ScriptableObject Factory – Create Any ScriptableObject Type

A ScriptableObject is a serializable Unity object that is not attached to a GameObject (like MonoBehaviours are). They are typically used for storing data and they can also be saved as an asset file in you project, just like any other texture or audio clip.

If you’re not familiar with them be sure to check out this video: Introduction to Scriptable Objects.

The helper script in this post is available as a .unitypackage here: UnityPackage

Creating a ScriptableObject

Most code samples that describe how to create a new Scriptable object repeat the same boring, boilerplate code that looks something along the lines of:

var obj = ScriptableObject.CreateInstance();
string assetPathAndName = AssetDatabase.GenerateUniqueAssetPath (path + "/" + "assetName.asset");
AssetDatabase.CreateAsset (asset, assetPathAndName);

AssetDatabase.SaveAssets ();
EditorUtility.FocusProjectWindow ();
Selection.activeObject = asset;

Unfortunately, there’s no built-in option to create one from the editor…

The little recipe here actually performs the same code as above, including adding a menu item to the editor, but it only works for a single class type, so you’d have to append it with more code for every new type you’d like to instantiate.

ScriptableObjectFactory

I’ve put together a short editor extension that will look for all ScriptableObject types in your project and let you select which one you want to create.

This extension adds a new menu option under Assets/Create or Project/Create:

Create a ScriptableObject

Create a ScriptableObject

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create a ScriptableObject

Create a ScriptableObject

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you click this option, a popup window opens and allows you to select what type of object you want to create:

Popup for creating a ScriptableObject

Popup for creating a ScriptableObject

 

 

 

 

 

The source code for this little helper is available at: ScriptableObjectFactory.

It’s also available as a .unitypackage here: UnityPackage

Enjoy 🙂

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7 Responses to ScriptableObject Factory – Create Any ScriptableObject Type

  1. RandomDev says:

    Thanks a lot. Sharing your work is truly a great thing to do 🙂 Keep up the good work.

  2. ironman says:

    If someone is looking for a ready Asset, which uses a database ScriptableObject I recommend this https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/44021

    There is possibility of designing a database entity via an interface and support for 23 types: UnityEngine and System.

    • Lior Tal says:

      I’ve seen this one posted on the Unity forums. Looks interesting 🙂 we are not using a database in our project, but we are using ScriptableObjects for storing other pieces of data for our project.

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  4. Slake_it says:

    thanks very much

  5. mrt says:

    Thank you very much for this

  6. Tomer Pigi says:

    Exactly what I was looking for, thanks for saving me the time to actually code this 🙂

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