koobas.hobune.stream
Getting input from external Files, advices?
Hello,
Seeking to get it right, I’m looking for advice and answers on a simple topic.
To set the scene, I am designing a procedural tree and plant design algorithm.
To do this I want each species to work in the same way but with different variables.
So I thought of using files in JSON format in order to store this information in a formatted way. In this way it would be easy for me to modify a species and save it in order to load its parameters in my program when the time comes.
But in my search for the best library to do this, (currently SimpleJSON) I figured maybe my inexperience was pushing me in the wrong direction.
I am self-taught and work on my free time, I have not gone to programming school and am not a computer engineer. But I'm doing well.
But if the community could confirm to me that my idea is valid, redirect me in the right direction, or bring me the slightest correction, it would be really appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your answers and advice, and wish you a good day.
It sounds like a great idea to me. If you load the data into a ScriptableObject, you can use Unity's built-in JSON serialization very easily (JsonUtility).
Untested example code:
using System.IO;
using UnityEngine;
public class PlantData : ScriptableObject
{
public float Height = 20f;
public int Branches = 5;
public float[] BranchLengths;
// add more data fields here
/// <summary>
/// Saves this object to a file in JSON format.
/// </summary>
public void SavePlant(string filename)
{
string jsonData = JsonUtility.ToJson(this);
File.WriteAllText(filename, jsonData);
}
/// <summary>
/// Reads a serialized JSON plant from a file.
/// </summary>
public static PlantData LoadPlant(string filename)
{
string fileData = File.ReadAllText(filename);
PlantData loadedData = JsonUtility.FromJson<PlantData>(fileData);
return loadedData;
}
}
Thanks for your answer.
I have tested JsonUtility but it can't parse nested array and objects.
I could do with it, but my JSON file would not be readable enough for my taste. I haven't tackled Scriptable Objects yet, but I will do a comparison test once my initial version is finished.
Thanks for confir$$anonymous$$g that my idea is not a bad idea anyway.
