Retrieving text file from the resources folder

Unity Engine
1

I am at the end of project and being roadblock by one frustrating problem. I am just learning that unity cannot build with the UnityEditor namespace.

I am trying to write a text file to the resources folder, then set that text file to a TextAsset GameObject so I can use it later. Unfortunately without AssetDatabase.Refresh() the TextAsset is always null and won’t be found until the program is restarted.

Oddly, I have done this same process with a PNG and it works seamlessly. I can use System.IO to write and encode a PNG, then set it to a texture right away using Resources.Load();.

Why would it work for a PNG file, and not a TXT file? The print statement on line 17 even returns true.

Thanks so much for your help!

using UnityEngine;
using System.IO;
//using UnityEditor;

public class TextHandler : MonoBehaviour
{
    public TextAsset textFile;
    public string resourcesPath;
    void Start ()
    {
        resourcesPath = Application.dataPath + "/Resources/";
    }
    public void WriteTextFile(string NPCName, string NPCType, string NPCDialogue, string NPCItems)
    {
        System.IO.File.WriteAllText(resourcesPath + NPCName + "_" + NPCType + ".txt" , NPCDialogue + "~" + NPCItems + ".txt");
        //AssetDatabase.Refresh();
        print(File.Exists(resourcesPath + NPCName + "_" + NPCType + ".txt"));
        textFile = Resources.Load(NPCName + "_" + NPCType) as TextAsset;
    }

}
2

You shouldn’t be saving to the Resource folder anyways. Depending on your platform choice, some don’t even support writing anything to it. Use persistantDataPath to save stuff.

3

Thanks for the response. How would you load a TextAsset from persistantDataPath since Resources only loads from a folder named “Resources” anywhere in the Assets folder?

4

Using System.File.IO, read and write text files, not TextAssets, to Application.persistentDataPath.
How To: Write a Text File
How To: Read from a Text File

5

Thanks for the quick response TonyLi. I have explored that option as well. For my specific design purposes I actually need the object in the game as a TextAsset, not a string. Is that even possible? Can I create a new TextAsset assigned to a gameObject from the string?

6

I don’t think so. Assets are preprocessed into builds. Can you redesign the part that reads the TextAsset so it reads a text file instead?