{"id":294,"date":"2019-04-29T06:55:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T06:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/?p=294"},"modified":"2021-03-24T17:29:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T17:29:38","slug":"class-member-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/getting-started\/class-member-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"03. Class Member Visibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Member Visibility in Power Inspector<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By default Power Inspector displays class members<\/a><\/strong> similarly to the default inspector<\/a><\/strong> for consistency and intuitiveness.
\nHowever, it gives you the ability to expose practically any class members when you want to.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tip<\/strong>: You can customize<\/strong> what fields<\/a>, properties<\/a> and methods<\/a> are shown in Power Inspector by default<\/strong> via the preferences<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Member Visibility in the Default Inspector<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The default inspector only displays class members when they pass all<\/strong> of the following conditions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It is a field<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. It is not static<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. It does not<\/strong> have the const<\/strong> keyword<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. It does not<\/strong> have the readonly<\/strong> keyword<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  5. It is not<\/strong> generic type<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n
  6. It is not<\/strong> abstract type<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n
  7. Its type is primitive<\/strong><\/a>, enum<\/strong><\/a>, Unity built-in type<\/strong>\u00a0or struct<\/a><\/strong> or class<\/a><\/strong> with the Serializable<\/strong> attribute<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  8. It is public<\/strong><\/a>, or has the SerializeField<\/strong> attribute<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n
  9. (It does not<\/strong> have the HideInInspector<\/strong> attribute<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These strict limitations leave out a lot of valid use cases, where it would be useful to see data in the Inspector<\/a> but it’s not possible<\/strong> (at least without going through the trouble of writing Custom Editors<\/a>). Say you would like to expose a Dictionary field in the inspector, and handle its serialization manually; this is not possible in the default inspector but can easily be done with Power Inspector.<\/p>\n

    Attributes For Controlling Member Visibility<\/strong><\/b><\/h1>\n

    ShowInInspector<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Power Inspector introduces a new attribute<\/a><\/strong> for customizing member visibility: ShowInInspector<\/strong>.
    \nWhen added before any field, property, indexer<\/strong> or method, <\/strong>the class member will become visible inside the     inspector<\/a>.
    \nAnother benefit of using this attribute is that it tells the compiler that the class member in question can be assigned implicitly. What this does it gets rid of misleading warning messages like “Field ‘X’ is never assigned.” or “Method ‘X’ is never used.” – as they actually can be assigned and used via the Inspector!<\/p>\n

    Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Add \u201cusing Sisus.Attributes;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
    2. Add \u201c[ShowInInspector]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of class members that you want to show up in the inspector.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

      Tip: <\/strong>If you have another attribute named exactly \u201cShowInInspector\u201d, you can also use that to tag class members, and they will still be shown in Power Inspector.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      SerializeField<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Unity has the SerializeField<\/strong><\/a> attribute, which can be added to non-public fields in order to tell Unity to serialize them and show them in the inspector.<\/p>\n

      Power Inspector will display any fields that have this attribute (note<\/strong>: fields will be visible in Power Inspector even if Unity can’t actually serialize the field).<\/p>\n

      Usage<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Add \u201cusing UnityEngine;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
      2. Add \u201c[SerializeField]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of fields that you want to show up in the inspector.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        SerializeField with Properties<\/strong><\/h2>\n

        C# has a feature that makes it possible to have an attribute target the field of an auto-implemented property. Using this feature, it is possible to both serialize and expose<\/strong> properties<\/strong> in the inspector.<\/p>\n

        Power Inspector will automatically display the property backing field with label generated from the name of the property.<\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

        Usage<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Add \u201cusing UnityEngine;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
        2. Add \u201c[field: SerializeField]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of auto-properties that you want to show up in the inspector.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Serialize Reference<\/h2>\n

          For serializing more complex data types such as abstract types, generic types and classes containing cyclical references Unity offers the SerializeReference<\/a><\/strong> attribute.<\/p>\n

          Power Inspector will display any fields that have this attribute (note<\/strong>: fields will be visible in Power Inspector even if Unity can’t actually serialize the field).<\/p>\n

          For abstract types Power Inspector will allow you to assign an instance of any implementing type through a convenient popup menu.<\/p>\n

          \"\"<\/a>

          click to see full code<\/p><\/div>\n

          Usage<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Add \u201cusing UnityEngine;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
          2. Add \u201c[SerializeReference]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of fields that you want to show up in the inspector.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            EditorBrowsable<\/strong><\/h2>\n

            The EditorBrowsable attribute<\/a><\/strong> is a built-in alternative<\/strong> to the ShowInInspector attribute.
            \nAny field, property, indexer or method that contains this attribute (initialized with the default constructor) will be shown in Power Inspector.
            \nNote that this attribute does not<\/strong> automatically tell the compiler that the class member in question can be assigned implicitly. However, you can still do this manually by also adding the             UsedImplicitly attribute<\/a><\/strong> before the class member.<\/p>\n

            Why EditorBrowsable?<\/strong> You might choose to use this instead of the ShowInInspector attribute if you want to avoid coupling your code with references to attributes that don’t come built-in with Unity. This can be convenient if you ever need to use the same code in a project that doesn’t include Power Inspector.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

            Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
              \n
            1. Add the line \u201cusing System.ComponentModel;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
            2. Add the line \u201c[EditorBrowsable]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of class members that you want to show up in the Inspector View.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              ContextMenu<\/strong><\/h2>\n

              If the Show Methods preference item<\/a><\/strong> has been configured to ContextMenu<\/strong>, then all methods with the ContextMenu attribute<\/a><\/strong> will show up as buttons in the Inspector View.
              \nHowever, by default this behaviour has been disabled in Power Inspector.<\/p>\n

              Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                \n
              1. Make sure you have the line \u201cusing UnityEngine;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
              2. Add the line \u201c[ContextMenu(“ItemName”<\/span>)]<\/strong>\u201d before the methods that you want to show up in the Inspector View.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                HideInInspector<\/strong><\/h2>\n

                Class members with the HideInInspector attribute<\/a><\/strong> will not be shown in Power Inspector (unless Debug Mode+<\/a><\/strong> is enabled).<\/p>\n

                Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                  \n
                1. Make sure you have the line \u201cusing UnityEngine;<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of your script file.<\/li>\n
                2. Add the line \u201c[HideInInspector]<\/strong>\u201d before the definitions of class members that you want to hide in the Inspector View.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Member Visibility in Power Inspector By default Power Inspector displays class members similarly to the default inspector for consistency and intuitiveness. However, it gives you the ability to expose practically any class members when you want to. Tip: You can customize what fields, properties and methods are shown in Power Inspector by default via the ..<\/p>\n

                  <\/div>\n

                  Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1793,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions\/1793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.sisus.co\/power-inspector\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}