Unity 2D Instaniate prefab with text

Question

I'm new to Unity3D and looking for some basic information. I'm used to OO programming, but I cannot quite see how to access the objects from script.

I created an object, made it a prefab (plan on using it many times) and the object has text on it. The text uses a Text Mesh. I'm using C#.

1. How do I thru code, simple example on start, instantiate a new prefab object called Tile at 0,0?
2. How do you access the text Mesh part of the object to change the text?

I sure there is something simple I'm not picking up on. Just having trouble understanding how to connect the code to the objects and vice versa.

Updated: Also wanted to note, I'm trying to load multiple objects at the start, if that makes a difference in the answers.

Update2: Just wanted to explain a little more what info I was missing when tying the mono code to the unity interface.

In Unity:

Created any object and turn it into a prefab. Created a second empty game object, place it somewhere in the play view area. Created a script on the Empty game object.

In Mono code editor:

Created 2 public variables (C#)

public GameObject spawnObj;
public GameObject spawnPoint;
    void Update () {
        Instantiate (this.spawnObj, this.spawnPoint.transform.position, this.spawnPoint.transform.rotation);
    }

Back in Unity:

Select the Empty Game Object. In the script Component, you should see the 2 vars. Drag your Prefab Object into the var spawnObj. Drag the Empty game object into the var spawnPoint.

I did this is the Update, not to smart, but it spawned a cube or 2 or more, spawning from code is all I wanted to understand.

Answer 1

AD1: It's GameObject.Instantiate :

var go=GameObject.Instantiate(prefab, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.Identity) as GameObject;

A prefab is an asset-like GameObject that is used as a template for scene GameObjects.

To use a prefab you have to drag a GameObject to the project window and reference it in code in one of two ways:

1. Using resources, var prefab=Resources.Load("my-prefab") will load the project file Resources/my-prefab . Note the use of the special "Resources" directory - it's a magic name that is required.

2. Using a reference, in a MonoBehaviour add a public GameObject prefab field. Then on a GameObject using this class you can drag and drop your prefab from the project window to create a reference to it. You can then use the prefab field in your code. No "Resources" directory needed here.

Prefer option 2, as all resources are in the final binary, while normal assets are trimmed when possible.

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AD2: get the TextMesh compontent and modify text :

go.GetComponent<TextMesh>().text="new text";