Declaring type of Dictionary key and value

KTRSS · January 13, 2024, 7:07pm

Godot Version

4.1.3 stable

Question

Is it posible to declare Dictionary key and value types?

Exerion · January 13, 2024, 7:10pm

Not yet

github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals

Add static type hints for dictionary members

opened 08:06PM - 10 Sep 19 UTC

ghost

topic:gdscript

**Describe the project you are working on:** Cutscene-heavy RPG **Describe h…ow this feature / enhancement will help your project:** I want to associate some object with some identifier to make it easy to reference them from the AnimationPlayer (in this case it's some Dialogue class with data for who is talking and what they're saying.) I would like to access this data using the format `read_dialogue(id: String)`, where the id is the key in a dictionary that leads to the data. This causes my extended AnimationPlayer to pause the animation so it can autotype some text and wait for player input before moving on with the animation. However, there's currently no way to define a dictionary to have any particular kinds of keys and values, so if, for example, I wanted to add 50 different lines of text to read in this animation, I'd have to set the key's type and the value's type manually every time, which is tedious. ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/28724859/64644979-7ffa8800-d3d9-11e9-8c7d-c10ed1dbe0f7.png) Furthermore: without dictionary hints, it's not possible to add a hint to a particular kind of Object, since the list of types you can pick from is limited to built-ins and various primitive types. Contrast this to arrays, where you can use hints to specify just about any type not present in the drop-down. So, you're not going to be able to easily create resources in-place, resulting in the OmniResource issue (except worse since it's every object ever.) **Show a mock up screenshots/video or a flow diagram explaining how your proposal will work:** `export(Dictionary, String, Resource) var hinted_dictionary` ![64645509-ab31a700-d3da-11e9-8d57-f0ca866362b2](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/28724859/64646077-dc5ea700-d3db-11e9-866a-5ab364853ada.png) **If this enhancement will not be used often, can it be worked around with a few lines of script?:** I think just about everyone will be very pleased with this addition; however, in the meantime, it's not too bothersome to avoid the issue. Instead I'll give my class an `id: String` property and loop through an array. I assume this isn't as efficient as using dictionaries, but I likely won't notice a real performance hitch. Nonetheless, it's a shame exported dictionaries can't be more useful. https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/25157

littlecarlito · November 14, 2024, 7:20am

Type erasure on dictionaries destroys a large part of their purpose. This would be a great feature.

matheusmdx · November 14, 2024, 9:27am

Btw this is already implemented in 4.4 dev 2 and up

capitanlopez · November 14, 2024, 9:34am

Yes.
I opened a bug for a minor problem with them in the editor (4.4. dev3). Resolved quickly.

github.com/godotengine/godot

Deleting a key from a dictionary in a resource from the editor deletes the last value

opened 03:59PM - 15 Oct 24 UTC

capitanlopez

bug topic:editor

### Tested versions 4.4-dev3 ### System information Windows 11 ### Issue d…escription I attach an image. Pressing the trash button deletes the last key in the dictionary, not the key associated with the button. The key associated with the button should be deleted. ### Steps to reproduce Create a resource with a @export var my_dictionary: Dictionary[int, int]. Add multiple keys to the dictionary. Press the delete button. ### Minimal reproduction project (MRP) ![bug](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e65f5ca9-00a1-4bdc-b267-c313c2a0f844)

littlecarlito · November 14, 2024, 3:08pm

Seriously awesome thank you! Saved me from having to refactor all my control logic. Once Dictionary typing gets released in standard versioning how difficult/is it possible to switch my project off the dev branch and back to stable?

matheusmdx · November 14, 2024, 3:58pm

Technically will require minor adjusts, they always try to keep the compatibility between releases so you probably will not find big problems to upgrade, just do a backup of your project and be happy

dginovker · June 19, 2025, 2:39am

For anyone who finds this off Google, you can now do

@export var typed_key_value: Dictionary[int, String] = { 1: "first value", 2: "second value", 3: "etc" }