Additive again. So the issue wasn't really with restoring the expanded/collapsed/selected state of a scene, rather that one of the scenes wasn't being opened at all.

Anyway, it doesn't seem to be happening any more, so that's good.

And yes, more than happy to leave a review. It's a great asset!

 

Thanks for the review!

Strange that that can't be reproduced. Well let us know if you have any other suggestions/issues.

 

Hi All, sorry about the cross-post, but I just wanted to announce a new RenderHeads plugin for Unity:
External Game View

It's a plugin for multi-monitor productivity and workflow improvement while using the Unity Editor and it's really changed the way we work. You can find out all about it here where you'll find documentation and a tutorial video.
Thanks,

 

I've been seeing an error from Hierarchy Restore every now and then. It's very infrequent so I've had trouble pinning down exactly what causes it, but I know I've seen it in an existing project when getting it set up on a new dev machine. Still, it looks like the most reliable repro step is just to import Hierarchy Restore into a fresh Unity project. Doing this, I get the following error:

InvalidOperationException: Sequence contains no matching element
System.Linq.Enumerable.Single[TSource] (System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1[T] source, System.Func`2[T,TResult] predicate) (at <1e18c5a6594041c9844bfd0b6618ee4a>:0)
UnityEditor.SceneRenderModeWindow.GetBuiltinCameraMode (UnityEditor.DrawCameraMode drawMode) (at <a017e354f3154926a5617fbac3a64fcc>:0)
UnityEditor.SceneView.GetBuiltinCameraMode (UnityEditor.DrawCameraMode mode) (at <a017e354f3154926a5617fbac3a64fcc>:0)
RenderHeads.Framework.Editor.SceneViewState.RestoreState (System.String sceneId) (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/HierarchyRestore/Scripts/SceneViewState.cs:20)
RenderHeads.Framework.Editor.HierarchyNode.RestoreSceneViewState (System.String sceneId) (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/HierarchyRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:302)
RenderHeads.Framework.Editor.HierarchyNode.RestoreSelection () (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/HierarchyRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:89)
RenderHeads.Framework.Editor.HierarchyNode.Start () (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/HierarchyRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:38)​

It looks like the offending line of

SceneViewState.RestoreState

is trying to get a

CameraMode

for a specific

DrawCameraMode

, where the latter is pulled from

EditorPrefs

. Presumably, if that

EditorPrefs

value is not present, then the

DrawCameraMode

is being set incorrectly, causing the

SceneView.GetBuiltinCameraMode

call to fail.

Like I said, this error is super infrequent, but showing this error after a fresh install is kind of a bad look, so figured I should report.

 

Thank you @Rabadash8820 ! That's very much appreciated.

We will look into that. You're right, we certainly don't want errors popping up, no matter how infrequent.

Seems to be related to this: https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...ey-to-change-scene-view-render-mode-to-shaded

We will try to reproduce it and get a fix out ASAP. We may have to wrap RestoreState() in a try..catch block.

Thanks,

 

Which version of Unity were you using?

 

Ah, forgot to put that. My environment:

• Unity: 2021.3.2f1
• Unity platform: Android
• OS: Windows 11 Pro
• Hierarchy Restore: 1.5.1

 

Thanks, I haven't been able to reproduce the issue. I've created a blank scene in 2021.3.2f1 and imported the package but no errors happen. I've tried this a few times. Any other suggestions to reproduce it?

