Object

Interface | orca.core

Core engine host object.

Overview

The Object type is the root of the runtime type system. Every element that can appear in a scene, be manipulated through scripts, or participate in rendering and logic derives its basic functionality from Object. It establishes the fundamental contract that all other types extend, providing common lifecycle methods, hierarchy management, and component composition.

An Object is not tied to a specific visual or logical role by itself. Instead, it serves as a container for components, and these components define the actual capabilities of the instance. Higher-level types such as Node, Node2D, or ImageView are constructed by layering specialized components on top of the base Object.

Lifecycle

Manages object creation, initialization, update cycles, and destruction.

new() → nresults

Create new object.

Returns: nresults

awake()

Initializes the core component when it is loaded, an essential lifecycle method.

animate()

Runs object animations.

clear()

Clear all children of the object.

rebuild()

Rebuilds the object's body content asynchronously

Hierarchy

Navigates and manipulates the parent-child relationship tree.

addChild(Object, bool) → Object

Add a child object.

Parameter	Type	Description
child	Object	The child object to add to this object's hierarchy
is_template	bool	If true, marks this object with the OF_TEMPLATE flag to indicate it contains template children

Returns: Object — Returns added child object, for chaining calls

removeFromParent()

Destroys an object.

getParent() → Object

Gets the parent object in the hierarchy

Returns: Object — Pointer to parent object, or null if no parent

getFirstChild() → Object

Gets the first child object

Returns: Object — Pointer to first child object, or null if no children

getNext() → Object

Gets the next sibling object

Returns: Object — Pointer to next sibling object, or null if no next sibling

getRoot() → Object

Gets the root object of the hierarchy

Returns: Object — Pointer to root object

findChild(string, bool) → Object

Find a child object by name.

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The exact name of the child object to locate
recursive	bool	If true, searches recursively through all descendants; if false, searches only immediate children

Returns: Object — Pointer to the first child object found with the matching name, or null if no match is found

findByPath(string) → Object

Finds child object by hierarchical path

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	Hierarchical path to the target object

Returns: Object — Pointer to found object, or null if not found

findChildByID(uint) → Object

Finds a child object by its unique identifier

Parameter	Type	Description
id	uint	Unique identifier of the child object to find

Returns: Object — Pointer to child object with matching ID, or null if not found

findChildByAlias(uint) → Object

Finds a child object by its alias identifier

Parameter	Type	Description
id	uint	Alias identifier of the child object to find

Returns: Object — Pointer to child object with matching alias, or null if not found

findChildOfClass(uint) → Object

Finds a child object of a specific class

Parameter	Type	Description
classID	uint	The hashed identifier of the class to search for

Returns: Object — Pointer to the matching child object, or null if not found

findParentOfClass(uint) → Object

Finds the nearest parent object of a specific class

Parameter	Type	Description
classID	uint	The hashed identifier of the class to search for

Returns: Object — Pointer to the matching parent object, or null if not found

Messaging

Dispatches events and sends messages between objects.

post(string)

Posts a message asynchronously, bubbling through the object hierarchy.

Parameter	Type	Description
message	string	The name of the message to post

send(string) → nresults

Sends a message synchronously to the current object and returns the result.

Parameter	Type	Description
message	string	The name of the message to send

Returns: nresults — The LRESULT as integer, or nil if unhandled

Properties

Reads and writes typed properties, applying and observing changes.

updateProperties()

Updates object properties.

emitPropertyChangedEvents()

Emits onPropertyChanged events by comparing to previous values.

findImplicitProperty(string) → PropertyType

Looks up a property by context-driven syntax, like "Column" instead of "Grid.Column"

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The name of the property to find

Returns: PropertyType — Pointer to a property type, null if not found

findExplicitProperty(string) → PropertyType

Looks up a property by full syntax, like "Grid.Column" instead of "Column"

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The full name of the property to find

Returns: PropertyType — Pointer to a property type, null if not found

attachPropertyProgram(string, string, PropertyAttribute, BindingMode, bool) → bool

Attaches a property program to the specified property

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The full name of the property to attach the program to
program	string	The program or expression to attach to the property
attribute	PropertyAttribute	The attribute of the property to attach the program to (e.g., Value, Color, etc.)
mode	BindingMode	The binding mode for the property program (e.g., OneWay, TwoWay, OneWayToSource)
enabled	bool	Whether the property program is enabled

Returns: bool — True if the property program was successfully attached, false otherwise

findPropertyByPath(string) → Property

Finds a property by navigating a hierarchical path

Parameter	Type	Description
path	string	Slash-separated path to the property (e.g., "Child1/Child2/PropertyName")

Returns: Property — Pointer to the property if found, or null if the path is invalid

getProperties() → Property

Gets the properties collection

Returns: Property — Pointer to properties collection

getInteger(uint, int) → int

Gets an integer property value by identifier

Parameter	Type	Description
ident	uint	The hashed long identifier "ObjectClass.PropertyName" of the property to retrieve
fallback	int	The value to return if the property is not found or incompatible

Returns: int — The property value if found and compatible, otherwise the fallback value

Layout

Controls position, size, and dirty-flag propagation for layout passes.

setDirty()

Sets object dirty and queues it for recalculation

clearDirtyFlags()

Clears dirty flags, marks object as recalculated

Style

Manages style sheets and resolves computed style values.

addStyleRule(string)

Add a stylesheet to the object.

