This page describes native code plug-ins for desktop platforms (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux).
On Mac OSX, plug-insA set of code created outside of Unity that creates functionality in Unity. There are two kinds of plug-ins you can use in Unity: Managed plug-ins (managed .NET assemblies created with tools like Visual Studio) and Native plug-ins (platform-specific native code libraries). More info
See in Glossary are deployed as bundles. You can create the bundle project with XCode by selecting File->NewProject… and then selecting Bundle -> Carbon/Cocoa Loadable Bundle (in XCode 3) or OS X -> Framework & Library -> Bundle (in XCode 4)
If you are using C++ (.cpp) or Objective-C (.mm) to implement the plug-in then you must ensure the functions are declared with C linkage to avoid name mangling issues.
extern "C" {
float FooPluginFunction ();
}
Plug-ins on Windows are DLL files with exported functions. Practically any language or development environment that can create DLL files can be used to create plug-ins. As with Mac OSX, you should declare any C++ functions with C linkage to avoid name mangling issues.
Plug-ins on Linux are .so
files with exported functions. These libraries are typically written in C or C++, but any language can be used.
As with the other platforms, you should declare any C++ functions with C linkage in order to avoid name mangling issues.
The issue of needing 32-bit and/or 64-bit plug-ins is handled differently depending on the platform.
On Windows and Linux, plug-ins can be managed manually (e.g, before building a 64-bit player, you copy the 64-bit library into the Assets/Plugins
folder, and before building a 32-bit player, you copy the 32-bit library into the Assets/Plugins
folder) OR you can place the 32-bit version of the plug-in in Assets/Plugins/x86
and the 64-bit version of the plug-in in Assets/Plugins/x86_64
. By default the editor will look in the architecture-specific sub-directory first, and if that directory does not exist, it will copy plug-ins from the root Assets/Plugins
folder instead.
Note that for the Universal Linux build, you are required to use the architecture-specific sub-directories (when building a Universal Linux build, the Editor will not copy any plug-ins from the root Assets/Plugins
folder).
For Mac OS X, you should build your plug-in as a universal binary that contains both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
Once built, the bundle should be placed in the Assets->Plugins folder (or the appropriate architecture-specific sub-directory) in the Unity project. Unity will then find it by name when you define a function like this in the C# script:-
[DllImport ("PluginName")]
private static extern float FooPluginFunction ();
Please note that PluginName should not include the library prefix nor file extension. For example, the actual name of the plug-in file would be PluginName.dll on Windows and libPluginName.so on Linux.
Be aware that whenever you change code in the plug-in you will need to recompile 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 in your project or else the plug-in will not have the latest compiled code.
For cross platform plug-ins you must include the .bundle (for Mac), .dll (for Windows), and .so (for Linux) files in the Plugins folder. No further work is then required on your side - Unity automatically picks the right plug-in for the target platform and includes it with the player.
This plug-in project implements only some very basic operations (print a number, print a string, add two floats, add two integers). This example may be helpful if this is your first Unity plug-in. The project can be found here and includes Windows, Mac, and Linux project files.
An example multiplatform plug-in that works with multithreaded renderingThe process of drawing graphics to the screen (or to a render texture). By default, the main camera in Unity renders its view to the screen. More info
See in Glossary in Unity can be found on the native plug-in interface page.
Did you find this page useful? Please give it a rating:
Thanks for rating this page!
What kind of problem would you like to report?
Is something described here not working as you expect it to? It might be a Known Issue. Please check with the Issue Tracker at issuetracker.unity3d.com.
Thanks for letting us know! This page has been marked for review based on your feedback.
If you have time, you can provide more information to help us fix the problem faster.
Provide more information
You've told us this page needs code samples. If you'd like to help us further, you could provide a code sample, or tell us about what kind of code sample you'd like to see:
You've told us there are code samples on this page which don't work. If you know how to fix it, or have something better we could use instead, please let us know:
You've told us there is information missing from this page. Please tell us more about what's missing:
You've told us there is incorrect information on this page. If you know what we should change to make it correct, please tell us:
You've told us this page has unclear or confusing information. Please tell us more about what you found unclear or confusing, or let us know how we could make it clearer:
You've told us there is a spelling or grammar error on this page. Please tell us what's wrong:
You've told us this page has a problem. Please tell us more about what's wrong:
Thanks for helping to make the Unity documentation better!
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Some 3rd party video providers do not allow video views without targeting cookies. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing a video, you will need to set your cookie preferences for targeting to yes if you wish to view videos from these providers. Unity does not control this.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.