Database management

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Guide

Control which cards, decks, units, statuses, and encounters GCS can discover by registering databases and setting their Active state

Configure the content discovery scope

A card, deck, or encounter asset does not enter the current scene's authoring and query scope just because it appears in the Project window. Game Card Editor and GCSApi discover its content actively only when its database is registered with GameCardManager and remains Active.

When starting from an empty scene, open Game Card System dashboard and click Initialize System.

Tools > TinyGiants > GCS > Game Card System

The first initialization creates GameCardManager and GameCardEncounterBootstrap, then registers all six preset databases as Active. Running initialization again adds missing preset entries but does not remove project databases or re-enable a preset that was set to Inactive.

Select GameCardManager in the Hierarchy. Its Inspector shows the registered databases, Active count, and content count for all six types.

The six sections above manage Card, Deck, Player Unit, Enemy Unit, Status, and Encounter databases. 1/1 Active means that the type has one registered database and it is active. Every section also provides create, register, activate, locate, and remove operations.

The diagram above separates Active state from direct Unity references. Active controls whether GCS can discover database content actively. Existing direct references continue to connect decks, players, and encounters, so Inactive content can still enter a battle through a saved reference.

Understand entity-selector fallback

The Database dropdown at the top of Game Card Editor lists only Active databases. Entity selectors for cards, units, statuses, and encounters also prefer Active content. However, if the scene has no Manager, or if all Active databases contain no entries of the requested type, a selector falls back to a project-wide search. Seeing an item in a selector does not prove that its database is Active. Check the actual state in the GameCardManager Inspector.

How the six database types connect

After a database is registered and Active, it appears in the matching Game Card Editor mode. Content membership comes from the entries recorded inside the database. Moving an asset into a folder with a matching name does not add it to the database.

Database	Editing mode	Stored content	Responsibility in battle
GameCardDatabase	Card	Cards	Cost, target, tags, upgrades, and Card Behavior
GameDeckDatabase	Deck	Decks	Card entries, copy counts, starting decks, and reward pools
GamePlayerUnitDatabase	Player	Player units	Health, energy, starting deck, and player presentation assets
GameEnemyUnitDatabase	Enemy	Enemy units	Health range, Tier, Intent, Behavior, and enemy presentation assets
GameStatusDatabase	Status	Statuses	Buffs, Debuffs, stacking, decay, Hooks, and Status Behavior
GameEncounterDatabase	Encounter	Encounters	Player, enemy lineup, Battle Rules, and reward deck

These six content types are not isolated lists. A battle normally expands downward from GameEncounter. The Encounter selects the player, enemies, rules, and reward deck. The player connects to a deck through Starting Deck, and deck entries connect to cards. FlowGraphs on cards, enemies, and statuses then execute in the same battle.

The databases store content definitions. The runtime creates independent instances only after a battle starts. Definitions and runtime instances explains this boundary, while FlowGraph basics explains how Behaviors read and mutate instances.

When you select a database asset in the Project window, its custom Inspector displays statistics for the content it owns. For example, GameCardDatabase combines total card count, types, and rarities in one Summary.

Click Open in Card Mode above to open the current card database directly in Game Card Editor. The Inspectors for other database types provide matching shortcuts. All six show the asset path and total content count. Enemy Database also groups counts by Tier, Status Database separates Buffs and Debuffs, and only Card Database includes type and rarity statistics.

Create project databases

Preset databases are useful for inspecting runnable content. Project-owned databases should live outside the plugin directory. When you create one with + New, the default root is Assets/TinyGiantsData/GameCardSystem/.

Type	Default directory for + New
Card	CardDatabases/
Deck	DeckDatabases/
Player Unit	PlayerUnits/
Enemy Unit	EnemyUnits/
Status	StatusDatabases/
Encounter	EncounterDatabases/

Every database section in the Manager Inspector provides the same operations.

Operation	Result
+ New	Creates a database in the matching project data directory, registers it immediately, and sets it Active
+ Add	Lists project databases of the same type that are not registered. Selecting one registers it immediately and sets it Active
Drag and drop	Registers one or more databases of the same type from the Project window. The same asset is not added twice
Active	Controls whether the database belongs to the current Manager's active discovery scope
Locate	Locates the database asset in the Project window
Remove	Unregisters the database from the current Manager without deleting the asset on disk
Double-click name	Renames the database asset file directly

You can also create a database directly in its target directory from the Project window, then return to the Manager and register it with + Add or drag and drop.

Assets > Create > TinyGiants > GCS > Card Database

After registration, open Game Card Editor, switch to the matching mode, and select the Active database from the Database dropdown at the top.

