New Coder having a scoping issue i think

Unity Engine
1

hi guys I’m very new to unity and C# and I’m having what I’m sure is a simple scoping issue and would like some advice.

this is my code

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Example : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject Map;
    public GameObject MapPinPrefab;
       
    private class Thing
    {
        Vector3 location;
        GameObject mapPin;

        public Thing(Vector3 l)
        {
            location = l;
            CreateMapPin();
        }

        public void CreateMapPin()
        {
            mapPin = Instantiate(MapPinPrefab, location, Quaternion.identity);
        }
    }

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {       
    }
}

that gives this error

Error CS0120 An object reference is required for the non-static field, method, or property ‘Example.MapPinPrefab’ Example.cs 23

so i get that in my instantiate call MapPinPrefab must not be in scope but i don’t understand why or how to get a global in scope here.

i realize I’m probably being very dumb but any help/advise would be appreciated

2

Did you drag a GameObject into the field MapPinPrefab in your Inspector? This is the object reference that is required according to the error message.

3

before i wrote the instantiate line i did yes (a prefab)
with the instantiate line the code wont compile so you cant

4

MapPinPrefab belongs to an instance of Example. Thing does not have an instance of Example so it can’t get MapPinPrefab.

You could try:

public void CreateMapPin(Example example)
{
    mapPin = Instantiate(example.MapPinPrefab, location, Quaternion.identity);
}

or maybe

public void CreateMapPin(GameObject prefab)
{
    mapPin = Instantiate(prefab, location, Quaternion.identity);
}

MapPinPrefab would be reachable if it was static, but static fields do not work with the inspector. Something like the code above is most likely what you are after.

5

yea i thought this was the answer which means ill have to create my mappins not in the constructor or i have to pass the prefab into the thing constructor which i was trying to avoid because it seemed unnecessary.

your help is much appreciated thank you