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What is "ref" in C# and its analog in UnityScript?

Discussion in 'Scripting' started by Nikolay116, Oct 7, 2010.

  1. Nikolay116

    Nikolay116

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    421
    How can I rewrite it in UnityScript?

    Code (csharp):
    1. public static bool FileBrowser( ref string location, ref Vector2 directoryScroll, ref Vector2 fileScroll )
    2.  
    Thanks
     
  2. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    You can't; there's no way to specify a reference parameter in Unityscript functions.

    --Eric
     
  3. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    there is no analog to it in unity script

    if you meet such a thing you can use it with C# only, for UnityScript you would require a function that returns the location.

    ref / out are special parameters to pass reference to references into functions so you can assign new objects to it.
    you can find out more on it in any C# book or through google, there are a few hundred articles on the matter offering you different explaination approaches
     
  4. Nikolay116

    Nikolay116

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  5. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    it works in general, but you can not return the complete, instead you would return the path (location) for example
     
  6. Nikolay116

    Nikolay116

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    Thanks, guys!

    One minor thing, what did you mean by "but you can not return the complete"?
     
  7. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    means that at the end of the function you would return the location, not a boolean that indicates complete or incomplete
     
  8. KennyW

    KennyW

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    I guess you can have the ref effect by casting all your parameters as "object", though I don't know much about Unity Script.

    Something like...

    Code (csharp):
    1.  
    2. public static bool FileBrowser( object loc, object dirScroll, object fScroll )
    3. {
    4. stirng location1 = (string) loc;
    5. Vector2 directorySroll1 = (Vector2)dirScroll;
    6. Vector3 fireScroll1 = (Vector2)fScroll;
    7. }
    8.  
    The calling side...

    Code (csharp):
    1.  
    2. string loctaion;
    3. Vector2 directoryScroll;
    4. Vector2 fireScroll;
    5.  
    6. FileBrowser( (object)loc, (object)directoryScroll, (object)fireScroll);
    7.  
    Again, I don't know much about how Unity Script converts primitive values into objects. But I think that there should be a way for you to convert anything into objects. In C#, everything is rooted on the object class naturally that you should be able to convert whatever into an object.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2010
  9. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    That has nothing to do with ref at all.

    ref allows you to assign a new object to the loc within the function, even generate a whole new object.
    this can not be done through any other meaning (aside of out which is c# only too).

    as such to get a comparable effect with UnityScript, you must change the return of the function to string and return complete; must become return location;
     
  10. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    That's not how it works, not even in C#. If you want a variable to be passed by reference, you have to specify "ref" or else use a variable type that's inherently passed by reference.

    --Eric
     
  11. Nikolay116

    Nikolay116

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    I will try all suggestions, thanks
     
  12. laurie

    laurie

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    Actually, the 'ref' keyword has nothing to do with whether the value being passed is a reference type or not. Its effect is on how assignments to the formal parameter within the called function affect variable that was passed in the function call.

    To the OP: as stated above, there is no equivalent to declare a 'ref' parameter in UnityScript (so you can't write a function that operates like that); but UnityScript does support 'ref' semantics when calling functions defined that way in C#. So you can call the existing C# implementation as it is, without re-writing it in UnityScript, just fine. If you're re-writing it for instructional/learning purposes, then you'll need to make changes to the API to accommodate the limitation in UnityScript. But if you just want a file browser you can call from UnityScript, use the existing C# code as is. Just make sure the script is in a folder where it will be compiled before your calling script (i.e. put it into a folder named Plugins or Standard Assets (amoung others)).
     
  13. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    I didn't say that it did. A sort of hack which more or less gets the results of using "ref" in JS is to use a reference type instead of a value type.

    Code (csharp):
    1. class RefString {
    2.     var s : String;
    3.     function RefString (value : String) {
    4.         s = value;
    5.     }
    6. }
    Use that instead of a string and you basically get the effect of declaring "ref" with a string parameter in a function, since classes are always passed by reference.

    --Eric
     
  14. initTechsuport

    initTechsuport

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    what are variable types that are passed by reference?
    An instance of a class maybe? what else
     
  15. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    Classes are passed by reference; primitive types and structs are passed by value.

    --Eric
     
  16. initTechsuport

    initTechsuport

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    The way i understand it is, even though vanilla c# does this, the ref keyWord cant be used in unity's uniscript to pass primitive types as references. Did i word that accurately?

    I swear i have seen ref used in a second class made inside a script.

    Code (csharp):
    1.  
    2. using UnityStuff
    3.    public class ScriptName:Monobehaviour{
    4.    public int value=stuff;
    5.    public whatKindOfClassIsThis instanceOfSomeKindOfCustomClass;
    6.    void Start(){
    7.    ModReference(value);
    8.       instanceOfSomeKindOfCustomClass.ModReference(value);
    9.    }
    10.    void ModReference(ref int val){//cant use ref here, maybe because it derives from MonoBehaviour?
    11.       val=otherStuff;
    12.    }
    13. }
    14. public class whatKindOfClassIsThis?{
    15.    void ModReference(ref int val){//can use ref here? why?
    16.       val=otherStuff;
    17.    }
    18. }
    19.  
     
  17. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    You can use ref in C# just fine. You can call C# functions that use ref from Unityscript just fine too; the ref is implied in that case since you can't write it explicitly. (Same deal for "out"; see Physics.Raycast in Unity for example.) What you can't do is declare ref or out in Unityscript functions directly. Note that Unityscript and C# are different languages.

    --Eric