In this example, i'm scanning the frames to get the nameplates. If I have nameplates on, this is fine and I can get their info IF they are close to me.
However, if I don't have nameplates on, I can't get info like this...
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That's why you build a list of scanners from multiple sources. If nameplates are disabled or out of range, you get the health from the combat log, party targets, target of target, unit events etc when it matches the focus. (You can even chain unitIDs like party1targettargettarget but that'll hurt performance)
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There was an addon made for 1.12 that was able to scan plates without having nameplates on.
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In Vanilla you could force enable the nameplates and set their alpha level to zero + disable mouse click, and still get info that way. No idea if this is still possible in retail.
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It also wasn't restricted to the short distance that nameplates have in classic wow beta.
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Afaik that wasn't possible in vanilla. You could increase combat log distance but not nameplate range. When the nameplates are hidden, they get recycled and no longer gets any unit updates.