Blueprints Visual Scripting for Unreal Engine - Second Edition

Referencing Actors

Variable types such as integer, float, and Boolean are known as primitive types because they only store simple values of the specified type. When working with objects or Actors, a variable cannot store all the data of an Actor because it is a complex type. Instead, the variable just points to a memory location where the data of the Actor is stored. This type of variable is known as an Object Reference.

For example, the following diagram represents instances of two Blueprint classes in memory. The instance of the BP Barrel Blueprint class has an integer variable named Hit Counter, with a current value of 2. The other variable, named BPFire, is an Object Reference, which is referencing an instance of Blueprint Effect Fire ...