Object

Inherited By: ARVRServer, AudioServer, CameraServer, ClassDB, EditorFileSystemDirectory, EditorSelection, EditorVCSInterface, Engine, Geometry, GodotSharp, Input, InputMap, IP, JavaClassWrapper, JavaScript, JNISingleton, JSON, JSONRPC, MainLoop, Marshalls, Navigation2DServer, NavigationMeshGenerator, NavigationServer, Node, OS, Performance, Physics2DDirectBodyState, Physics2DDirectSpaceState, Physics2DServer, PhysicsDirectBodyState, PhysicsDirectSpaceState, PhysicsServer, ProjectSettings, Reference, ResourceLoader, ResourceSaver, Time, TranslationServer, TreeItem, UndoRedo, VisualScriptEditor, VisualServer

Base class for all non-built-in types.

Description

Every class which is not a built-in type inherits from this class.

You can construct Objects from scripting languages, using Object.new() in GDScript, new Object in C#, or the "Construct Object" node in VisualScript.

Objects do not manage memory. If a class inherits from Object, you will have to delete instances of it manually. To do so, call the free method from your script or delete the instance from C++.

Some classes that extend Object add memory management. This is the case of Reference, which counts references and deletes itself automatically when no longer referenced. Node, another fundamental type, deletes all its children when freed from memory.

Objects export properties, which are mainly useful for storage and editing, but not really so much in programming. Properties are exported in _get_property_list and handled in _get and _set. However, scripting languages and C++ have simpler means to export them.

Property membership can be tested directly in GDScript using in:

var n = Node2D.new()
print("position" in n) # Prints "True".
print("other_property" in n) # Prints "False".

The in operator will evaluate to true as long as the key exists, even if the value is null.

Objects also receive notifications. Notifications are a simple way to notify the object about different events, so they can all be handled together. See _notification.

Note: Unlike references to a Reference, references to an Object stored in a variable can become invalid without warning. Therefore, it's recommended to use Reference for data classes instead of Object.

Note: Due to a bug, you can't create a "plain" Object using Object.new(). Instead, use ClassDB.instance("Object"). This bug only applies to Object itself, not any of its descendents like Reference.

Tutorials

Methods

Variant

_get ( String property ) virtual

Array

_get_property_list ( ) virtual

void

_init ( ) virtual

void

_notification ( int what ) virtual

bool

_set ( String property, Variant value ) virtual

String

_to_string ( ) virtual

void

add_user_signal ( String signal, Array arguments=[ ] )

Variant

call ( String method, ... ) vararg

void

call_deferred ( String method, ... ) vararg

Variant

callv ( String method, Array arg_array )

bool

can_translate_messages ( ) const

Error

connect ( String signal, Object target, String method, Array binds=[ ], int flags=0 )

void

disconnect ( String signal, Object target, String method )

void

emit_signal ( String signal, ... ) vararg

void

free ( )

Variant

get ( String property ) const

String

get_class ( ) const

Array

get_incoming_connections ( ) const

Variant

get_indexed ( NodePath property ) const

int

get_instance_id ( ) const

Variant

get_meta ( String name, Variant default=null ) const

PoolStringArray

get_meta_list ( ) const

Array

get_method_list ( ) const

Array

get_property_list ( ) const

Reference

get_script ( ) const

Array

get_signal_connection_list ( String signal ) const

Array

get_signal_list ( ) const

bool

has_meta ( String name ) const

bool

has_method ( String method ) const

bool

has_signal ( String signal ) const

bool

has_user_signal ( String signal ) const

bool

is_blocking_signals ( ) const

bool

is_class ( String class ) const

bool

is_connected ( String signal, Object target, String method ) const

bool

is_queued_for_deletion ( ) const

void

notification ( int what, bool reversed=false )

void

property_list_changed_notify ( )

void

remove_meta ( String name )

void

set ( String property, Variant value )

void

set_block_signals ( bool enable )

void

set_deferred ( String property, Variant value )

void

set_indexed ( NodePath property, Variant value )

void

set_message_translation ( bool enable )

void

set_meta ( String name, Variant value )

void

set_script ( Reference script )

String

to_string ( )

String

tr ( String message ) const


Signals

script_changed ( )

Emitted whenever the object's script is changed.


Enumerations

enum ConnectFlags:

ConnectFlags CONNECT_DEFERRED = 1

Connects a signal in deferred mode. This way, signal emissions are stored in a queue, then set on idle time.

ConnectFlags CONNECT_PERSIST = 2

Persisting connections are saved when the object is serialized to file.

ConnectFlags CONNECT_ONESHOT = 4

One-shot connections disconnect themselves after emission.

