Cast ADirectionaLight

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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1

Im new to programing and c++ and i dont really understand how casting works, i tried to cast it to an AActor but when i pressed the play button the engine crashed

	if(DirectionalLight == nullptr)
	{
	    DirectionalLight = Cast<ADirectionalLight>(OtherActor);
	}
	UDirectionalLightComponent* DirLight = DirectionalLight->GetComponent();

I want to use the UDirectionalLightComponent* GetComponent() so i can get the directionalight location

#pragma once

#include "CoreMinimal.h"
#include "UObject/ObjectMacros.h"
#include "Engine/Light.h"
#include "DirectionalLight.generated.h"

class UArrowComponent;
class UDirectionalLightComponent;

/**
 * Implements a directional light actor.
 */
UCLASS(ClassGroup=(Lights, DirectionalLights), MinimalAPI, meta=(ChildCanTick))
class ADirectionalLight
	: public ALight
{
	GENERATED_UCLASS_BODY()

#if WITH_EDITORONLY_DATA
	// Reference to editor visualization arrow
private:
	UPROPERTY()
	TObjectPtr<UArrowComponent> ArrowComponent;

	/* EditorOnly reference to the light component to allow it to be displayed in the details panel correctly */
	UPROPERTY(VisibleAnywhere, Category="Light")
	TObjectPtr<UDirectionalLightComponent> DirectionalLightComponent;
#endif

public:

	// UObject Interface
	virtual void PostLoad() override;
#if WITH_EDITOR
	virtual void LoadedFromAnotherClass(const FName& OldClassName) override;
	virtual void PostEditChangeProperty(FPropertyChangedEvent& PropertyChangedEvent) override;
	virtual bool CanChangeIsSpatiallyLoadedFlag() const override { return false; }
#endif

public:

#if WITH_EDITORONLY_DATA
	/** Returns ArrowComponent subobject **/
	ENGINE_API UArrowComponent* GetArrowComponent() const { return ArrowComponent; 
}

	/** Returns SkyAtmosphereComponent subobject */
	ENGINE_API UDirectionalLightComponent* GetComponent() const { return DirectionalLightComponent; }
#endif
};

This is the error

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EpicAccountId:71603a914c784e4fae88ff22d7ff76b3

Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x00000000000003e0

UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_TEST2_patch_0!AMurkat::Tick() [F:\Projects\TEST2\Source\TEST2\Murkat.cpp:66]
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Core
UnrealEditor_Core
UnrealEditor_Core
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_Engine
UnrealEditor_UnrealEd
UnrealEditor_UnrealEd
UnrealEditor
UnrealEditor
UnrealEditor
UnrealEditor
UnrealEditor
UnrealEditor
kernel32
ntdll
2 
if(DirectionalLight == nullptr)
	{
        // if OtherActor is null or the cast fails DirectionalLight will be NULL.
        // if DirectionalLight is NULL DirectionalLight->GetComponent(); will crash:
        // NULL->GetComponent();
	    DirectionalLight = Cast<ADirectionalLight>(OtherActor);
        if (DirectionalLight != nullptr) 
        {
	       UDirectionalLightComponent* DirLight = DirectionalLight->GetComponent();
        }
	}
3

Ty for the reply but the cast still doesnt work

4

First what is Cast:
https://cplusplus.com/articles/iG3hAqkS/

Then your OtherActor needs to be ADirectionalLight object or inherit from it.

ADirectionalLight inheritance hierarchy:
https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.26/en-US/API/Runtime/Engine/Engine/ADirectionalLight/