Expressions

When adding a condition or an action to an event, some fields have the following icons alongside them:

These icons indicate that the field accepts an expression. An expression is a formula, like in mathematics, that can be composed of:

• Numbers
• Text
• Functions
• Mathematical operators (+, -, *, /)

Tip

For a complete list of the function expressions that GDevelop provides out of the box, refer to expressions reference.

Numbers

When the following icon appears alongside a field, the field accepts a numeric expression:

The following values are examples of numeric expressions, composed of a single number:

• 0
• -10
• 25.5

You can also use mathematical operators to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers:

• 2+2
• 3-1
• 10*10
• 99/3

This is the complete list of operators:

• + (add)
• - (subtract)
• * (multiply)
• / (divide)

Finally, functions can be used - see the next sections.

Text

When the following icon appears alongside a field, the field accepts a text expression:

The following values are examples of text expressions, composed of a single text:

• "Hello world"
• "This is a text expression"
• "GDevelop is cool!"

All texts must be wrapped in double quotes. Without the double quotes, GDevelop assumes the value is a function or a variable.

You can use the + operator to concatenate two or more strings of text. For example, "Hello" + "World" becomes "HelloWorld". The other operators are not valid when working with text (it does not make sense to subtract, multiply or divide a text by another).

Variables (or properties)

In an expression, you can write the name of a variable (a scene variable, a global variable). For example, if a variable called Score was added to the scene, you can simply write: 2 * Score to compute the score value multiplied by two.

You can also access to the value of a variable of an object by writing the object name followed by a dot and the name of the variable. For example: Player.Ammo or Player.CoinEarned.

Finally, when you're editing a behavior or a custom object inside an extension, you can also access the properties of this behavior or object by writing their name, like variables.

Note

You can also use the functions Variable(<name of the variable>) (for variables containing a number) and VariableString(<name of the variable>) (for variables containing a string) to access the value stored inside a scene variable. There are also functions to access global variables (GlobalVariable(<name of the variable>)) and object variables (Object.Variable(<name of the variable>)).

These functions are more verbose and more cumbersome to use. Most of the time, you can just write the name of the variable you want to use.

Functions

Often, it's necessary to calculate complex values using data coming from the game. For example, you might want to compute something like a score according to the X and Y coordinates of the player.

This is where functions are useful.

You can use functions to dynamically calculate values while the game is running. For example, the X and Y functions calculate the coordinates of an object:

ObjectName.X()
ObjectName.Y()

Using a function is often referred to as calling a function.

Tip

If you're familiar with formulas in spreadsheets, functions in programming languages, or functions in mathematics, functions in GDevelop are the same thing.

Syntax

There are three types of functions:

• Functions without objects. For example: cos(3.14).
• Functions with objects. For example: Player.X().
• Functions with objects and behaviors. For example: Player.Animation::Index().

Functions without objects

Some functions exist independently of objects and behaviors. You don't need any object or behavior to call these functions.

These are some examples of functions without objects:

• CurrentSceneName() - Get the name of the current scene.
• FileSystem::DesktopPath() - Get the path of the "Desktop" directory.
• ToNumber(<number>) - Convert a string into a number.

Note

The :: syntax is used to group functions related to a same feature or extension. For example, all of the file system functions are prefixed with FileSystem::. This helps keep related functions organized. The :: syntax does not change the behavior of the function.

Functions with objects

Some functions are called on objects. This means the function affects or retrieves data about a specific object.

These are some examples of functions that are used with objects. The placeholder <object> must be replaced with the name of an object in your game:

• <object>.Angle() - Get the angle of the object (in degrees).
• <object>.Layer() - Get the name of the layer that the object is on.
• <object>.ObjectName() - Get the name of the object.

Functions with objects and behaviors

Some functions are functions provided by a behavior attached to an object. This means the function affects or retrieves data about a specific behavior that is attached to an object. This is often useful to manipulate or read data from the behavior.

These are some examples of functions with objects and behaviors:

• <object>.Pathfinding::Speed()
• <object>.Physics2::Friction()
• <object>.PlatformerObject::Gravity()

Note

You can see again the :: syntax here. This separate the behavior name and the name of the function. This is useful in case you have multiple behaviors on a single object.

Arguments

Some functions accept arguments. An argument is a value that:

• can be passed into a function
• affects the output of the function

For example, the ToString function converts a number into a string, but it can't do anything unless you provide it with a number. That number is the argument. In the following example, the number 42 is the argument:

ToNumber(42)

Some functions, such as the RandomInRange function, accept multiple arguments:

RandomInRange(3, 10)

When a function accepts multiple arguments, each argument must be separated by a comma.

Return values

When a function calculates a value, it's said to return that value. This value is the output of the function. For example, if the X coordinate of an object is 42, the ObjectName.X() function returns 42. The value returned by a function depends on the object, the arguments, and the state of the game.

Functions can return numbers or strings. The type of value a function returns determines whether or not a function can be used in a field. For example, the ToString function returns a string, so it can't be used in a field that expects a number, while the ToNumber function returns a number, so it can't be used in a field that expects a string.