ConnectFlags CONNECT_REFERENCE_COUNTED = 8

Connect a signal as reference-counted. This means that a given signal can be connected several times to the same target, and will only be fully disconnected once no references are left.


Constants

NOTIFICATION_POSTINITIALIZE = 0

Called right when the object is initialized. Not available in script.

NOTIFICATION_PREDELETE = 1

Called before the object is about to be deleted.


Method Descriptions

Variant _get ( String property ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of get.

Returns the given property. Returns null if the property does not exist.


Array _get_property_list ( ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of get_property_list.

Returns the object's property list as an Array of dictionaries.

Each property's Dictionary must contain at least name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries. Optionally, it can also include hint: int (see PropertyHint), hint_string: String, and usage: int (see PropertyUsageFlags).


void _init ( ) virtual

Called when the object is initialized in memory. Can be defined to take in parameters, that are passed in when constructing.

Note: If _init is defined with required parameters, then explicit construction is the only valid means of creating an Object of the class. If any other means (such as PackedScene.instance) is used, then initialization will fail.


void _notification ( int what ) virtual

Called whenever the object receives a notification, which is identified in what by a constant. The base Object has two constants NOTIFICATION_POSTINITIALIZE and NOTIFICATION_PREDELETE, but subclasses such as Node define a lot more notifications which are also received by this method.


bool _set ( String property, Variant value ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of set.

Sets a property. Returns true if the property exists.


String _to_string ( ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of to_string, and thus the object's representation where it is converted to a string, e.g. with print(obj).

Returns a String representing the object. If not overridden, defaults to "[ClassName:RID]".


void add_user_signal ( String signal, Array arguments=[ ] )

Adds a user-defined signal. Arguments are optional, but can be added as an Array of dictionaries, each containing name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries.


Variant call ( String method, ... ) vararg

Calls the method on the object and returns the result. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

call("set", "position", Vector2(42.0, 0.0))

Note: In C#, the method name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined methods where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).


void call_deferred ( String method, ... ) vararg

Calls the method on the object during idle time. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

call_deferred("set", "position", Vector2(42.0, 0.0))

Note: In C#, the method name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined methods where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).


Variant callv ( String method, Array arg_array )

Calls the method on the object and returns the result. Contrarily to call, this method does not support a variable number of arguments but expects all parameters to be via a single Array.

callv("set", [ "position", Vector2(42.0, 0.0) ])

bool can_translate_messages ( ) const

Returns true if the object can translate strings. See set_message_translation and tr.


Error connect ( String signal, Object target, String method, Array binds=[ ], int flags=0 )

Connects a signal to a method on a target object. Pass optional binds to the call as an Array of parameters. These parameters will be passed to the method after any parameter used in the call to emit_signal. Use flags to set deferred or one-shot connections. See ConnectFlags constants.

A signal can only be connected once to a method. It will print an error if already connected, unless the signal was connected with CONNECT_REFERENCE_COUNTED. To avoid this, first, use is_connected to check for existing connections.

If the target is destroyed in the game's lifecycle, the connection will be lost.

Examples:

connect("pressed", self, "_on_Button_pressed") # BaseButton signal
connect("text_entered", self, "_on_LineEdit_text_entered") # LineEdit signal
connect("hit", self, "_on_Player_hit", [ weapon_type, damage ]) # User-defined signal

An example of the relationship between binds passed to connect and parameters used when calling emit_signal:

connect("hit", self, "_on_Player_hit", [ weapon_type, damage ]) # weapon_type and damage are passed last
emit_signal("hit", "Dark lord", 5) # "Dark lord" and 5 are passed first
func _on_Player_hit(hit_by, level, weapon_type, damage):
    print("Hit by %s (lvl %d) with weapon %s for %d damage" % [hit_by, level, weapon_type, damage])

void disconnect ( String signal, Object target, String method )

Disconnects a signal from a method on the given target.

If you try to disconnect a connection that does not exist, the method will print an error. Use is_connected to ensure that the connection exists.


void emit_signal ( String signal, ... ) vararg

Emits the given signal. The signal must exist, so it should be a built-in signal of this class or one of its parent classes, or a user-defined signal. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

emit_signal("hit", weapon_type, damage)
emit_signal("game_over")

void free ( )

Deletes the object from memory immediately. For Nodes, you may want to use Node.queue_free to queue the node for safe deletion at the end of the current frame.

Important: If you have a variable pointing to an object, it will not be assigned to null once the object is freed. Instead, it will point to a previously freed instance and you should validate it with @GDScript.is_instance_valid before attempting to call its methods or access its properties.


Variant get ( String property ) const

Returns the Variant value of the given property. If the property doesn't exist, this will return null.

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).


String get_class ( ) const

Returns the object's class as a String. See also is_class.

Note: get_class does not take class_name declarations into account. If the object has a class_name defined, the base class name will be returned instead.


