How to show predefined structs in the entity inspector during runtime

Unity Engine
, ,
1

I want to show the values of a struct contained in an IComponentData struct which I have defined. But the struct to show is a predefined struct from a Unity package which cannot be changed therefore. The entity inspector looks like this.

8943315--1226997--upload_2023-4-12_14-20-9.png

The endpoint is already expanded but empty. The code of the component shown:

  [Serializable]
  public struct GameSessionDefinition : IComponentData
  {
    public NetworkingMode NetworkingMode;
    public Unity.Networking.Transport.NetworkEndpoint Endpoint;
    public bool IsRenderingSuppressed;
  }

As mentioned the NetworkEndpoint struct cannot be modified. It has neither a serialized attribute nor public fields. Looks like this (stripped):

namespace Unity.Networking.Transport
{
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    public unsafe struct NetworkEndpoint : IEquatable<NetworkEndpoint>
    {
        enum AddressType { Any = 0, Loopback = 1 }
        /* ... */
        internal Binding.Baselib_NetworkAddress rawNetworkAddress;
        /* ... */
        public ushort Port
        {
            get => (ushort)(rawNetworkAddress.port1 | (rawNetworkAddress.port0 << 8));
            set
            {
                rawNetworkAddress.port0 = (byte)((value >> 8) & 0xff);
                rawNetworkAddress.port1 = (byte)(value & 0xff);
            }
        }
        /* ... */
        public NetworkFamily Family
        {
            get => FromBaselibFamily((Binding.Baselib_NetworkAddress_Family)rawNetworkAddress.family);
            set => rawNetworkAddress.family = (byte)ToBaselibFamily(value);
        }
        /* ... */
        public string Address => ToString();
        /* ... */
        public override string ToString()
        {
            return ToFixedString().ToString();
        }
        /* ... */
        public FixedString128Bytes ToFixedString()
        {
            return AddressToString(ref rawNetworkAddress);
        }
        /* ... */
    }
}

I used a method mentioned in a differnt thread relying on Inspector<> and PropertyInspector<> from the Unity package “com.unity.properties.ui” but with no success. The code is not even called.

  public class NetworkEndpointPropertyInspector :  Unity.Properties.UI.PropertyInspector<Unity.Networking.Transport.NetworkEndpoint>
  {
    private TextField field;
    public override VisualElement Build()
    {
      this.field = new TextField(this.DisplayName) { value = this.Target.ToString() };
      return this.field;
    }
    public override void Update()
    {
      this.field.SetValueWithoutNotify(this.Target.ToString());
    }
  }

  public class NetworkEndpointInspector :  Unity.Properties.UI.Inspector<Unity.Networking.Transport.NetworkEndpoint>
  {
    private TextField field;
    public override VisualElement Build()
    {
      this.field = new TextField(DisplayName) { value = this.Target.ToString() };
      return this.field;
    }
    public override void Update()
    {
      this.field.SetValueWithoutNotify(this.Target.ToString());
    }
  }

Any ideas to get it work?

2

I don’t think Entity inspector window currently supports custom UI Elements inspectors;

You could try making PropertyDrawer for that specific property, though I’m not sure if they’re called either.
Otherwise only serializable fields can be displayed.

As a temporary workaround, you could make a separate debug data struct & attach it to the entity to display required data in editor only. Messy, but works.

3

I tried this. Unfortunately also didn’t worked.

Yep, this would be the only solution then. I think I make my own “CustomNetworkEndpoint” and map it to the Unity NetworkEndpoint when required. Then at least the ComponentData struct has the data only once.

4

You’ll need to setup internal access to Unity.Entities.UI
Then you can write custom inspectors via implementing PropertyInspector

5

Do you have any code samples or links showing the setup?

6

https://gitlab.com/tertle/com.bovinelabs.core/-/blob/master/BovineLabs.Core.Editor/Inspectors/ColliderInspector.cs

My BlobAssetReference inspector as a sample

3 Likes
7

Thanks for sharing the link. Unfortunately I did not got the PropertyInspector to work. But I found a quite simple solution which I like to share. With using the attributes

  • Unity.Properties.CreatePropertyAttribute
  • Unity.Properties.DontCreatePropertyAttribute

I achieved the desired display. In the Entity Inspector it looks like this now:
8956941--1230057--upload_2023-4-18_14-48-53.png

And that is the code of the component data struct:

  using Unity.Entities;
  using Unity.Networking.Transport;
  using Unity.Properties;

  public struct GameSessionDefinition : IComponentData
  {
    private struct DisplayEndpoint
    {
      public string Address;
      public ushort Port;
    }
 
    public bool IsRenderingSuppressed;
    public NetworkingMode NetworkingMode;

    [DontCreateProperty]
    public NetworkEndpoint Endpoint;

    [CreateProperty]
    private DisplayEndpoint endpoint // According to C# naming conventions the propery name should be capitalized but then a different name would be required
    {
      get
      {
        // Address includes port
        var address = this.Endpoint.Address;
        var hostname = address.Substring(0, address.IndexOf(':'));
        return new() { Address = hostname, Port = this.Endpoint.Port };
      }
      set => this.Endpoint = NetworkEndpoint.Parse(value.Address, value.Port);
    }
  }
2 Likes