Editing cells

Edit any kind of field from the table, numbers, text, choices, colours, curves, references, lists and [SerializeReference] objects, with every change staged until you apply it.

Documentation pages

A cell is one field of one asset. Editing it stages a change: the cell shows the old value struck through beside the new one, and nothing is written until you press Apply. The pending bar under the table counts what is waiting, and its Undo takes back the last staged step, so trying a value costs nothing.

Edit a cell

Click a cell and start typing, or press F2 or double-click it to edit what is there. Press Enter to stage the value and Esc to leave the cell as it was. Tab and Shift+Tab move to the next and previous cell, and the arrow keys move around the table.

A value the field cannot hold is refused before it is staged, with the reason under the cell: 300 in a byte, fast in a number, or a choice the enum does not have.

Many rows at once

Select rows by their numbers on the left (Ctrl-click and Shift-click add to the selection), then edit a cell in one of them. The value is staged on every selected row, as one step.

To set a block of cells to different values, paste them; see Copy and paste. To change many values by a rule, such as every Elite’s health up by ten percent, use a recipe.

What each kind of field takes

Each cell is edited the way its field is written, and each one reads back exactly as you typed it.

Field Edit it by Written as
Whole number Typing 42. Each size is checked: a byte takes 0 to 255
Decimal Typing 4.9, or 3% for 0.03
Text Typing Anything, on as many lines as it needs
True or false Clicking the box A tick
Choice (enum) Typing a member’s name Elite
Flags Typing the names Fire, Poison
Vector Typing (1, 2, 3)
Colour Unity’s colour picker, or typing #FF8800, #FF880080, or (1, 0.5, 0, 1)
Gradient, curve Unity’s gradient or curve editor The whole shape, as text, for copying
Reference Unity’s object picker, or dragging an asset onto the cell The asset’s identity, never its name
Addressables reference Typing or pasting The asset’s GUID
List or array Typing, or Open collection [10, 20, 30]
[SerializeReference] Typing the type’s name FireballAbility, or None

A decimal shows the digits its value has, so a speed of 4.9 reads 4.9, not the float’s noise. A number column shows the same number of decimals down the column, up to three, and the whole value is in the cell’s tooltip.

References

Double-click a reference cell to open Unity’s object picker on the field’s type, or drag an asset onto the cell from the Project window. Only assets of the field’s type are offered. A picture shows its thumbnail and a sound its waveform, with ▶ to play it.

A reference is stored by the asset’s identity, so renaming or moving the asset never breaks it. A reference to an asset that has been deleted reads Missing and is listed as a problem on the Check tab.

Right-click a reference cell for Reveal reference, which selects the asset in the Project window, or Open reference in new sheet, which opens its table in another Asset Tables window.

Lists and arrays

A list of numbers, text or references is written between brackets, items separated by commas: [10, 20, 30], ["Fire", "Ice"]. Text in quotes may hold commas. The text sets the list’s length, so typing four items into a list of three adds one, and [] empties it.

For a longer list, or a list of structs, right-click the cell and choose Open collection. The table becomes the list: a row per element, a column per field the element holds. The bar above it names where you are and holds what acts on the elements:

Wave 2's list of entries opened as a table, the Orc entry selected: a row per entry with its enemy, count and delay, and Add element, Remove elements, Move up and Move down above it.Wave 2's list of entries opened as a table, the Orc entry selected: a row per entry with its enemy, count and delay, and Add element, Remove elements, Move up and Move down above it.
  • Add element adds one after the selected element, or at the end. It is created with its defaults by Apply; edit its fields after that.
  • Remove elements strikes the selected elements through until Apply.
  • Move up and Move down reorder them. A moved element shows where it came from (↑ from 3).
  • Discard changes here takes back what is staged on the selected elements.

The link at the start of the bar goes back to the assets. What you staged inside the list stays staged, and Apply writes it with everything else.

[SerializeReference] objects

A [SerializeReference] field holds an object whose type can vary from asset to asset, such as an ability that is a FireballAbility on one enemy and a HealAbility on another. Its cell shows the object’s type, and the fields the object holds are columns beside it.

Type another type’s name to change it, or None to clear it. The new type’s fields appear with their default values, staged, so you can see what Apply will write. When the object you are replacing holds values, Athena Asset Tables names the fields you would lose and asks first.

Long values

Right-click a cell and choose Show full value to read a long text, list or curve in a window of its own, sized to the value. You can edit it there too.

Cells you cannot edit

Some cells read but do not edit, and their tooltip says why:

  • The field is marked [AthenaColumn(ReadOnly = true)] in its script.
  • Unity does not save the field, such as a Dictionary or a property, so there is nothing to write.
  • The value comes from importing a file, such as a texture’s width. Its import settings are columns instead; see Prefabs, materials and import settings.
  • The game is in Play Mode. Athena Asset Tables writes nothing while the game runs; see Play Mode.