Create a bindable custom control

Version: 2023.2+

This example demonstrates how to create a bindable custom control in a custom Editor window.

Example overview

This example creates a custom control bound to a property with the double data type. You can adapt this example to bind to properties with other data types such as a string or an integer.

You can find the completed files that this example creates in this GitHub repository.

Prerequisites

This guide is for developers familiar with the Unity Editor, UI Toolkit, and C# scripting. Before you start, get familiar with the following:

• UI Builder
• 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
• UXML
• SerializedObject data binding

Create the custom control class

Create a C# class to define the custom control.

1. Create a Unity project with any template.
2. Create a folder named ExampleField to store your files.
3. In the ExampleField folder, create a C# script named ExampleField.cs and replace its content with the following:

using UnityEngine.UIElements;

namespace UIToolkitExamples
{
    // ExampleField inherits from BaseField with the double type. ExampleField's underlying value, then, is a double.
    [UxmlElement]
    public partial class ExampleField : BaseField<double>
    {
        Label m_Input;

        // Default constructor is required for compatibility with UXML factory
        public ExampleField() : this(null)
        {

        }

        // Main constructor accepts label parameter to mimic BaseField constructor.
        // Second argument to base constructor is the input element, the one that displays the value this field is
        // bound to.
        public ExampleField(string label) : base(label, new Label() { })
        {
            // This is the input element instantiated for the base constructor.
            m_Input = this.Q<Label>(className: inputUssClassName);
        }

        // SetValueWithoutNotify needs to be overridden by calling the base version and then making a change to the
        // underlying value be reflected in the input element.
        public override void SetValueWithoutNotify(double newValue)
        {
            base.SetValueWithoutNotify(newValue);

            m_Input.text = value.ToString("N");
        }
    }
}

Use the custom control in a UXML file

1. In the ExampleField folder, create a UI Document named ExampleField.uxml.
2. Open ExampleField.uxml in a text editor and replace its contents with the following:

<ui:UXML xmlns:ui="UnityEngine.UIElements" xmlns:example="UIToolkitExamples">
    <example:ExampleField label="Binding Target" binding-path="m_Value" />
</ui:UXML>

Create the class for the binding target

1. In Unity, double-click ExampleField.uxml to open it in the UI Builder. The ExampleField displays in the Hierarchy window and is visualized in the Viewport. If you select the ExampleField in the Hierarchy window, the Inspector window shows the values assigned to the Binding Path and Label boxes.
2. In the ExampleField folder, create a C# script named ExampleFieldComponent.cs and replace its contents with the following:

using UnityEngine;

namespace UIToolkitExamples
{
    public class ExampleFieldComponent : MonoBehaviour
    {
        [SerializeField]
        double m_Value;
    }
}

Create the custom Editor for the binding target

1. In the ExampleField folder, create a folder named Editor.
2. In the Editor folder, create a C# script named ExampleFieldCustomEditor.cs and replace its contents with the following:

using UnityEditor;
using UnityEngine.UIElements;
using UnityEngine;

namespace UIToolkitExamples
{
    [CustomEditor(typeof(ExampleFieldComponent))]
    public class ExampleFieldCustomEditor : Editor
    {
        [SerializeField]
        VisualTreeAsset m_Uxml;

        public override VisualElement CreateInspectorGUI()
        {
            var parent = new VisualElement();

            m_Uxml?.CloneTree(parent);

            return parent;
        }
    }
}

Test the example

1. In Unity, select ExampleFieldCustomEditor.cs in the Project window.
2. Drag ExampleField.uxml into the Uxml box in the Inspector window.
3. Add an empty GameObject to a scene.
4. Add the ExampleFieldComponent component to the GameObject. The custom control appears in the Inspector with the default value of 0 for the Binding Target. If you change the value of the underlying double property, the UI reflects that change.

Additional resources

• Custom controls