Also could you try editing SceneViewState.cs line 18-23 and changing it to this:

Code (CSharp):

1.                 try
2.                 {
3.                     #if UNITY_2018_2_OR_NEWER
4.                     DrawCameraMode drawCameraMode = (DrawCameraMode)Load("SceneView.CameraMode", sceneId, (int)DrawCameraMode.Normal);
5.                     sv.cameraMode = SceneView.GetBuiltinCameraMode(drawCameraMode);
6.                     #else
7.                     sv.renderMode = (DrawCameraMode)Load("SceneView.RenderMode", sceneId, (int)sv.renderMode);
8.                     #endif
9.                 }
10.                 catch (System.InvalidOperationException)
11.                 {
12.                     // Silently catch this exception that has been reported in Unity 2021.3.2f1
13.                     // Presumably because a DrawCameraMode enum index changed or became invalid.
14.                 }

Thanks,

 

Hi @AndrewRH, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Looks like my repro environment was incorrect; the error is actually occurring on MacOS (Monterey, version 12.3.1 on Intel silicon). The repro steps are otherwise the same. I'm unable to fix the issue just by modifying the script you recommended, as there's no way to modify the script before importing into Unity.

 

We'll release a new version on the asset store tomorrow so you can try importing one with those changes.

Thanks for your feedback,

 

Today we are renaming this asset from Hierarchy Restore to Session Restore. The new name is more suitable as this asset does more now than just restoring the hierarchy window. A new version will be released later today with the new name and a new price.

 

Hi @Rabadash8820,

The new version is up on the store now. Hopefully that fixes the issue you were having with importing on macOS.

Please note that the package has been renamed so you should delete the old asset before importing the new package.

Thanks,

 

Hello @AndrewRH ,
I just installed session restore and now when I enter play mode without any object selected, it automatically selects the last selected object in the hierarchy.
It's very annoying because having a physics object selected while on play mode makes the physics engine all jerky, so I have to deselect it again once entering play mode and then click on the play view again to have input.
Could you fix this?

 

Thanks, that does sound annoying. We'll look into this and get back to you soon.

 

Sweet, looks like v2.0.0 fixed that MacOS error when first installing the asset. Nice job!

 

New version 2.0.1 is out with this change.

Thanks,

 

@atomicjoe

Here's the new setting in 2.0.1:


Thanks,

 

Great! thanks a ton!

 

I am getting the below error every time I enter Play Mode.

Code (CSharp):

1. GUI Error: You are pushing more GUIClips than you are popping. Make sure they are balanced.
2. UnityEditor.EditorWindow:SendEvent (UnityEngine.Event)
3. RenderHeads.SessionRestore.HierarchyUtils:FocusHierarchyWindow (bool) (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/SessionRestore/Scripts/HierarchyUtils.cs:244)
4. RenderHeads.SessionRestore.HierarchyNode:RestoreState () (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/SessionRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:179)
5. RenderHeads.SessionRestore.HierarchyNode:RestoreSelection () (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/SessionRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:196)
6. RenderHeads.SessionRestore.HierarchyNode:Start () (at Assets/Plugins/RenderHeads/SessionRestore/Scripts/HierarchyNode.cs:76)

I have tried restarting Unity, restarting my computer, and reimporting all assets, but it still continues. My environment:

• Session Restore: 2.0.1
• Unity: 2022.2.15f1
• OS: Windows 11 Pro

The statement throwing the error is

hierarchyWindow.SendEvent(frameEvent);

inside

HierarchyUtils.FocusHierarchyWindow

. It looks like this method is potentially called twice in the same frame in

HierarchyNode.RestoreState

, which would result in multiple

SendEvent

calls per frame. I have no idea if this is the root cause of the error, but maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Out of curiosity, is there a way to contribute to Session Restore's source code? I sometimes tweak the package code locally, but those changes always get overwritten by the next update and version control can't really help since the code files end up in the gitignored Library folder. I would love to be able to submit Pull Requests to the official codebase, but I don't see it in the list of RenderHeads GitHub repos.

 

Can you add a setting to restore also the project view selected item? ( if that was the last in focus )

 

FYI, Session Restore is showing a new warning in Unity 2023.2:

> Assets\Plugins\RenderHeads\SessionRestore\Scripts\HierarchyNode.cs(102,11): warning CS0618: 'Object.FindObjectOfType<T>()' is obsolete: 'Object.FindObjectOfType has been deprecated. Use Object.FindFirstObjectByType instead or if finding any instance is acceptable the faster Object.FindAnyObjectByType'