Get a UnitID

[BlueSixty]

I would like to create a var to hold a unitID and then use that var in functions that take the unitID as a parameter. I can't seem to determine how to get a unitID though.

SetRaidTargetIcon("mouseover", 8)

Sets the skull on the mouseover target

local name = UnitName("mouseover")
SetRaidTargetIcon(name, 8)

does nothing.

Is there another function that will get the UnitID instead of the name?

[Rilgamon]

Your id is "mouseover". Why not use this ?
UnitIds are nothing static. So there is no (easy) way to know what unitId to chose for a unit. If you set yourself to focus and target and then mouseover your unit ... which unitId should the function return ?

[BlueSixty]

That was just a simplified example.

My addon will allow you to assign a keybinding. When you press that key I grab the unit the mouse is over, then show a frame. Later I want to interact with the mouseover unit, but the mouse is now over my frame, so "mouseover" isn't the unit anymore.

the following is a better example

function myKeyPressed()
    local name = UnitName("mouseover")
 
    displayMyFrame() --The frame will be under the cursor/pointer
    doSomethingElse(theUnit)
end

function doSomethingElse(theUnit)
    SetRaidTargetIcon(theUnit, 8)
end

The above code doesn't work though.

[Akkorian]

You can’t create your own unit tokens, only use the ones Blizzard assigns, so what you wrote won’t work exactly the way you’re thinking. You could do something similar by storing the unit’s GUID the first time you moused over it and pressed the key to “store” it:

local storedGUID = UnitGUID( "mouseover" )

You can’t target the unit later, or do other stuff with it, unless it has a valid unit token again, but you can detect when you mouse over the same unit again (or target it, or do something else that gives it a unit token):

if UnitGUID( "mouseover" ) == storedGUID then
    -- You moused over the unit again.
end

If you just wanted to put a different raid icon on the mob, you just wave the mouse around on the screen and mark the mob when you the mouse passed over it.

[ravagernl]

If you want to make a frame for anyone who is in your party or raid by hovering over them, that is possible via UnitIsUnit.

[BlueSixty]

ok, I think I understand how it works a little better now. I was thinking every unit had an ID I could collect and then use later in place of UnitID. I did play with the GUID but the same results as UnitName.

I don't I think I can accomplish what I wanted so I'll just have it work on the current target.

Thanks for all the help