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Getting started

This page takes you from an empty project to an edited asset. It covers the first session only. The README documents the full feature set, including themes, processors, and extension points.

Requirements

  • Unity 2021.3 or newer. package.json declares that floor, and the window is developed and tested on Unity 6. The 2021.3 editor is not part of the local validation yet, which #86 tracks.
  • No additional package dependencies.

Install the package

  1. Open Window → Package Manager.
  2. Select +, then Add package from git URL.
  3. Enter https://github.com/wallstop/DataVisualizer.git and select Add.

Unity imports the package, and the menu item appears.

Open the window

Select Tools → Wallstop Studios → Data Visualizer, then dock it next to the Inspector. The window has three panels:

  • Namespaces and types (left) lists your ScriptableObject types by C# namespace. Expand a namespace, then select a type to load its instances.
  • Objects (center) lists every instance of the selected type. One row is selected at a time.
  • Inspector (right) shows the full inspector for the selected asset, including custom editors and Odin Inspector integration.

Add your types

Three controls above the namespace panel fill the catalog:

  • Search Types queries the ScriptableObject types Unity knows about. Add single types or a whole namespace in one action.
  • Scan Asset Folder crawls a folder and registers the types and existing assets it finds. Use it to adopt a project that already has data.
  • Scan Scripts Folder registers types from source folders, which is the right choice before you create any assets.

Removing a type or namespace only stops Data Visualizer from tracking it. Your assets stay on disk.

Edit your first asset

  1. Select a type in the left panel.
  2. Select an instance in the middle panel.
  3. Edit a field in the right panel. The change saves immediately, as in Unity's own Inspector.

Use the buttons above the object list to manage the selection: Clone writes a copy with a Clone suffix beside the original, Rename renames the asset on disk, Move retargets it to another folder, and Delete removes it after you confirm.

Create an asset

Select Create to add a new instance of the active type. The asset lands in your Data Folder, which you set under Settings. Clones always stay beside their original, whatever the Data Folder is.

  • The filter field above the namespace list narrows the type rows by display name, without case sensitivity. Namespace headers stay visible.
  • The search box above the object list searches the text of all loaded instances, so you can jump to an asset by its contents.
  • Drag labels from Available into the AND: or OR: rows to show only assets that carry them. The AND && and OR || toggle switches between matching every dragged label and matching any of them.

Keep your arrangement

Pane widths, ordering, tracked types, and your selection persist between sessions. Under Settings, choose where that state lives:

  • Persist state in user settings (default) stores it in your local user cache, so each developer keeps a private arrangement and version control stays free of layout churn.
  • The project settings asset stores the state in the repository, which suits a team that wants one shared arrangement.

Select active object mirrors your Data Visualizer selection in Unity's Inspector, and Data Folder sets where new assets are created.

While the editor is playing

Entering Play Mode pauses package-driven work. The window keeps the last loaded view and shows Package editing is paused during Play Mode. While it is paused:

  • Create, the add-type controls, and the inspector are disabled, and the inspector shows read-only content.
  • Asset operations are refused: clone, rename, move, delete, and label changes.
  • Selecting another type does not load its instances, and the catalog does not change.

Everything resumes when you leave Play Mode.

Next steps

  • Themes: pick Classic, Nord, Dracula, Compact, or Minimal under Settings → Theme, or author your own.
  • Extensibility: derive from BaseDataObject, implement the lifecycle interfaces, and return your own UI Toolkit content from BuildGUI.
  • The README documents every control, the theme tokens, and the runtime extension points.