Emitting signals with arguments?

09kingarthur

I can't get signals with arguments to work properly. For whatever reason no matter what I do, the script that runs when it receives a signal does not use the argument at all. What am I doing wrong here?

Script for signal reciever:

func _on_character_body_3d_speech_message(text):
	message(text)

func message(next_text):
	hide_text()
	$speech.text = next_text
	$speech.visible_ratio = 0
	await get_tree().create_timer(5).timeout
	hide_text()

func _process(delta):
	if $speech.visible_ratio < 1:
		$speech.visible_ratio += len($speech.text) * READ_SPEED/100

Script for signal emitter:

if Input.is_action_just_pressed("jump") and is_on_floor():
		velocity.y = JUMP_VELOCITY
		speech_message.emit("I'm jumping!")

This code seems creates no errors or crashes, it just doesn't work.
(Additonal context: The recieving node is a Label, and the emitter is a parent of the Label. The hide text function simply clears the text, it doesn't actually hide anything)

DaveTheCoder

Which Godot version? It's important to include the exact version when asking for help with a problem. Signals, in particular, are very different between Godot 3.x and 4.x.

09kingarthur

DaveTheCoder 4.0, my bad.

xyz

Get in the habit of using print() to check your code execution flow. Or alternatively use debugger breakpoints. This is one of the most basic debugging techniques. The idea is to get the feedback if certain blocks of code that you expect to be executed are reached at all.

So put a simple print statement inside if block in the second code snippet and another print statement inside the signal callback. If both statement print the output to the console then you can be sure that signal fired properly and problem is elsewhere. Otherwise the problem is with signal connection/declaration or with conditions that must be met to enter the if block that emits the signal.

09kingarthur

xyz Thank you, using this method I was able to locate the issue. I'll make sure to do this more in the future instead of immediately going to the forums!

Megalomaniak

09kingarthur It's a useful tool in the box, but don't let it stop you from posting on the forums, someone might still be familiar enough with an issue to be able to give a quick answer, and if you solve it yourself you can always provide your own solution as the answer.

09kingarthur

Megalomaniak Absolutely! I'm definitely not gonna abandon the forums, they'll just move down the line of "this doesn't work what do i do to fix it".