Access SerializedProperty for Custom classes - C#

Hi,

I am trying to create a custom inspector which reads my own custom variable attributes, to change the behavior of the inspector(like [HideInInspector]).

It can be adding tooltips and show/hide variables based on other variables. And I can get most of it to work... for classes that inheritances MonoBehaviour, but for custom classes I cannot, even if I add [System.Serializable], which only makes it visible in the inspector.

Test Project

I have created a project, where it is possible to see it all in action which can be found here.

What I can do and want to do:

I can:

• add tooltips in the inspector

• Show/hide variables based on a boolean

• Show/hide variables based on a enum

Tooltip in the inspector

I can show tooltip in the inspector by adding an " InspectorTooltip("This is a tooltip.)" attribute to a variable.

[InspectorTooltip("The weapon type the player will wield.")] public WeaponType weaponType = WeaponType.Axe;

[InspectorTooltip("Can the player fly?")] public bool CanFly = true;

And the result is:

Hide-show variable based on a boolean

I can hide/show variables based on a boolean by adding an " ShowInInspectorIfBool" attribute to variables:

//Fly variables [InspectorTooltip("Can the player fly?")] public bool CanFly = true;

[InspectorTooltip("The maximum fly speed")] [ShowInInspectorIfBool("CanFly", true)] public float maxFlySpeed = 10f; And the result is:

Hide-show variable based on an enum

I can hide-show variables based on an enum by creating a " ShowInInspectorIfEnum" attribute.

//Sword variables [ShowInInspectorIfEnum("weaponType", WeaponType.Sword)] [InspectorTooltip("Used to calculate sword damage. High means more damage.")] public float SwordSharpness = 10;

[ShowInInspectorIfEnum("weaponType", WeaponType.Axe)] [InspectorTooltip("Used to calculate axe damage. High means more damage but slower attack speed.")] [FloatSliderInInspector(1f, 3f)] public float axeHandleLength = 1.5f;
And the result is:

I can do a few things more like:

• Making a slider for int/float variables

• Have Custom draw methods in the editor, if you only want to change how ONE variable is displayed

• I might add other stuff too.

How it works:

I have created a script that inherits Editor to read the attributes and does what they say, it works basically like this(simplified):

public class ExpandedEditor : Editor {

 public override void OnInspectorGUI ()
 {
     var serializedProperties = serializedObject.GetIterator ();
 
     //Tests if there is any visible fields
     if (serializedProperties.NextVisible (true)) {
         //Loops through all visible fields
         do {    
         ShowInInspectorIfBool boolCondition = getAttribute (s_properties);
         ShowInInspectorIfEnum enumCondition = getAttribute (s_properties);
         InspectorTooltip tooltip = getAttribute (s_properties);
 
         //Evaluates the enum and bool conditions
         bool allowedVisibleForBoolCondition = AllowedVisibleForBoolCondition (s_properties, boolCondition);
         bool allowedVisibleForEnumCondition = AllowedVisibleForEnumCondition (s_properties, enumCondition);

         //Tests is the field is visible
         if (allowedVisibleForBoolCondition && allowedVisibleForEnumCondition) {
         
             GUIContent g_content = new GUIContent();
             g_content.text=CreateReadableName (s_properties.name);
             
             //Sets the tooltip if avaiable
             if (tooltip != null)
                 g_content.tooltip = tooltip.Tooltip;
             
         EditorGUILayout.PropertyField (s_property, g_content, true);
             
             
         }
         } while(s_properties.NextVisible (false));
     }

And then to make it work in a script it is just to create an custom editor script that inheritances the ExpandedEditor. Like this:

[CustomEditor(typeof(PlayerScript))] public class PlayerScriptEditor : ExpandedEditor { /*No code needed*/ }

My problem:

I can ONLY do this for classes that inheritance MonoBehaviour. I am using the serialized properties to draw and go through all the visible fields, but I cannot get hold of the serialized properties for custom classes.

I can figure out if it a specific serialized property is a custom class and if it is expanded or not. But cannot get hold of the serialized properties of the custom class which is what I want so I can try and get the attributes for the variables and decide how it is going to be draw. As of now, it will just draw the custom classes like the normal inspector will do it.

Thanks

Update: The test project and link to test project have been updated!