How to load uxml from StreamingAssets

Hi,
I want to load .uxml from SteamingAssets.

Code (CSharp):

1. AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath<VisualTreeAsset>(path)

but this function can't to do this.


Thanks,
-Dan

 

You guys really should support loading UXML at runtime.

From a workflow perspective it would mean UI artists don't need to rebuild to see UI changes in game, which would be a huge win in and of itself (imagine trying to do webdev and needing to do a build change every time you made small tweaks to the styling). Yes, I know there's a WYSIWYG in the editor, but let's be honest - WYSIWYG is never a good substitute for how things will actually be in game, especially at differing resolutions and such.

The other big win is for those of us who make our games moddable (and who build the content of the game using the same process we expect modders to use). With a text file modders can modify and merge UI easily. Requiring it to be an asset means it can only ever be replaced, making every mod that would want to add or modify a layout inherently incompatible with each other.

The current way to overcome this is to essentially wrap the entire UI Toolkit's script access in code and load in text files, which is a lot of work that'll be reproduced by lots of developers, and really should just be part of the toolkit to begin with.

 

Really guys? It's been almost 2 years and you still dont have support for loading UXML and USS assets raw? Wasnt this supposed to be one of the lucrative implied advantages of UIEelements to begin with?

 

The talk and hinted implications from early 2019 when it was bravado'ed how modular UIElements could be in terms of asset modularity, however, 2 years later and we are still stuck with ancient and rigid assetbundless. Ability to load flexible load resources like you load document frames and CSS is now a pipe dream.

 

I was just wondering if there was an estimate on when this feature is coming out? I too require my modders to be able to load UXML and UCSS at runtime.

 

I'd like to expose my UI system to modders by:

Creating a layout UXML template that has various containers (top bar, right bar, left bar, left panel, right panel, etc), and let modders define a mapping:

1. The container name ("TopBar") to say where they want their custom UI to go.
2. The UXML file to load.
3. The C# script implementation controlling the UI (instantiated via reflection in my UI manager class)

This way the UI could be completely modder specifiable, but it breaks down if UXML cannot be loaded at runtime.

My release horizon is many years off so I can put this off for awhile, but it would be nice to have this functionality provided by the library instead of me having implement a custom parser to build VisualElement trees.

Also hot reloading of UXML at runtime would be very nice so modders can change their mod's UXML while the game is running and see updates without restarting the game.

 

This feature would be a game changer for the current UI system

 

I agree with this.
I'm considering mod support too in my design and being able to load those files from StreamingAssets is essential for it.
It is the main reason why I prefer the UI Toolkit over the old Unity UI for this.

One other issue I have is I want modders to be able to change the assets that are used on a UI scene. Because Unity UI uses GameObjects it links every asset with the built-in GUID. UI Toolkit uses the path, but I don't think we have access to the path resolving. I would be great if we could implement custom path resolvers so we can search an asset in every possible source (Resource, Asset bundles and StreamingAssets).

 

I haven't seen any mention of this feature being worked on since this post was started, would you be able to provide an update if it is planned? If not, where is the best place to request it?

 

Any news on this? I have a LOT of data from different sources and it would be fantastic to transform it dynamically and import it into the UI

 

Thanks for the update Julia! Do you see it being worked on this year or can we expect it to keep getting pushed down the todo list? Just to clarify, would this fall under 'Addressable Asset System support' in the roadmap or would a new card be better?

 

+1

 

Just following this up now it has been close to a year since I submitted feedback & over 2 years since this was first raised. It doesn't appear to be on your roadmap at all, are there any plans to support this?

 

Not even gamepad support is on this roadmap, I think these 2 topics are much higher priority than what is listed.

 

Yes, I see a list of features but I don't see any way to send a submission? Also gamepad is now supported by most PC games, by Steam Deck and by all the consoles, do I really have to send a suggestion about supporting it? When I say supporting it I mean for example make Dragon Crashers work with the gamepad.