README.md

Godot-Wiring

A simple Godot 4.x plugin that allows efficient name-based access to any scene node from any script.

About	Current Release
Version	1.1
Date	January 18, 2024
Change Log	Change Log
Platform	Godot 4.x (tested on 4.2)
License	MIT License
Author	Brom Bresenham

API

Code	Description
Wiring.NodeName	Locates NodeName in the cache or scene tree, caches it if necessary, and returns it.
Wiring.NodeName = <variant>	Assigns or updates the value of NodeName in the cache.
Wiring.clear_cache()	Removes all cached values. This happens automatically when the scene changes.

About

• Wiring is a simple and efficient way to programatically access arbitrary scene nodes from any script.
• This plugin adds an autoload singleton named Wiring that overrides its property getter and setter methods, _get() and _set().
• The first time a Wiring property is accessed, the getter finds the node with the specified name in the current scene. The result is cached in a dictionary and returned.
• On subsequent accesses to the same property, the cached value is returned.
• The Wiring cache is automatically cleared whenever the scene changes. It can be also be manually cleared with Wiring.clear_cache().
• You can directly set arbitrary Wiring properties, which adds them to the cache. This can be done to update the cached reference to a node that has changed in the tree, or to use Wiring to implement global variables that only exist for the current scene (and are lost once the scene changes).
• If you set a custom property Wiring.XYZ = null, Godot will generate an error if you then attempt to read Wiring.XYZ. As a workaround, access Wiring._cache["XYZ"] instead.
• Compared to the conventional pattern of exporting node references and setting them in the editor, one advantage of using Wiring is that swapping out subtrees is easier to manage. Instead of having to change every reference to the old subtree, setting the new reference in Wiring is all that's needed.
• The name "Wiring" comes from the concept of various components being able to communicate with one other through back-end connections (using the analogy of a physical control panel) regardless of how the controls are arranged on the front end.

Installation

Installing From Godot AssetLib

1. Switch to the "AssetLib" tab in the Godot editor.
2. Search for "wiring".
3. Click and install the Wiring addon.

Installing From GitHub Release

1. Download the latest release.

2. Move or drag the addons folder into a Godot project.

Enabling the Plugin

Enable the plugin under Project > Project Settings... > Plug-ins.

Demo Project

There's a demo project utilizing Wiring in the Demo Project folder.