Custom Operations

The IResourceProvider API allows extending the loading process by defining locations and dependencies in a data driven manner. In some cases though, you might want to create a custom operation. The IResourceProvider API is internally built on top of these custom operations.

You can create custom operations by deriving from the AsyncOperationBase class and overriding the desired virtual methods. You can pass the derived operation to the ResourceManager.StartOperation method to start the operation and get an AsyncOperationHandle. Operations started this way are registered with the ResourceManager and will show up in the Addressables profiler.

The AsyncOperationBase.Execute method will be invoked on your operation after the optional dependent operation completes.

When your operation completes, you should call AsyncOperationBase.Complete on your custom operation object. You can call this within the Execute call or defer it to outside the call. Calling AsyncOperationBase.Complete notifies the ResourceManager that the operation has completed and will invoke the associated AsyncOperationHandle.Completed events.

When the user Releases the AsyncOperationHandle that references the custom operation, the ResourceManager will call AsyncOperationBase.Destroy on your operation. This is where you should release and memory or resources associated with your operation.