A complete project database workflow follows this order:

1. Use + New in the matching GameCardManager section, or register an existing database with + Add.
2. Confirm that the database row is Active and check the Active count in the section title.
3. Open Game Card Editor and switch to the matching content mode.
4. Select the target database from the Database dropdown.
5. Create content and confirm in the database Inspector or Editor list that the entry was written to the correct database.

Deletion boundary

• The remove button on a Manager row only unregisters the database. Delete in the Project window removes the database file and its content sub-assets.

• After a database is deleted, direct references from a deck, player, or encounter can become Missing. Check references before deleting it.

Manage Active databases per scene

Active state belongs to the current GameCardManager, not the database asset. The same database can be Active in a Demo scene, remain registered but Inactive in a production scene, or be enabled only in a dedicated test scene.

Split dimension	Database example	Active strategy
Content source	Preset and project databases	Enable project databases in production scenes, then temporarily enable presets only when comparing them
Class	Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Priest	Enable only the class content required for the current authoring or query task
Chapter	Act 1, Act 2, Boss	Expose the content set required by the current scene or game mode
Test scope	Mechanic verification and production databases	Enable test databases only in verification scenes so they do not enter production queries

When Active sets are maintained per scene, the selectable databases in Game Card Editor, content returned by GCSApi, and GUID lookup scope all change with the scene. Demo, production flows, and test scenes no longer share the same active discovery results.

Current multi-database boundary in FlowGraph

• GCSApi merges all Active databases of a type, but the current battle execution context resolves status, card, and enemy IDs only from the first Active database in Manager registration order.

• Change Status and Spawn Unit both follow this boundary. Transform Card follows it only when resolving its New Card field. Add Cards follows it when its Cards input does not receive CardInstance values and the node uses its inline Cards selector instead.

• When these nodes use inline content fields, place the target status, card, or enemy in the first Active database of the corresponding type. The nodes do not search all enabled Card, Status, or Enemy Unit databases automatically.

Code queries use the same scope

The Database dropdown in Game Card Editor and GCSApi use the same Active databases from the current Manager.

Query purpose	API form
Read enabled databases	ActiveCardDatabases(), ActiveDeckDatabases(), and the other Active*Databases() methods
Enumerate content in databases	Cards(), Decks(), PlayerUnits(), EnemyUnits(), Statuses(), Encounters()
Find content by GUID	FindCard(), FindDeck(), FindPlayerUnit(), FindEnemyUnit(), FindStatus(), FindEncounter()

tip

When a Manager exists, all six Active*Databases() methods and all six content-collection methods create a new list on every call. Cache the result for high-frequency reads instead of calling them in Update or on every UI refresh.

See GCSApi guide and API reference for complete examples and signatures.

Diagnose missing content

Database problems are easy to mistake for card, FlowGraph, or battle-startup problems. First determine whether the feature depends on Active enumeration or a direct Unity reference, then inspect the matching path.

Symptom	Check first	Continue checking
The target database is absent from the Database dropdown in Game Card Editor	Confirm that the current scene has a GameCardManager and that the database is registered and Active	Confirm that the database type matches the current editing mode
The Database dropdown contains the database, but the content list is empty	Confirm that the target database is selected and check Total in its Inspector	Check whether the new content was written to another Active database
Entity selectors still show Inactive content	Check whether every Active database has zero entries of this entity type, triggering project-wide fallback	Check the real Active set in the Manager instead of inferring it from selector results
GCSApi.Cards() or another collection method returns an empty collection	Confirm that the Manager is valid and at least one database of the type is Active	Check whether the Active database actually contains content
GCSApi.Find* returns null	Confirm that the content belongs to an Active database and verify the supplied GUID	Check duplicate GUIDs and the first match in Manager registration order
Change Status, Transform Card, Spawn Unit, or Add Cards with the inline Cards selector has no effect	Confirm that the target content belongs to the first Active database of its type	Confirm that FlowGraph reaches the node, then check its inputs and target
Cards in a deck can still be drawn after the card database becomes Inactive	This occurs because Starting Deck and Deck Entry preserve direct references	If code must enumerate or find the card by GUID, enable its database again
Bootstrap Inspector warns that Default Encounter is not in an Active database	Register and activate the database that stores the Encounter to restore Ready	The warning does not prevent Bootstrap from starting the direct reference. Continue by checking the player, enemies, rules, and reward-deck references on the Encounter

When checking the complete content chain for an encounter, start from GameEncounter and inspect the player, Starting Deck, cards, enemies, reward deck, and FlowGraph usage in order. See Common symptoms, Authoring errors, and Runtime errors for deeper diagnosis.