Losing references made in editor script

Hi

I am trying to learn editor scripting, and I am experiencing stuff that I find weird, which probably because I don't understand how Unity works.

I am trying to create a grid of GameObjects. I would like to store references to the created GameObjects in a Dictionary (or a two dimensional array), but it seems like I lose the references when going from editor mode to game mode/running the game.

I have tried to make a small code example to show my problem:

 using UnityEngine;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 
 public class GridHandler : MonoBehaviour {
 
     public GameObject gameObject;
     public List<GameObject> list = new List<GameObject>();
     public Dictionary<string, GameObject> dictionary = new Dictionary<string, GameObject>();
     
     void Start(){
         //Using Start() to test in "game mode"
         //I would like to use the references to the gameObjects that I generated in createGrid.
         Debug.Log("Start");
         Debug.Log(gameObject.transform.name);
         Debug.Log(list[0].transform.name);
         Debug.Log(dictionary["a"].transform.name); //This call gives error "KeyNotFoundException"
     }
      
     //This function is called from an editor script in "editor mode"
     public void createGrid(){
         //Clearing just for testing
         list.Clear();
         dictionary.Clear();
         
         gameObject = new GameObject();
         gameObject.transform.name = "1 - gameObject";
        
         list.Add(new GameObject());
         list[0].transform.name = "2 - list";
 
         dictionary.Add("a", new GameObject());
         dictionary["a"].transform.name = "3 - dictionary";
 
         Debug.Log(gameObject.transform.name);
         Debug.Log(list[0].transform.name);
         Debug.Log(dictionary["a"].transform.name);
     }
 }

In the Console i get:

(createGrid called)

1 - gameObject

2 - list

3 - dictionary

(running program)

1 - gameObject

2 - list

Error (KeyNotFound)

I could store the grid in a list and let each gameObject know its position, it just doesn't seem optimal, and I would like to understand why I can't use a Dictionary. It seems like I have the same problem when using dynamically generated two-dimensional arrays.

Please ask if I havn't explained my problem precisely.

Best wishes Hans Larsen