Parameter	Type	Description
source	string	Name or path of the stylesheet resource to load and apply to this object

getStyle() → uint

Retrieves object style flags

Returns: uint — Current style flags as bitmask

setStyle(uint)

Sets object style flags

Parameter	Type	Description
style	uint	Style flags bitmask to apply

Animation

Attaches, plays, and transitions keyframe animations on this object.

doTween(string, int, InterpolationMode, Easing)

Tween an object property over time.

Parameter	Type	Description
property	string	Property to tween
duration	int	Duration of the tween in seconds
ipo	InterpolationMode	Interpolation mode for the tween
easing	Easing	Easing function for the tween

addComponentByName(string)

Attaches a component class to this object.

Parameter	Type	Description
className	string	The class name of the component to attach (e.g. "AnimationPlayer")

Focus and Input

Controls focus state, hover, modal presentation, and timers.

setFocus()

Set focus on the object.

isFocused() → bool

Checks if this object currently has focus

Returns: bool — True if this object has focus, false otherwise

setHover()

Sets the hover state for an object

showModal(Object) → nresults

Sets or clears the modal child object

Parameter	Type	Description
modal	Object	The object to set as modal, or null to clear the current modal

Returns: nresults — Starts a coroutine

setTimer(int) → int

Set a timer on the object.

Parameter	Type	Description
duration	int	Duration of the timer in milliseconds

Returns: int — Handle or identifier for the created timer, which can be used to control or cancel the timer before it expires

Identity and State

Accesses name, class, flags, aliases, text content, and Lua state.

getName() → string

Retrieves the object's name identifier

Returns: string — Current name of the object

setName(string)

Sets the object's name identifier

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	New name to assign to the object

getClassName() → string

Returns the object's class type name

Returns: string — Class name of the object type

setClassName(string)

Sets the class name of the object

Parameter	Type	Description
classID	string	The class name to assign to the object

checkName(string) → bool

Checks if object has a specific name

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	Name to check against

Returns: bool — True if object name matches the provided string

getFlags() → uint

Gets the object flags

Returns: uint — Bitfield of object flags

setFlags(uint)

Sets the object flags

Parameter	Type	Description
flags	uint	New bitfield value for the object flags

getIdentifier() → uint

Gets the identifier of the object

Returns: uint — Hashed identifier of the object

getAlias() → uint

Gets the alias identifier

Returns: uint — Alias identifier

getSourceFile() → string

Gets the source file path

Returns: string — Path to the source file

setSourceFile(string)

Sets the source file path of the object

Parameter	Type	Description
path	string	The file path to associate with the object

getTextContent() → string

Gets the text content of the object

Returns: string — Text content of the object

setTextContent(string)

Sets the text content of the object

Parameter	Type	Description
text	string	The text content to display

getTimestamp() → long

Gets the last modified timestamp

Returns: long — Timestamp of last dirty marking

getLuaObject() → uint

Gets the Lua object reference

Returns: uint — Lua registry index for the object

getDomain() → lua_State

Gets the domain of the object

Returns: lua_State — The domain of the object

Prefabs and Aliases

Loads prefab templates and manages named child aliases.

instantiate() → Object

Instantiates a new object from this prefab.

Returns: Object — Returns the instantiated object

loadPrefabs()

Loads and instantiates prefabs.

isPrefabView() → bool

Checks if this object is a prefab view container

Returns: bool — True if this object is a PrefabView, false otherwise

Messages

Create

Sent once when the component is first created and attached to an object.

Start

Sent after the entire object hierarchy has been loaded, signalling that the scene is ready for logic execution.

Animate

Requested when an animation update is needed.

ThemeChanged

Sent when the active theme is changed, allowing components to refresh their styled resources.

Field	Type	Description
recursive	bool	Whether to propagate the theme change to child objects

PropertyChanged

Sent when a property value on the object changes.

Field	Type	Description
Property	Property	The property that changed

Attached

Sent when the object is attached to a parent object in the hierarchy.

Release

Sent when the object is being released and its resources should be freed.

Destroy

Sent just before the object is destroyed and removed from the scene.

Timer

Sent on each timer tick registered for this object.

Field	Type	Description
timerId	int	Timer identifier returned by setTimer