Array get_incoming_connections ( ) const

Returns an Array of dictionaries with information about signals that are connected to the object.

Each Dictionary contains three String entries:

  • source is a reference to the signal emitter.

  • signal_name is the name of the connected signal.

  • method_name is the name of the method to which the signal is connected.


Variant get_indexed ( NodePath property ) const

Gets the object's property indexed by the given NodePath. The node path should be relative to the current object and can use the colon character (:) to access nested properties. Examples: "position:x" or "material:next_pass:blend_mode".

Note: Even though the method takes NodePath argument, it doesn't support actual paths to Nodes in the scene tree, only colon-separated sub-property paths. For the purpose of nodes, use Node.get_node_and_resource instead.


int get_instance_id ( ) const

Returns the object's unique instance ID.

This ID can be saved in EncodedObjectAsID, and can be used to retrieve the object instance with @GDScript.instance_from_id.


Variant get_meta ( String name, Variant default=null ) const

Returns the object's metadata entry for the given name.

Throws error if the entry does not exist, unless default is not null (in which case the default value will be returned).


PoolStringArray get_meta_list ( ) const

Returns the object's metadata as a PoolStringArray.


Array get_method_list ( ) const

Returns the object's methods and their signatures as an Array.


Array get_property_list ( ) const

Returns the object's property list as an Array of dictionaries.

Each property's Dictionary contain at least name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries. Optionally, it can also include hint: int (see PropertyHint), hint_string: String, and usage: int (see PropertyUsageFlags).


Reference get_script ( ) const

Returns the object's Script instance, or null if none is assigned.


Array get_signal_connection_list ( String signal ) const

Returns an Array of connections for the given signal.


Array get_signal_list ( ) const

Returns the list of signals as an Array of dictionaries.


bool has_meta ( String name ) const

Returns true if a metadata entry is found with the given name.


bool has_method ( String method ) const

Returns true if the object contains the given method.


bool has_signal ( String signal ) const

Returns true if the given signal exists.


bool has_user_signal ( String signal ) const

Returns true if the given user-defined signal exists. Only signals added using add_user_signal are taken into account.


bool is_blocking_signals ( ) const

Returns true if signal emission blocking is enabled.


bool is_class ( String class ) const

Returns true if the object inherits from the given class. See also get_class.

Note: is_class does not take class_name declarations into account. If the object has a class_name defined, is_class will return false for that name.


bool is_connected ( String signal, Object target, String method ) const

Returns true if a connection exists for a given signal, target, and method.


bool is_queued_for_deletion ( ) const

Returns true if the Node.queue_free method was called for the object.


void notification ( int what, bool reversed=false )

Send a given notification to the object, which will also trigger a call to the _notification method of all classes that the object inherits from.

If reversed is true, _notification is called first on the object's own class, and then up to its successive parent classes. If reversed is false, _notification is called first on the highest ancestor (Object itself), and then down to its successive inheriting classes.


void property_list_changed_notify ( )

Notify the editor that the property list has changed, so that editor plugins can take the new values into account. Does nothing on export builds.


void remove_meta ( String name )

Removes a given entry from the object's metadata. See also set_meta.


void set ( String property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the given property. If the property does not exist or the given value's type doesn't match, nothing will happen.

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).


void set_block_signals ( bool enable )

If set to true, signal emission is blocked.


void set_deferred ( String property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the given property, after the current frame's physics step. This is equivalent to calling set via call_deferred, i.e. call_deferred("set", property, value).

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).


void set_indexed ( NodePath property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the property identified by the NodePath. The node path should be relative to the current object and can use the colon character (:) to access nested properties. Example:

set_indexed("position", Vector2(42, 0))
set_indexed("position:y", -10)
print(position) # (42, -10)

void set_message_translation ( bool enable )

Defines whether the object can translate strings (with calls to tr). Enabled by default.


void set_meta ( String name, Variant value )

Adds, changes or removes a given entry in the object's metadata. Metadata are serialized and can take any Variant value.

To remove a given entry from the object's metadata, use remove_meta. Metadata is also removed if its value is set to null. This means you can also use set_meta("name", null) to remove metadata for "name".


void set_script ( Reference script )

Assigns a script to the object. Each object can have a single script assigned to it, which are used to extend its functionality.

If the object already had a script, the previous script instance will be freed and its variables and state will be lost. The new script's _init method will be called.


String to_string ( )

Returns a String representing the object. If not overridden, defaults to "[ClassName:RID]".

Override the method _to_string to customize the String representation.


String tr ( String message ) const

Translates a message using translation catalogs configured in the Project Settings.

Only works if message translation is enabled (which it is by default), otherwise it returns the message unchanged. See set_message_translation.