Editor script instantiating prefab and maintaining link?

Questions & Answers
1

I'm trying to make a quick editor script that replaces the children of a selected object with a prefab.

How can I link the instantiated objects to the original prefab?

3

Had the same problem and just found the answer:

Use PrefabUtility.InstantiatePrefab() to instantiate the objects.

2

Read the documentation for the Prefab functions in the `EditorUtility` class:

http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/ScriptReference/30_search.html?q=editorutility+prefab

You should be able to figure something out to solve your problem.

edit

Unity moved the InstantiatePrefab method into a seperate class some time ago. You have to use PrefabUtility.InstantiatePrefab now

5

Just an updated answer on this, as Unity updated their prefab system:

        //Get path to nearest (in case of nested) prefab from this gameObject in the scene
        string prefabPath = PrefabUtility.GetPrefabAssetPathOfNearestInstanceRoot(gameObject);
        //Get prefab object from path
        Object prefab = AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath(prefabPath, typeof(Object));
        //Instantiate the prefab in the scene, as a sibling of current gameObject
        PrefabUtility.InstantiatePrefab(prefab, transform.parent);
4

PrefabUtility.InstantiatePrefab returns null when I pass it a prefab from AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath. Not sure if this is a recent bug, but happens in Unity 2017.4 or newer