Dead asset elimination?

[IBwWG]

• Flixel version: dev
• OpenFL version: 3.6.0
• Lime version: 2.9.0
• Affected targets: windows release

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Code snippet reproducing the issue:

package;

import flixel.FlxSprite;
import flixel.FlxState;

class PlayState extends FlxState
{
    override public function create():Void
    {
        var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic(Reflect.getProperty(AssetPaths, "dolphin__png"));
        add(sprite);
    }
}

Using this dolphin.png

---

Observed behavior: Sprite placeholder appears instead of dolphin.png image, despite the fact that dolphin.png was correctly copied into the bin/assets/images/ folder (clean build.)
Expected behavior: That the requested image would appear, like it does in flash debug/release targets.

I tried to make a workaround, thinking if I loaded all my assets the normal way, then those that I accessed with Reflect would be available afterwards. Not so. The following code:

var spriteWorkaround = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic(AssetPaths.dolphin__png);
add(spriteWorkaround);
var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic(Reflect.getProperty(AssetPaths, "dolphin__png"));
add(sprite);

...correctly loads dolphin.png the first time, but the second time gives a placeholder still.

[Gama11]

Why use AssetPaths at all here? Would be much nicer to just use the String path, instead of Reflection (which should be avoided).

[IBwWG]

Only because I thought that was The Way It Is Done In HaxeFlixel. If I may pass the question back to you, why use AssetPaths normally, and why not use it here? (And why should Reflection be avoided? It seems to have so many handy DRY uses.)

Also, none of the following worked (all just gave a placeholder):

var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic("dolphin__png");
var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic("images/dolphin__png");
var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic("assets/images/dolphin__png");

...oops. Of course, the filename has a dot, not two underscores, so this works:

var sprite = new FlxSprite().loadGraphic("assets/images/dolphin.png");

[larsiusprime]

Reflection has two issues I know of:

1. It's slow, especially if you use it in core loops
2. Dead Code Elimination can't account for it

[Gama11]

AssetPaths just creates variables containing the String paths to assets. This provides

• auto-comletion in IDEs with Haxe compiler completion
• a certain degree of type-safety - if an asset is renamed / moved / deleted, the variable name will change, resulting in a compile-time error (normally this would be a runtime error with String paths)

So, using Reflection on AssetPaths... defeats the whole point of AssetPaths. Reflection leads to runtime errors and is not type-safe.

[larsiusprime]

If you're using loadGraphic function with OpenFL's regular Assets class, I think you just give the actual asset name, so just "assets/images/dolphin.png" should do the trick.

[IBwWG]

I see. Thanks both of you for your help, I understand much better now.

[larsiusprime]

Good luck!

[IBwWG]

Thanks :)