René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Rename vague assets / asset_dependencies tables (and their views) to reflect AssetBundle/PreloadData origin","articleBody":"## Summary\n\nThe `assets` and `asset_dependencies` tables (and their views `asset_view` / `asset_dependencies_view`) have vague names that don't convey what they contain or when they are populated. They are easily confused with:\n\n- the `asset_bundles` table (a different thing - the Unity Archive; see #68 for its rename),\n- `serialized_files`,\n- \"source assets\" in the project (the term \"asset\" is heavily overloaded across the docs).\n\nMore importantly, the names give no hint that this data is **AssetBundle/PreloadData-specific** and mostly empty for Player and ContentDirectory builds. From recent investigation:\n\n- `assets` is populated **only** from the AssetBundle Unity object's `m_Container` (empty for Player/ContentDirectory builds).\n- `asset_dependencies` is populated from **three** sources: the AssetBundle object's `m_PreloadTable`, the synthetic Scene object's contents, and the `PreloadData` object's `m_Assets` (the last of which also appears in Player builds).\n\n## Proposed names (to discuss)\n\n| Current | Proposed | Notes |\n|---|---|---|\n| `assets` | `assetbundle_assets` | Makes the AssetBundle-object origin explicit. |\n| `asset_view` | `assetbundle_asset_view` | Follow whatever the table becomes. |\n| `asset_dependencies` | `preload_dependencies` **or** `assetbundle_asset_dependencies` | See caveat below. |\n| `asset_dependencies_view` | match the table | |\n\nCaveat on `asset_dependencies`: the request was to tie its name more clearly to the `PreloadData` object that populates it. That fits its largest source, but note the table also receives AssetBundle `m_PreloadTable` rows and scene-content rows, so a strictly `preload_`-only name is slightly narrower than the current behavior. Worth deciding the intended scope as part of the rename (and it interacts with #81, which may change how/whether the Player-build and scene rows are written).\n\n## Relationship to other issues\n\n- #68 - rename `asset_bundles`. These renames should share a naming convention and probably land together.\n- #81 - the scene/preload population bugs. Since #81 may change what actually gets written into `asset_dependencies` (e.g. removing the `object = -1` rows, fixing scene handling), it may be cleaner to fix #81 first or do both together to avoid churning the schema twice.\n\nThis is a **breaking schema change**: bump `PRAGMA user_version` in `Init.sql` and update the find-refs schema-version check accordingly.\n\n## Places that reference these names in the source\n\nSchema / writers:\n- `Analyzer/Resources/AssetBundle.sql` - `CREATE TABLE assets`, `CREATE TABLE asset_dependencies`, `CREATE VIEW asset_view`, `CREATE VIEW asset_dependencies_view`.\n- `Analyzer/Resources/Init.sql` - `view_material_shader_refs` and `view_material_texture_refs` both `LEFT JOIN assets a`; also the `PRAGMA user_version` bump.\n- `Analyzer/SQLite/Handlers/AssetBundleHandler.cs` - `INSERT INTO assets`, `INSERT INTO asset_dependencies`, and the index names `asset_dependencies_object` / `asset_dependencies_dependency`.\n- `Analyzer/SQLite/Handlers/PreloadDataHandler.cs` - `INSERT INTO asset_dependencies`.\n- `Analyzer/SQLite/Commands/SerializedFile/AddAssetDependency.cs` - `TableName =\u003e \"asset_dependencies\"`, the table-definition comment, and consider renaming the class itself.\n- `Analyzer/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs` - auto-generated from the `.sql` resources; regenerates on build, no manual edit, but will show the new names.\n\nConsumers:\n- `ReferenceFinder/ReferenceFinderTool.cs` - `FROM assets a` (line ~140) and `FROM asset_view` (line ~193).\n\nTests:\n- `UnityDataTool.Tests/UnityDataToolPlayerDataTests.cs` - `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM assets`.\n- `UnityDataTool.Tests/UnityDataToolAssetBundleTests.cs` - `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM assets`.\n- `UnityDataTool.Tests/ExpectedDataGenerator.cs` - `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM assets`.\n\nDocumentation:\n- `Documentation/analyzer.md` - the `asset_view (AssetBundleProcessor)` and `asset_dependencies_view (AssetBundleProcessor)` sections.\n- `Documentation/analyze-examples.md` - references to the `assets` table (around the \"source assets\" discussion).\n\n(Search the tree for `\\bassets\\b`, `asset_dependencies`, `asset_view`, `asset_dependencies_view` before declaring done; the token \"assets\" is also a substring of unrelated filenames like `sharedassets0.assets`, so filter those out.)\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/SkowronskiAndrew","@type":"Person","name":"SkowronskiAndrew"},"datePublished":"2026-07-03T18:08:28.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":0},"url":"https://github.com/82/UnityDataTools/issues/82"}