Unity Custom Type Drawer

[boreal sedge]

Hey all! I'm currently trying to make a dialogue system using visual scripting nodes for structure. I'm trying to create a custom data type with a custom inspector/drawer for my node but none of the approaches I've tried have worked.

I've tried the drawer method like how the manual says but all i get is what you see in the screenshot.
I've also tried making an inspector but that also has not worked. Any help would be great thanks!

Here's my drawer attempt:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

[CustomPropertyDrawer(typeof(Dialogue))]
public class DialogueDrawer : PropertyDrawer
{
    public override void OnGUI(Rect position, SerializedProperty property, GUIContent label)
    {
        EditorGUI.BeginProperty(position, label, property);

        position = EditorGUI.PrefixLabel(position, GUIUtility.GetControlID(FocusType.Passive), label);

        var indent = EditorGUI.indentLevel;
        EditorGUI.indentLevel = 0;

        var textRect = new Rect(position.x, position.y, position.width, position.height);

        EditorGUI.PropertyField(textRect, property.FindPropertyRelative("text"), GUIContent.none);

        EditorGUI.indentLevel = indent;
        EditorGUI.EndProperty();
    }
}

[inner skiff]

what kind of dialogue system are you trying to create ? like what is the game that is it for?

why would you want a custom data type for a dialogue system? i am sorry if i'm asking stupid question i just want to know

[boreal sedge]

It's a narrative heavy game, basically a visual novel. I already have the base of the dialogue system in place, but I'm using the visual scripting graphs for organizing different routes and such to make it easier for my teammates.

[inner skiff]

ahh i understand, you are trying to simplify it for your team to make modifications?

[boreal sedge]

The data type would contain everything needed to display a certain piece of dialogue, character expression, text, etc

[inner skiff]

i am not sure i would use your way though, i would rather use a scriptable object i think

[boreal sedge]

More just trying to make an easy way for all of us to plan out the dialogue and make easy changes, to basically turn the story into a flow chart

[inner skiff]

or a embed script machine with graph variable? a list of strings and a int that says which line to display

[boreal sedge]

The node would just provide the data to the dialogue manager who would handle the rest

[inner skiff]

are you trying to use editor to achieve this goal? i am not sure uvs is the perfect tool for this, i could suggest another one where you could create anything of unity editor with visual scripting. but it isnt UVS

[inner skiff]

do you know how to create a subgraph ?

[boreal sedge]

yes, the main reason I'm not doing that is so I can make the text area for the dialogue larger

[boreal sedge]

The only other solution i can think of is using the experimental graphview api, I've done it before but its incredibly tedious to set up

[inner skiff]

ah okay, i guess i'll leave it to others then, the tool i was talking about would be very good for your use i think though , but it wouldnt combine UVS very well with it i think?

[boreal sedge]

What tool are you suggesting?

[inner skiff]

Unode

either that or perhaps use the note to write your dialogue there but keep it close to where the strings are connected?

[inner skiff]

do you know the sticky note? i don't see why you wouldn't use this instead tbh but i guess i don't know what you need

[boreal sedge]

I'd rather write my own solution than pay for one, the only thing that I'm trying to do really is just make a text area inside the node like the [textArea] attribute

[inner skiff]

theres a free version but it has some limitations

[inner skiff]

okay i think x7 will be able to help you when hes there

[boreal sedge]

Alright, thanks

[novel forum]

I don't think you can make Drawers/Insectors for Valueports, that's never worked when i've tried it, the only other thing I can think of that you've already suggested is using TextArea inside the node or creating another node which can be similar to a literal node and you can put all the info in the UnitHeader(You should only use this if the dialog has more than 1 value that you can change)

[boreal sedge]

Ah that's unfortunate but I can work with that, how would I make the text area then? Do I just put the attribute on the ValueInput?

[novel forum]

You need to add a string field in the Unit then add these Attributes:

[InpspectorTextArea]
[UnitHeaderInspectable] // If you want the value to appear on the top of the Unit
[Inspectable] // If you want the value to appear in the Graph Inspector
public string MyDialog;

[boreal sedge]

Awesome! Just two more questions,

1. Is is possible to have the value to appear next to the port instead of the header?
2. Does OnValidate(), trigger when it's changed? I'd like to do some input validation when things like enums are changed

[novel forum]

I don't think you can put it next to the port you would just need to use a string value input inorder to do that,

I am not sure if OnValidate triggers, as I use inspectors so I don't end up using that method it's something you will need to test

[boreal sedge]

Cool, I'll be sure to try that out and see. Thanks! I've been learning some of visual scripting and I really wish that i'd get some extra love cause you could do so much with it if there was a little bit more functionality i feel

[novel forum]

Yeah exactly

[novel forum]

Ahh wait i think i figure out how to make custom inspectors for ports

[boreal sedge]

Oooh do tell

[novel forum]

so one of the reason's you could not is because visual scripting blocks setting default values on ports for types that are not basic(int, float, string, Vectors etc)

so you have to manually do it in the definition method:

    protected override void Definition()
    {
        In = ControlInput(nameof(In), Trigger);
        Out = ControlOutput(nameof(Out));
        Save = ValueInput<SaveSystem>(nameof(Save), default);
        if (defaultValues.ContainsKey(Save.key))
        {
            defaultValues[Save.key] = new SaveSystem();
        }
        else
        {
            defaultValues.Add(Save.key, new SaveSystem());
        }
        Succession(In, Out);
    }

then you have to make the inspector for the type

here is my example one

using Unity.VisualScripting;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEngine;

[Inspector(typeof(SaveSystem))]
public class SaveSystemInspector : Inspector
{
    public SaveSystemInspector(Metadata metadata) : base(metadata)
    {
    }

    protected override float GetHeight(float width, GUIContent label)
    {
        return EditorStyles.textArea.CalcHeight(new GUIContent((metadata.value as SaveSystem).filePath), width);
    }

    protected override void OnGUI(Rect position, GUIContent label)
    {
        BeginBlock(metadata, position);
        var value = metadata.value as SaveSystem;
        var newValue = GUI.TextArea(position, value.filePath);
        if (EndBlock(metadata))
        {
            metadata.RecordUndo();
            metadata["filePath"].value = newValue;
            SetHeightDirty();
        }
    }
}

it makes a text area on the port

[boreal sedge]

Thanks a ton again!

[novel forum]

You're welcome

[restive oriole]

I have a custom dialogue node which you're welcome to look at

it will be useless to you as it's bespoke to my framework, but will just confirm for you some of the steps I took

But I haven't added custom inspectors to the nodes, so I'm learning some interesting things from this thread, thanks.

[restive oriole]

Unfortunately I was never able to get a nice big text-area to appear for my dialogue

but the stuff you're asking about is less about the creation of custom node, and more about how to style and arrange them better, right?