Define a context for the Advanced Object Picker

To help users populate objects in a component, define a context for the search in the Advanced Object Picker. This makes it easier to construct the rest of the search query, and might even narrow the results enough that the user doesn’t need to perform a query. For example, if the object is a material, define a context that filters the Advanced Object Picker to show only materials, or specific categories of material.

Tip: The filter is a standard search query, so the user can remove or change it to change their search context.

Define the context

To define the context, in the component’s script:

1. For the field that requires object selection, use the SearchContextAttribute to set the object selection to Advanced Object Picker.
2. Create a query to filter the objects the Advanced Object Picker lists.

For example, this query focuses the Advanced Object Picker on the Asset search provider:

// You can specify an initial query, a search provider and some SearchViewFlags
[SearchContext("t:texture filtermode=0", "asset", SearchViewFlags.OpenInBuilderMode | SearchViewFlags.GridView)]
public Texture pixelArtTexture;

To learn more about scripting components, refer to Create components with scripts.

Examples of context definitions

The following examples demonstrate the queries you can use with SearchContext for different workflows.

Find all scripts where the object selection window is in list view

This query searches only the Assets (asset) search provider.

[SearchContext("p:t:script", "asset", SearchViewFlags.ListView)]
public MonoScript myProjectScript;

Find all scripts with the word “overlay” in their name

This query searches the Asset Database (adb) for objects in both the Assets folder and the project’s packages (SearchViewFlags.Packages).

[SearchContext("p:t:script overlay", "adb", SearchViewFlags.Packages | SearchViewFlags.CompactView)]
public MonoScript myPackageScript;

Find all materials with a shader that contains the word “New”

Use SearchViewFlags.HideSearchBar to hide the search bar, which limits the user’s ability to modify the context.

[SearchContext("p:shader:New", assetProviders, SearchViewFlags.HideSearchBar)]
public Material materialNoSearchBar;

Find shaders or materials by shader name

Use a simple query to find the shaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary itself:

[SearchContext("p:t:shader unlit", "asset", SearchViewFlags.OpenInBuilderMode | SearchViewFlags.ListView)]
public Shader unlitShader;

Use the ref: filter and Search expressions to find all the materials that reference shaders with “unlit” in their name.

// Find all material referencing any shader with unlit in its name
[SearchContext("p:t:material ref:{t:shader unlit}", "asset")]
public Material materialWithUnlitShader;

Define a context from a saved search query

Use a saved Search query as a context by referencing either its path or GUID:

// Open Picker with a preloaded SearchQueryAsset specified by its path
[SearchContext("Assets/Queries/t_sprite.asset", assetProviders)]
public Sprite searchQueryPathSprite;

// Open Picker with a preloaded SearchQueryAsset specified by its guid
[SearchContext("40060e4225366c64a9e24cd17cc9fdc1", assetProviders)]
public Sprite searchQueryGuidSprite;

Custom Query Builder Types Selector

Use the Visual Query Builder language to limit the Type dropdown to three types: 2D texture, material, and shader.

[SearchContext("p: t:<$list:Texture2D, [Texture2D, Material, Shader]$>", "asset", SearchViewFlags.OpenInBuilderMode | SearchViewFlags.DisableBuilderModeToggle)]
public UnityEngine.Object myObjectOfConstrainedTypes;

Additional resources

• Use the Advanced Object Picker
• Visual query builder reference
• Textual query references
• Create components with scripts