# Storing asset info in CSV DataTable - not entirely possible?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636>\
**Category:** Blueprint\
**Tags:** unreal-engine\
**Created:** [December 22, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636 "2015-12-22T18:00:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Slavq](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Slavq](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Slavq)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/1 "2015-12-22T18:00:14Z")

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Since default values of BP classes tend to reset quite often (bug), I’ve decided to store all Items/Skills/etc. info in DataTable. It works quite well, I have all info like ID (every Item BP class has its own unique “ID” String var, and grabs all the info from corresponding DataTable Row in Construction Script) name, value, damage, description, etc. in Google Sheets. After adding/changing something, I export .CSV file + import it into DataTable in UE.

However, I still need to set up default values of variables like ItemIcon (Texture2D), ItemMesh (StaticMesh), ItemMaterial, ItemHighlightedMaterial, etc. directly in BP class.  
I can’t think of any way of referencing these assets in .CSV file. I’ve heard about “AssetID”, but I’m afraid it’s only for asset load management?

I could store all info straight in UE editor DataTable, but e.g. writing item descriptions (long text) would be very painful there.

Maybe it’s better to have two DataTables, something like that?:

- _Items_ (DataTable feed from .CSV file, with info like name, description, value, damage, etc.)
- _ItemsAssets_ (DataTable created inside UE, with references to items Icon (Texture2D), Mesh (StaticMesh), etc.)

… Then, let’s say “LongSword” BP would need only one default variable to be set: “ID” (String) (for example “longSword1”). Then it would grab all the info from “longSword1” row - from both \*Items \*and \*ItemsAssets \*data tables in Construction Script.

Is there a better way? Or maybe the two-datatables workflow would be ok?  
I hope I wrote it in understandable way? 🙂

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**Author:** ![CriErr](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@CriErr](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/CriErr)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/2 "2015-12-22T19:47:03Z")

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you can make it manual in ue4 with engine datatable editor.

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**Author:** ![Slavq](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Slavq](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Slavq)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/3 "2015-12-22T20:07:39Z")

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> [@CriErr;441869](#):
>
> you can make it manual in ue4 with engine datatable editor.

Yeah I know, but as I said earlier:

> [@Slavq;441805](#):
>
> I could store all info straight in UE editor DataTable, but e.g. writing item descriptions (long text) would be very painful there.

Any longer text is difficult to type in in UE editor ([EXAMPLE](https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/152148/how-to-properly-create-a-long-skillitem-descriptio.html)), but storing long text in spreadsheet works really well when using cell text wrapping.  
… Hm, so probably I’ll try to implement this two-datatables solution. One datatable for text descriptions, etc., feed from .CSV - and the other one (for storing e.g. Texture2D/StaticMesh references) created manually in UE datatable editor…

PS. I hope that DataTables don’t reset their values like some BP classes 😃

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**Author:** ![CriErr](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@CriErr](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/CriErr)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/4 "2015-12-22T20:09:55Z")

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see, you found solution =)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Slavq](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Slavq](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Slavq)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/5 "2015-12-22T20:20:28Z")

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Yup, the two datatables should do the job… I wanted to check if maybe there is some other obvious, better solution that I’m missing ^^  
… Well, if someone gets some better idea, please let me know 😃

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**Author:** ![Nortiest](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Nortiest](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Nortiest)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/6 "2015-12-23T15:31:03Z")

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It sounds like this is what you want to do.

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**Author:** ![Slavq](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Slavq](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Slavq)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/storing-asset-info-in-csv-datatable-not-entirely-possible/50636/7 "2015-12-23T19:19:08Z")

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Thanks, copy+paste asset reference as a String also seems like a good solution. I’ll look into it!
