Version: Unity 6 (6000.0)
Language : English
Call and implement native UWP plug-ins
Use P/Invoke

Author native UWP plug-ins

To author native Universal Windows Platform (UWP) 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
, you need to know how to create native plug-ins for Unity. For more information about native plug-ins and their uses, refer to Native plug-insA platform-specific native code library that is created outside of Unity for use in Unity. Allows you can access features like OS calls and third-party code libraries that would otherwise not be available to Unity. More info
See in Glossary
.

To author native UWP plug-ins, you can use either a precompiled dynamic-link library (DLL) or the C++ source code.

Precompiled native plug-ins

To P/Invoke into precompiled native plug-ins, you need to:

  1. Load the DLL at runtime.
  2. Find the function entry point.
  3. Call the plug-in.

You need to compile the DLLs against the appropriate Windows SDK for the target CPU architecture. You also need to configure the DLLs in the Plug-in 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
when you add them to a Unity project.

C++ source code native plug-ins

You can add C++ (.cpp) code files directly into a Unity project, which will act as a plug-in in the Plug-in Inspector. If you configure the plug-ins to be compatible with UWP and the IL2CPPA Unity-developed scripting back-end which you can use as an alternative to Mono when building projects for some platforms. More info
See in Glossary
scripting backendA framework that powers scripting in Unity. Unity supports three different scripting backends depending on target platform: Mono, .NET and IL2CPP. Universal Windows Platform, however, supports only two: .NET and IL2CPP. More info
See in Glossary
, Unity compiles these C++ files together with the C++ code that it generates from managed assemblies.

Additional resources

Call and implement native UWP plug-ins
Use P/Invoke