Adding & Removing Elements

9_ScriptableDictionaries

To add an entry into a scriptable dictionary is the same as adding an entry in a regular dictionary.

In this example, each element prefab has a component "AddRemoveElementToDictionary" attached to it. Navigate to the hierarchy and select one element template object (you can choose any element, but I will show Water):

Now, look in the inspector to check out its components:

The nice part about using a Dictionary, is that we can have different cases when the item is already in the dictionary or not. Here is how an entry is added or removed:

private void Start()
{
    _element = GetComponent<Element>();

    //Try to add the first element of this type
    if (!_scriptableDictionary.TryAdd(_element.ElementType, 1))
    {
        //If its already in, just increment the count
        _scriptableDictionary[_element.ElementType]++;
    }
}

private void OnDestroy()
{
    //Decrement the count of the element
    _scriptableDictionary[_element.ElementType]--;

    //If the count is 0, remove the element from the dictionary
    if (_scriptableDictionary[_element.ElementType] == 0)
    {
        _scriptableDictionary.Remove(_element.ElementType);
    }
}