Version: 2022.2
Language : English
UXML element TextElement
UXML element Toggle

UXML element TextField

A TextField allows users to input text data into an application. It accepts and displays text input. You can set placeholder text to provide hints or instructions to the user on what to enter. You can also add validation functions to ensure that the entered data meets certain requirements.

To align a TextField with other fields in an 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
window, simply apply the .unity-base-field__aligned USS class to it. For more information, refer to BaseField.

Create a TextField

You can create a TextField with UI(User Interface) Allows a user to interact with your application. Unity currently supports three UI systems. More info
See in Glossary
Builder, UXML, and C#.

To create a TextField with C#, create a new instance of a TextField object. For example:

TextField myElement = new TextField("Label text");

Customize the input text selection

Input text is selectable by default. You can customize the selection behaviors such as selectAllOnMouseUP and selectAllOnFocus.

In C#, set them through textSelection:

myElement.textSelection.selectAllOnMouseUp = false;
myElement.textSelection.selectAllOnFocus = false;

You can also style the selected text using the --unity-selection-color USS custom property. For example, the following USS sets the color of the selected input text to yellow:

.unity-base-text-field__input {
    --unity-selection-color: yellow;
}

Enable a vertical scrollbar

If you have enabled multiline text on the TextField, you can display a vertical scrollbar for the text input fieldA field that allows the user to input a Text string More info
See in Glossary
.

In C#, set the verticalScrollerVisibility property to ScrollerVisibility.Auto or ScrollerVisibility.AlwaysVisible:

// Set the multiline property to true to enable multiple lines of text
textField.multiline = true;

// Set the vertical scrollbar visibility to AlwaysVisible
textField.verticalScrollerVisibility = ScrollerVisibility.AlwaysVisible;

Control the behavior of the input text

You can use events to control the behavior of the input text.

For example, to override the default behaviors for the Enter and Shift + Tab keyboard events in a TextField, register a KeyDownEvent to the TrickleDown phase before they’re handled by the TextElement base class:

myField.RegisterCallback<KeyDownEvent>((evt) => { 

    if (evt.keyCode == KeyCode.Enter || evt.character == '/n')
    {
        // Submit logic
        evt.StopPropagation();
        evt.PreventDefault();
    }

    if (evt.modifiers == EventModifiers.Shift && (evt.keyCode == KeyCode.Tab || evt.character == '/t'))
    {
        // Focus logic
        evt.StopPropagation();
        evt.PreventDefault();
    }

}, TrickleDown.TrickleDown);

C# base class and namespace

C# class: TextField
Namespace: UnityEngine.UIElements
Base class: TextInputBaseField_1

Member UXML attributes

This element has the following member attributes:

Name Type Description
multiline boolean Set this to true to allow multiple lines in the textfield and false if otherwise.
value string The string currently being exposed by the field.

Note that changing this will not trigger a change event to be sent.

Inherited UXML attributes

This element inherits the following attributes from its base class:

Name Type Description
auto-correction boolean Determines if the touch screen keyboard auto correction is turned on or off.
binding-path string Path of the target property to be bound.
focusable boolean True if the element can be focused.
hide-mobile-input boolean Hides or shows the mobile input field.
is-delayed boolean If set to true, the value property isn’t updated until either the user presses Enter or the text field loses focus.
keyboard-type TouchScreenKeyboardType The type of mobile keyboard that will be used.
label string The string representing the label that will appear beside the field.
max-length int Maximum number of characters for the field.
tabindex int An integer used to sort focusables in the focus ring. Must be greater than or equal to zero.
value string The value associated with the field.

This element also inherits the following attributes from VisualElement:

Name Type Description
content-container string Child elements are added to it, usually this is the same as the element itself.
name string The name of this VisualElement.

Use this property to write USS selectors that target a specific element. The standard practice is to give an element a unique name.
picking-mode UIElements.PickingMode Determines if this element can be pick during mouseEvents or IPanel.Pick queries.
style string Reference to the style object of this element.

Contains data computed from USS files or inline styles written to this object in C#.
tooltip string Text to display inside an information box after the user hovers the element for a small amount of time. This is only supported in the Editor UI.
usage-hints UIElements.UsageHints A combination of hint values that specify high-level intended usage patterns for the VisualElement. This property can only be set when the VisualElement is not yet part of a Panel. Once part of a Panel, this property becomes effectively read-only, and attempts to change it will throw an exception. The specification of proper UsageHints drives the system to make better decisions on how to process or accelerate certain operations based on the anticipated usage pattern. Note that those hints do not affect behavioral or visual results, but only affect the overall performance of the panel and the elements within. It’s advised to always consider specifying the proper UsageHints, but keep in mind that some UsageHints might be internally ignored under certain conditions (e.g. due to hardware limitations on the target platform).
view-data-key string Used for view data persistence (ie. tree expanded states, scroll position, zoom level).

This is the key used to save/load the view data from the view data store. Not setting this key will disable persistence for this VisualElement.

USS classes

The following table lists all the C# public property names and their related USS selector.

C# property USS selector Description
ussClassName .unity-text-field USS class name of elements of this type.
labelUssClassName .unity-text-field__label USS class name of labels in elements of this type.
inputUssClassName .unity-text-field__input USS class name of input elements in elements of this type.
ussClassName .unity-base-text-field USS class name of elements of this type.
labelUssClassName .unity-base-text-field__label USS class name of labels in elements of this type.
inputUssClassName .unity-base-text-field__input USS class name of input elements in elements of this type.
singleLineInputUssClassName .unity-base-text-field__input--single-line USS class name of single line input elements in elements of this type.
multilineInputUssClassName .unity-base-text-field__input--multiline USS class name of multiline input elements in elements of this type.
ussClassName .unity-base-field USS class name of elements of this type.
labelUssClassName .unity-base-field__label USS class name of labels in elements of this type.
inputUssClassName .unity-base-field__input USS class name of input elements in elements of this type.
noLabelVariantUssClassName .unity-base-field--no-label USS class name of elements of this type, when there is no label.
labelDraggerVariantUssClassName .unity-base-field__label--with-dragger USS class name of labels in elements of this type, when there is a dragger attached on them.
mixedValueLabelUssClassName .unity-base-field__label--mixed-value USS class name of elements that show mixed values
alignedFieldUssClassName .unity-base-field__aligned USS class name of elements that are aligned in a inspector element
disabledUssClassName .unity-disabled USS class name of local disabled elements.

USS custom properties

The following table outlines the custom properties that are available exclusively for the TextField element in USS:

Property Type Description
--unity-cursor-color string The color code of the text caret.
--unity-selection-color string The color code of the selected text.

Additional resources

UXML element TextElement
UXML element Toggle