Preview a bound value in the editor

I have created a UMG widget that contains a text whose content is bound to a variable.

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When this widget is integrated in another widget, and the variable is filled with a new text value, it does not display the new value but still the original default inside of the editor.

Isn’t it favoured to display the overridden default value, and not the default value of the original widget?

I figure this functionality already exists, but is for some reason not executed: When I change the data type of the variable “Text Value” e.g. from String to Text, and compile the child widget, the overridden default becomes visible in the parent widget editor (e.g. “Options” instead “Text”). But once I compile the parent blueprint, it displays the childs default again.

posts reply 8 years later This would be a great feature that I’m surprised doesn’t exist. Was trying to find more information on why my binding wasn’t updating the designer with my default value provided, as designing is harder while being unable to preview in realtime…

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I’d expect the designer to be autofilling the text field with the default value provided, but instead it doesn’t fill it with anything. Unless I’m doing something wrong? (which was my first assumption, which is how I got here…)

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If anyone else runs into this, locating Event Pre Construct in the EventGraph and using that to set variables (after toggling Variable on for the text box) worked for solving this for me and allowing live preview in the designer, whereas using a binding did not.

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If there’s a way to get bindings to live update in Designer Mode too, that’d be neat! But this can be a useful workaround for achieving that without using bindings.

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Thanks for the update feralmoans, this is exactly the solution I was searching for to preview my widget functionality in UMG. Interesting that bound values don’t get updated during Event Pre Construct… appreciate your detective work.

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No problem! I have also since learned that binding values to UMG like that is apparently bad for performance, and it’s recommended to use event dispatchers or other methods for live updating!

Funnily enough, Epic implemented the Binding preview for the Widget Thumbnails, because the Thumbnail team does not talk to the Designer team, I guess.