What is TSubClassOf and how can i use it?

Development Programming & Scripting C++
1

Hey Guys and Gals :slight_smile:

So as the title says i want to know what is TSubClassOf and how can I use it. I know what TSubObjectPtr is and how to use it ,(which got replaced in 4.6) I seen lot of people use it, I did do some searches but couldn’t find any thing that I want. A explanation and a possible example will be useful. Thanks guys!

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TSubclassOf<> is essentialy wrapper for



UClass*

You use it as pointer to class, but not to instanced object. It will only point to class default object.

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TSubclassOf lets you restrict the types that can be assigned to a class property at runtime or compile time.

For instance, suppose you have a pickup class in your game and you want to create a blueprintable pickup spawner for it. If you were to define your pickup spawner this way:



UPROPERTY( Category=Pickup, EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadWrite )
UClass* PickupType;

This would allow you to assign a pickup type to spawn, but it would also let you assign any UObject. In order to avoid that, you use TSubclassOf, like so:



UPROPERTY( Category=Pickup, EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadWrite )
TSubclassOf<AGamePickup> PickupType;

That way, if you try to assign a non-GamePickup class in native code, the compiler will complain. And when editing blueprint defaults or instances, the dropdown menu will only contain subtypes of GamePickup.

It’s a great tool and you should probably be using it whenever you’re dealing with class variables.

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Hey thanks cmartel and iniside :), really appreciate it. Now I know what TSubClassOf is.

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