Localization issue: "Could not evaluate the selector "1""

Unity Engine
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1

I am currently making a simple game and have been fidddling around with localizing my really simple UI pieces with Smart Strings. I am trying to add a localization for a simple line with a line like “Capacity: {currentvalue} / {maxValue}” and one for “Points: {points}”

In my code, I have a method to handle the smart string:

void UpdateStomachCapacityUI()
    {
        // Set parameters for the localized string for stomach capacity
        localizedCapacityString.Arguments = new object[] { capacity, maxCapacity };

        // Fetch and apply the localized string to the stomach capacity UI text
        localizedCapacityString.StringChanged += (localizedText) =>
        {
            stomachCapacityText.text = localizedText;
        };
        localizedCapacityString.RefreshString();
    }


    void UpdatePointsUI()
    {
        // Set parameters for the localized string for points
        localizedPointsString.Arguments = new object[] { points };

        // Fetch and apply the localized string to the points UI text
        localizedPointsString.StringChanged += (localizedText) =>
        {
            pointsText.text = localizedText;
        };
        localizedPointsString.RefreshString();
    }

My localization table is as follows:

image
image909×362 23.1 KB

where in the first key, the {0} and {1} are supposed to reference the two values from
localizedCapacityString.Arguments = new object[ ] { capacity, maxCapacity };
in my above code.

However, I receive an error when running my preview that says:
FormattingException: Error parsing format string: Could not evaluate the selector “1” at 23
Stomach Capacity: {0}/{1}
-------------------------^

It only seems to give this error when I add the {1} indicator, removing it causes the smart string to work properly (albeit not as I want it) and the Points code localizes correctly as well. I’ve tried to find some solutions for this and tinkered around a little, but couldn’t find anything and am not sure why it’s having this error.

Any ideas on how to fix it?

Thanks!

2

Nothing stands out in the code. Can you share an example project so I can take a closer look?

3

Of course, how should I go about that? Apologies, still a bit new to some of this.

4

You can upload it to something like Google Drive and share the link here or DM it to me. Alternatively, I can provide an FTP link to upload it.

5

There are a few issues here.

You have added a LocalizedStringEvent to both the Text GameObjects but you are using a separate script to update the text. That makes the 2 LocalizedStringEvents redundant, they are also whats causing the error as they don’t have values for the {0] and {1} placeholders. You can remove them.

There are also some performance issues in your scripts.
You are updating every frame, however you are subscribing to the change event every update.

localizedPointsString.StringChanged += (localizedText) =>
{
    pointsText.text = localizedText;
};

This means you add a new subscriber to the event each time. This will degrade performance over time as each update will call all the subscribers, essentially calling set text a lot of times.

Something like this will work better:

void UpdateStomachCapacityUI()
{
    // Set parameters for the localized string for stomach capacity
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments = new object[] { capacity, maxCapacity };
    stomachCapacityText.text = localizedCapacityString.GetLocalizedString();   
}

void UpdatePointsUI()
{
    // Set parameters for the localized string for points
    localizedPointsString.Arguments = new object[] { points };
    pointsText.text = localizedPointsString.GetLocalizedString();
}

Finally, I would suggest only running these methods when the value has changed as doing new object[] each update will be allocating memory each time that can cause performance issues. Once you have assigned the array you can change the value, you don’t need to assign a new array each time.
Something like this could work:

void UpdateStomachCapacityUI()
{
    // Set parameters for the localized string for stomach capacity
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments ??= new object[2];
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments[0] = capacity;
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments[1] = maxCapacity;
    stomachCapacityText.text = localizedCapacityString.GetLocalizedString();   
}

void UpdatePointsUI()
{
    // Set parameters for the localized string for points
    localizedPointsString.Arguments ??= new object[1];
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments[0] = points;
    pointsText.text = localizedPointsString.GetLocalizedString();
}

I would also look at adding some early return if the value does not change.

Something like:

int lastPointsUpdate = -1;

void UpdatePointsUI()
{
    if (lastPointsUpdate == points)
        return;

    lastPointsUpdate = points;
    
    // Set parameters for the localized string for points
    localizedPointsString.Arguments ??= new object[1];
    localizedCapacityString.Arguments[0] = points;
    pointsText.text = localizedPointsString.GetLocalizedString();
}
6

Thank you so much! Disabling the two Localize String Events was all I needed to do. Thanks as well for the code tips, much appreciated!