auto-authoring

AutoAuthoring — Zero-Boilerplate Baker

Intent

Eliminate Baker boilerplate for components with a direct field-for-field mapping between authoring Inspector and runtime IComponentData, using a generic base class that auto-generates the Baker via reflection.

Use When

Rapid prototyping. Components where every authoring field maps directly to a runtime field with no conversion logic. The component is [Serializable] and its Entity fields should resolve directly from GameObject references.

Avoid When

The Baker needs custom logic (unit conversion, math operations, multi-entity spawning, DependsOn registration for nested assets, blob asset creation). When baking logic grows beyond "copy fields", write an explicit Baker.

Senior Pattern

• Define the runtime struct as [Serializable] public struct MyComponent : IComponentData.
• Declare the authoring class as public class MyComponentAuthoring : AutoAuthoring<MyComponent>.
• Add void OnEnable() {} to the authoring class to show the enabled checkbox in the Inspector.
• Entity fields in the struct are automatically resolved from Inspector GameObject references via PropertyContainer.
• For buffers: AutoAuthoring<T> → BufferAutoAuthoring<T>. For shared components: SharedAutoAuthoring<T>.

Code Template

// Runtime component — must be [Serializable]
[Serializable]
public struct SpawnConfig : IComponentData
{
    public Entity SpawnPointPrefab;
    public int MaxSpawnCount;
    public float SpawnInterval;
}

// Authoring — zero Baker boilerplate
public class SpawnConfigAuthoring : AutoAuthoring<SpawnConfig>
{
    void OnEnable() { }  // shows enabled checkbox in Inspector
}

// When custom logic is needed, graduate to explicit Baker:
public class SpawnConfigAuthoring : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject SpawnPointPrefab;
    public int MaxSpawnCount = 10;
    public float SpawnIntervalSeconds = 2f;

    class Baker : Baker<SpawnConfigAuthoring>
    {
        public override void Bake(SpawnConfigAuthoring authoring)
        {
            var entity = GetEntity(TransformUsageFlags.None);  // config, not moving
            AddComponent(entity, new SpawnConfig
            {
                SpawnPointPrefab = GetEntity(authoring.SpawnPointPrefab,
                    TransformUsageFlags.Dynamic),
                MaxSpawnCount = authoring.MaxSpawnCount,
                SpawnInterval = authoring.SpawnIntervalSeconds
            });
        }
    }
}