Is it possible to access an autoloaded node's CLASS, not itself as an instance?

Question

I get the gist of how autoloaded nodes work. They each get plopped into the tree as a singleton first thing, and they're accessible from basically anywhere at runtime using their class names.

Suppose it's not runtime and I'm using a tool script, and I want to use a static function that's part of an autoload which is obviously not in the tree yet - which I can theoretically do because the function is, you know, static. Except I can't, because when I've typed the autoload's class name I'm referring to the singleton instance and not the class. Is there a way to specify the class and not the instance? I don't love scattering functions all over when they could be neatly boxed into one place. I literally just want to print some enums.

I tried changing the class_name so it's different from how the class is referred to in Autoload settings. Let's say the class name is Global and the autoload is just G. I can use G to get the singleton as usual. Trying to use Global results in non-existent function in base GDScript ... So that doesn't work, if you were wondering.

aliaslion · Accepted Answer · 2024-07-12 15:57:21Z

1

You can use a class with static functions/variables. The disadvantage is that you can't access the scene tree.

Example static class:

@tool # Neccesary to init variables in editor
class_name StaticClass
## Static class, can be accessed from anywhere (even without autoload).

static var test_var = "blabla"

static func test_func():
    print("Static Class! ", test_var)

Example access script:

@tool
extends EditorScript # Used EditorScript for easy execution.


func _run() -> void:
    # This code can run from anywhere!
    StaticClass.test_func()
    StaticClass.test_var = "123"
    StaticClass.test_func()

answered Jul 12, 2024 at 15:57

aliaslion

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