Dynamic reference of a Class variable

Question

I've constructed several weapon data classes like so:

 public class Cleaver
     {
     public string WeaponName = "Cleaver";
     public string WeaponType = "Melee";
     public int WeaponRange = 0;
     public int WeaponDamage = 25;
     public float WeaponRefire = 2.0f;
     public int WeaponReload = 0;
     public float WeaponReloadTime = 0.0f;    
     }

I'd like to reference some of these variables in another class / script, which I'd normally do via dot notation (Cleaver.WeaponName).

However, if I wanted to reference .WeaponName because the weapon is not constant, how would I pass in a string variable to the call to dynamically get the appropriate Class's variable?

<----------Edit----------->

Base on Syclamoth's answer below I've edited my script:

 using UnityEngine;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 
 public class WeaponItem
     {
     public string WeaponName = "Name";
     public string WeaponType = "Type";
     public int WeaponRange = 10;
     public int WeaponDamage = 10;
     public float WeaponRefire = 0.5f;
     public int WeaponReload = 0.5f;
     public float WeaponReloadTime = 0.1f;
     }
 
 public class WeaponManager : MonoBehaviour
 {
     private PlayerManager PlayerManager;
     public WeaponItem Cleaver;
     public WeaponItem SCAR;
     public WeaponItem Weapon3;
         
     Cleaver.WeaponName = "Cleaver";
     Cleaver.WeaponType = "Melee";
     Cleaver.WeaponRange = 0;
     Cleaver.WeaponDamage = 25;
     Cleaver.WeaponRefire = 2.0f;
     Cleaver.WeaponReload = 0;
     Cleaver.WeaponReloadTime = 0.0f;    
     
     SCAR.WeaponName = "SCAR";
     SCAR.WeaponType = "Ranged";
     SCAR.WeaponRange = 50;
     SCAR.WeaponDamage = 10;
     SCAR.WeaponRefire = 0.2f;
     SCAR.WeaponReload = 16;
     SCAR.WeaponReloadTime = 4.0f;    
     
     Weapon3.WeaponName = "Weapon3";
     Weapon3.WeaponType = "Ranged";
     Weapon3.WeaponRange = 50;
     Weapon3.WeaponDamage = 10;
     Weapon3.WeaponRefire = 0.2f;
     Weapon3.WeaponReload = 16;
     Weapon3.WeaponReloadTime = 4.0f;
     
     void Start()
     {
         PlayerManager = gameObject.GetComponentInChildren<PlayerManager> ();    
     }
 }

I'm getting a compile error when I try to define the Cleaver's properties:

"error CS1519: Unexpected symbol `=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration"

Which I don't really understand - is it complaining that Cleaver doesn't exist yet, so it's assuming I'm attempting to create it?

Answer 1

It looks like you are mixing up static classes and instances.

If you have a class 'Weapon'-

 public class Weapon
 {
     public string WeaponName = "Cleaver";
     public string WeaponType = "Melee";
     public int WeaponRange = 0;
     public int WeaponDamage = 25;
     public float WeaponRefire = 2.0f;
     public int WeaponReload = 0;
     public float WeaponReloadTime = 0.0f;  
 }

Then you can then use

 public Weapon cleaver;
 public Weapon woodenSpoon;
 public Weapon bowl;

Then, use

 cleaver.WeaponName = "Cleaver";
 woodenSpoon.WeaponName = "Wooden Spoon";

And so on. Importantly, the fact that the different weapons have different names doesn't change the name of the variable in the class. So, if you have

 Weapon currentWeapon = cleaver;

 // Prints "Cleaver"
 Debug.Log(currentWeapon.WeaponName);

 currentWeapon = woodenSpoon;
 
 // This time prints "Wooden Spoon", despite being the exact same line!
 Debug.Log(currentWeapon.WeaponName);

You get a different result depending on which weapon is the 'currentWeapon'.

Dynamic reference of a Class variable

1 Reply

Your answer

Follow this Question

Related Questions