A text notation for Unity GameObject hierarchies, inspired by the tree command

prefab-text-notation.en.md

Prefab Text Notation

A text notation for representing Unity GameObject hierarchies. Based on the output format of the tree command, with additional syntax for components and properties.

Basic Rules

GameObject

Append / to the name.

Player/
├── Model/
└── Weapon/

Component

Prefix with : (no space).

• Inline form: Components whose properties are all default values can be listed on a single line, comma-separated.
• Block form: When a component has non-default property values, it is written on its own line with properties as children.
• Inline and block forms may be mixed under the same GameObject.

Player/
├── :Rigidbody
│   └── mass: 80
├── :CapsuleCollider, MeshRenderer
└── :Animator
    └── controller: @PlayerAC

Property

Written as children of a component, in the form name: value. Default values are omitted.

Namespaces

Use the short name (Image) by default. Qualification is required only when the short name resolves to multiple types.

• UI.Image → UnityEngine.UI.Image
• Fully qualified names like UnityEngine.UI.Image are also allowed.

Ambiguous names without qualification are an error.

Value Types

Type	Example
int	42
float	1.5
bool	true / false
string	"hello"
Vector2/3/4	(1, 2) / (1, 2, 3)
Quaternion	(0, 0, 0, 1)
Color	(1, 0, 0, 1) (RGBA)
enum	Continuous (serialized name)
Asset ref	@PlayerMat (asset name)
Scene ref	$Player/Head (scene path)
null	null

Full Example

Player/
├── :Rigidbody
│   └── mass: 80
├── :CapsuleCollider, MeshRenderer
├── :Animator
│   └── controller: @PlayerAC
├── Model/
│   ├── :Transform, SkinnedMeshRenderer
│   └── Hand/
│       └── :Transform
└── UI/
    ├── :Transform, Canvas, CanvasScaler, GraphicRaycaster
    └── HealthBar/
        ├── :Transform, Image
        └── Fill/
            └── :Image
                └── color: (1, 0, 0, 1)

Open Questions

Areas left for future extension:

• Nested properties: How to represent hierarchical properties like Rigidbody.constraints.freezeRotationX.
• Arrays and lists: How to represent collection properties like AudioSource.clips (candidate: [0]: @JumpSound).
• Prefab instances: A way to distinguish GameObjects that are prefab instances.
• Active state: How to represent active: false.

prefab-text-notation.md

Prefab Text Notation

UnityのGameObjectヒエラルキーをテキストで表現する記法。tree コマンドの出力形式をベースに、コンポーネントとプロパティの表現を追加したもの。

基本ルール

GameObject

末尾に / をつける。

Player/
├── Model/
└── Weapon/

Component

先頭に : をつける(スペースなし)。

• インライン形式: すべてのプロパティがデフォルト値のコンポーネントはカンマ区切りで1行に列挙
• ブロック形式: 非デフォルト値のプロパティがある場合、コンポーネントの子としてプロパティを並べる
• 同じGameObject配下でインライン行とブロック行は混在してよい

Player/
├── :Rigidbody
│   └── mass: 80
├── :CapsuleCollider, MeshRenderer
└── :Animator
    └── controller: @PlayerAC

プロパティ

コンポーネントの子として 名前: 値 の形で記述。デフォルト値のものは省略する。

名前空間

通常は短縮名(Image)を使用。短縮名が複数の型に該当する場合は修飾が必要。

• UI.Image → UnityEngine.UI.Image
• 完全修飾 UnityEngine.UI.Image も使用可

衝突しているのに修飾がない場合はエラー。

値の型

型	表記例
int	42
float	1.5
bool	true / false
string	"hello"
Vector2/3/4	(1, 2) / (1, 2, 3)
Quaternion	(0, 0, 0, 1)
Color	(1, 0, 0, 1) (RGBA)
enum	Continuous(シリアル化名)
Asset参照	@PlayerMat(アセット名)
Scene参照	$Player/Head(シーンパス)
null	null

完全な例

Player/
├── :Rigidbody
│   └── mass: 80
├── :CapsuleCollider, MeshRenderer
├── :Animator
│   └── controller: @PlayerAC
├── Model/
│   ├── :Transform, SkinnedMeshRenderer
│   └── Hand/
│       └── :Transform
└── UI/
    ├── :Transform, Canvas, CanvasScaler, GraphicRaycaster
    └── HealthBar/
        ├── :Transform, Image
        └── Fill/
            └── :Image
                └── color: (1, 0, 0, 1)

未確定の論点

以下は今後拡張予定の領域。

• ネストプロパティ: Rigidbody.constraints.freezeRotationX のような階層プロパティの表現
• 配列・リスト: AudioSource.clips のような配列プロパティの表現(候補: [0]: @JumpSound)
• プレファブインスタンス: プレファブ参照を持つGameObjectの区別記法
• アクティブ状態: active: false の表現