# PersistentVariablesSource > Provides global or local values that do not need to be passed in as arguments when formatting a string. The smart string should take the format {groupName.variableName}. e.g {global.player-score}. Note: The group name and variable names must not contain any spaces. ## Definition * **Type:** Class * **Namespace:** [Unity.SmartStrings.Extensions](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions.md) * **Assembly:** UnityEngine.SmartStringsModule * **Implements:** [ISource](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/core/extensions/isource.md), [IDictionary\](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic.idictionary-2), [ICollection\>](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic.icollection-1), [IEnumerable\>](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic.ienumerable-1), [IEnumerable](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.collections.ienumerable), [ISerializationCallbackReceiver](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unityengine/iserializationcallbackreceiver.md) ```csharp public class PersistentVariablesSource : ISource, IDictionary, ICollection>, IEnumerable>, IEnumerable, ISerializationCallbackReceiver ``` ## Properties | Property | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Count](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/count.md) | The number of [VariablesGroupAsset](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/persistentvariables/variablesgroupasset.md) that are used for global variables. | | [IsReadOnly](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/isreadonly.md) | Implemented as part of IDictionary but not used. Always returns `false`. | | [this\[\]](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/item.md) | The global variable group that matches `name`. | | [Keys](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/keys.md) | The global variable group names. | | [Values](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/values.md) | The global variable groups in this source. | ## Static Properties | Property | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [IsUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/isupdating.md) | Whether [PersistentVariablesSource.BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) has been called without a matching [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md). This can be used when updating the value of multiple [IVariable](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/persistentvariables/ivariable.md) in order to do a single update after the updates instead of 1 per change. | ## Methods | Method | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Add](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/add.md) | Adds a global variable group to the source. | | [Clear](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/clear.md) | Removes all global variables. | | [ContainsKey](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/containskey.md) | Returns `true` if a global variable group is found with the same name. | | [CopyTo](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/copyto.md) | Copies all global variable groups into the provided array starting at `arrayIndex`. | | [GetEnumerator](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/getenumerator.md) | Returns an enumerator for all the global variables in the source. | | [Remove](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/remove.md) | Removes the group with the matching name. | | [TryGetValue](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/trygetvalue.md) | Returns `true` if a global variable group could be found with a matching name, or `false` if one could not. | ## Static Methods | Method | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) | Indicates that multiple [IVariable](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/persistentvariables/ivariable.md) will be changed and localized string should wait for [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md) before updating. See [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) and [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md). Note: [PersistentVariablesSource.BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) and [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) can be nested, [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md) will only be called after the last [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md). | | [EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) | Indicates that updates to [IVariable](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/persistentvariables/ivariable.md) have finished and sends the [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md) event. Note: [PersistentVariablesSource.BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) and [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) can be nested, [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md) will only be called after the last [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md). | | [UpdateScope](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/updatescope.md) | Creates a [PersistentVariablesSource.BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) and [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) scope. | ## Static Events | Member | Description | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [EndUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdate.md) | Raised after the final [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) call. This can be used when you wish to respond to value change events but wish to do a single update at the end instead of 1 per change. For example, if you wanted to change the value of multiple global variables that a smart string was using then changing each value would result in a new string being generated, by using begin and end the string generation can be deferred until the final change so that only 1 update is performed. | ## Structs | Struct | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [PersistentVariablesSource.ScopedUpdate](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/scopedupdate.md) | Encapsulates a [PersistentVariablesSource.BeginUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/beginupdating.md) and [PersistentVariablesSource.EndUpdating](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unity/smartstrings/extensions/persistentvariablessource/endupdating.md) call. |