Version: 6000+
The ListView control is the most efficient way to create lists. This example demonstrates how to use runtime binding to bind a ListView to a list. Runtime binding supports both runtime and Editor UI. For demonstration purposes, this example displays the ListView in an Editor window.
The example creates a ListView and a list. To bind the ListView to the list, set the binding data source of the ListView to the property that contains the list.
You can find the completed files that this example creates in this GitHub repository.
This guide is for developers familiar with the Unity Editor, UI Toolkit, and C# scripting. Before you start, get familiar with the following:
Create an example List object that has a list of Item objects. Each Item contains a name and an enabled property.
runtime-binding-listview to store all your files.runtime-binding-listview folder, create a folder named Scripts to store all your C# scriptsA piece of code that allows you to create your own Components, trigger game events, modify Component properties over time and respond to user input in any way you like. More infoScripts folder, create a C# script named ExampleItemObject.cs with the following contents: using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
public class ExampleItemObject
{
public List<Item> items = new();
public void Reset()
{
items = new List<Item>{
new() { name = "Use Local Server", enabled = false },
new() { name = "Show Debug Menu", enabled = false },
new() { name = "Show FPS Counter", enabled = true },
};
}
public struct Item
{
public bool enabled;
public string name;
}
}
Create the template of the list item in UI Builder. Each item contains a Toggle and a TextField. Bind them to the enabled and name properties of the Item object.
In the runtime-binding-listview folder, create a folder named UXML.
In the UXML folder, create a UXML file named ListViewItem.uxml.
Double-click the ListViewItem.uxml file to open it in UI Builder.
In the Hierarchy panel, add a VisualElement.
Add a Toggle as a child of VisualElement.
Add a TextField as a child VisualElement.
Remove the label text for the Toggle and TextField.
Set the Flex direction of the VisualElement to Row.
In the 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 panel of the Toggle, do the following:
Right-click Value and select Add binding.
In the Add Binding window, set Data Source Path to enabled.
Set Binding Mode to To Target. This means that changes to the enabled property of the Item object update the Toggle in the UI.
In the Inspector panel of the TextField, do the following:
name.To Target. This means that changes to the name property of the Item object update the TextField in the UI.Save the UXML file. The finished UXML file looks like the following:
<ui:UXML xmlns:ui="UnityEngine.UIElements">
<ui:VisualElement name="VisualElement" style="flex-direction: row;">
<ui:Toggle>
<Bindings>
<ui:DataBinding property="value" data-source-path="enabled" />
</Bindings>
</ui:Toggle>
<ui:TextField placeholder-text="filler text">
<Bindings>
<ui:DataBinding property="value" data-source-path="name" />
</Bindings>
</ui:TextField>
</ui:VisualElement>
</ui:UXML>
Create the ListView UI in UI Builder, and set the item template to ListViewItem.uxml.
In the UXML folder, create a UXML file named UIListView.uxml.
Double-click the UIListView.uxml file to open it in UI Builder.
In the Hierarchy panel, add a ListView.
In the Inspector panel of the ListView, do the following:
Set Item Template to ListViewItem.uxml.
Set Binding Source Selection Mode to Auto Assign. This lets the system automatically determine the appropriate data source for binding list items.
Save the UXML file. The finished UXML file looks like the following:
<ui:UXML xmlns:ui="UnityEngine.UIElements">
<ui:ListView binding-source-selection-mode="AutoAssign" item-template="ListViewItem.uxml" />
</ui:UXML>
Create a custom Editor window that contains the ListView and bind it to the items property of List.
In the Scripts folder, create a folder named Editor.
In the Editor folder, create a C# script named ListViewTestWindow.cs with the following contents:
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UIElements;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEditor.UIElements;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Unity.Properties;
internal class ListViewTestWindow : EditorWindow
{
// This example sets the itemTemplate and bindingSourceSelectionMode in the UXML file.
// If you want to set them in the C# script, declare an itemLayout field of type VisualTreeAsset
// and then set the "Item Layout" to "ListViewItem.uxml" in the Inspector window.
//[SerializeField] private VisualTreeAsset itemLayout;
[SerializeField] private VisualTreeAsset editorLayout;
ExampleItemObject m_ExampleItemObject;
[MenuItem("Window/ListViewTestWindow")]
static void Init()
{
ListViewTestWindow window = EditorWindow.GetWindow<ListViewTestWindow>();
window.Show();
}
void CreateGUI()
{
m_ExampleItemObject = new();
editorLayout.CloneTree(rootVisualElement);
var listView = rootVisualElement.Q<ListView>();
// This example sets the itemTemplate and bindingSourceSelectionMode in the UXML file.
// You can also set them in the C# script like the following:
// listView.itemTemplate = itemLayout;
// listView.bindingSourceSelectionMode = BindingSourceSelectionMode.AutoAssign;
// Set the binding source to the ExampleItemObject instance.
listView.dataSource = m_ExampleItemObject;
// Set the itemsSource binding to the items property of the List object.
// You can also set the itemsSource binding manually in the UXML file and comment out this line.
// Refer to the next section for how to set binding in UXML.
listView.SetBinding("itemsSource", new DataBinding() {dataSourcePath = new PropertyPath("items")});
m_ExampleItemObject.Reset();
}
}
In the Project window, select the ListViewTestWindow.cs script.
In the Inspector window, set the Editor Layout to UIListView.
To test the binding, from the menu, select Window > ListViewTestWindow. The Editor window displays a ListView bound to the items defined in the ExampleItemObject.cs. If you update the values of the enabled or name properties for the Item in ExampleItemObject.cs, the changes are automatically reflected in the ListView.
itemsSource binding in UXMLThe previous section sets the itemsSource in the C# script. iList isn’t serializable, so itemsSource doesn’t appear in the Inspector panel for the ListView. You can’t set the binding in UI Builder. However, you can manually bind itemsSource in UXML. To do this, add a <Bindings> tag inside <ui:ListView>:
<ui:ListView>
<Bindings>
<ui:DataBinding property="itemsSource" data-source-path="items" />
</Bindings>
</ui:ListView>
Note: In your UXML file, make sure to remove the engine="UnityEngine.UIElements" and editor="UnityEditor.UIElements" attributes from the <ui:UXML> tag if you have them. These attributes set the default namespace, which breaks the <Bindings> tag because Bindings isn’t a type, but a field.