Technical users can define the layout of the UI(User Interface) Allows a user to interact with your application. Unity currently supports three UI systems. More info
See in Glossary directly in C# scriptsA piece of code that allows you to create your own Components, trigger game events, modify Component properties over time and respond to user input in any way you like. More info
See in Glossary.
You can define the look of controls in a USS file, or modify the style properties of the control in your C# script.
Controls are interactive and represent a value that you can change. For example, a FloatField represents a float value. You can create C# scripts to change the value of a control, register a callback, or apply data binding.
To use a control in a UI, add it to the visual treeAn object graph, made of lightweight nodes, that holds all the elements in a window or panel. It defines every UI you build with the UI Toolkit.
See in Glossary.
The following example adds a Button control to an existing visual tree.
var newButton = new Button("Click me!");
rootVisualElement.Add(newButton);
When adding controls to a UI hierarchy, the layout engine automatically handles the sizing and positioning. You can also override the size and position of visual elements.
To access or change the value of a control, use its value property.
The following example creates a Toggle control and a Button control. When you click the button, the value of the toggle flips.
// Create a toggle and register callback
m_MyToggle = new Toggle("Test Toggle") { name = "My Toggle" };
rootVisualElement.Add(m_MyToggle);
// Create button to flip the toggle's value
Button button01 = new Button() { text = "Toggle" };
button01.clicked += () =>
{
m_MyToggle.value = !m_MyToggle.value;
};
rootVisualElement.Add(button01);
For more information about the properties of a specific control, see UI Toolkit built-in controls reference.
Controls that have value properties send an event if the value changes. You can register a callback to receive this event.
The following example creates a Toggle control and registers a callback:
// Create a toggle and register callback
m_MyToggle = new Toggle("Test Toggle") { name = "My Toggle" };
m_MyToggle.RegisterValueChangedCallback((evt) => { Debug.Log("Change Event received"); });
rootVisualElement.Add(m_MyToggle);
To learn more about callbacks and events, see Events Handling.
You can bind controls to an object or a serialized property. For example, you can bind a FloatField control to a public float variable that belongs to a MonoBehaviour. When the control binds to the property, it automatically displays the value of the property. When you modify the control, the value of the property updates.
Similarly, when the property value changes through code, the UI displays the updated value. This two-way connection is useful when you create custom InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, asset or project settings, allowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
See in Glossary windows.
For more information about data binding, see SerializedObject data binding.
Not all controls are bindable. For a list of built-in controls and whether they support binding, see UI Toolkit built-in controls reference.
Some controls have read-only child elements. For example, a ListView control has a ScrollView child. You can use UQuery to access the child’s properties and override their values.
The following example changes the scroll speed of a ListView control by overriding the mouseWheelScrollSize property of the ScrollView child:
var scrollView = listView.Q<ScrollView>();
scrollView.mouseWheelScrollSize = 55;
Controls have different states that you can manage in your C# scripts. For example, you can enable or disable a control.
The following example creates a Toggle control and a Button control. When you click the button, the toggle is disabled.
// Create a toggle.
Toggle myToggle = new Toggle("A Toggle");
// Create a button to disable the toggle.
Button button01 = new Button();
button01.text = "Button01";
button01.RegisterCallback<ClickEvent>(evt =>
{
myToggle.SetEnabled(false);
});
You can also implement a visual feedback change when the state changes in USS using the pseudo-classes. For example, to disable a toggle, use a selector that has the disabled pseudo state:
.unity-button:disabled
{
background-color: #000000;
}