Access gameObject array value from other script

Question

I'm trying to access gameobject array values from one script to another. I have attached certain gameobject capsules with the array in the editor as shown in the figure below and I'm trying to access the values of array to another script. But I get null values when i try to pass the values. I don't want to use gameobject tag since i have to set gameobject active and deactive during runtime.

PinsScript.cs

public class PinsScript : MonoBehaviour {

        // Use this for initialization
        public GameObject[] pins;
        void Start () {

        }

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

        }
}

MovingBall.cs

PinsScript p = GetComponent<PinsScript>();

        foreach (GameObject pin in p.pins)
        {

             pin.SetActive(false);



        }

Answer 1

Attach a PinScript to each pin. Keep a reference to each of your pins in an array when you Awake. Your PinScript can be empty. Then you have a reference to turn them on or off as you please. Your scripts would look like this:

PinScript.cs

public class PinsScript : MonoBehaviour { }

MovingBall.cs

public class MovingBall : MonoBehaviour
{
    private PinsScript[] pinScripts;

    private void Awake()
    {
        pinScripts = FindObjectsOfType<PinsScript>();
    }

    public void SetPinActivity(bool active)
    {
        foreach (var pin in pinScripts)
        {
            pin.gameObject.SetActive(active);
        }
    }
}

Then you can deactivate them by calling:

myMovingBall.SetPinActivity(false);

This, however, is not a great architecture. But it is a simple solution.

I assume you do not know how many pins you have. If you know your pins ahead of time, let me know, and I will suggest a more optimized solution. But this will work either way.

Answer 2

Your problem here is with referencing which PinsScript are you trying to access.

Whenever you are instanciating a new MovingBall, you must reference the PinsScript somewhere. I usually do this by adding a small portion of code on the MonoBehavior which create the MovingBall :

public PinsScript pinsScript;

Then, you just have to drag the GameObject holding the PinsScript into that variable. Another way to do it is by accessing the GameObject by name :

PinsScript p = GameObject.Find("TheNameOfTheGameObjectHoldingThePinsScript").GetComponent<PinsScript>();