Feedback Too many hard coded paths in the templates and documentation

I've been looking into UIElements recently and I'm a bit concerned with all the hard-coded paths in the templates and documentation I've seen so far.

When I create a UIElements Editor Window, the uxml file contains hard coded references to the schema files that are placed in the project root. The C# code contains hard coded references to the uxml and uss files.

Code (csharp):

1. var visualTree = AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath<VisualTreeAsset>
2.                  ("Assets/Editor/MyEditor.uxml");

Moving either the uxml or uss file to a different location results in a broken UI.

Most third party editor extensions and tools these days can handle being moved around in the project e.g. into a ThirdParty folder. It would be a pity if UIElements would cause newer editor extensions to rely on a fixed path within the project.

One workaround for the hard coded paths in the C# file would be to put the uxml and uss files in the special Editor Default Resources folder and using EditorGUIUtility.Load.

Code (csharp):

1.  var visualTree = EditorGUIUtility.Load("MyEditor/MyEditor.uxml")
2.                   as VisualTreeAsset;

However, this is not ideal, since it prevents self-contained editor tools that live in a single moveable folder.

It would be nice to have a suggested and documented way to build custom editor tools that can easily be shared and moved around in the project.

 

For C# file, I think you can use Resources.Load() for your uxml, uss file for portability, like this:

Code (CSharp):

1. var styleSheet = Resources.Load<StyleSheet>("[your_uss_name]");

Then put your uss file to Assets/YourLibrary/Editor/Resources/[your_uss_name].uss.

 

Wouldn't that cause those files to be included in the Standalone build?

 

Hmm, actually it looks like Resources folders inside an Editor folder are stripped from builds.

The documentation is a bit contradicting here, as the EditorGUIUtility.Load method description doesn't mention Editor/Resources folders.

 

You can use the guid of the file:

Code (csharp):

1. var visualTree = AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath<VisualTreeAsset>(AssetDatabase.GUIDToAssetPath("GUIDGUIDGUIDGUID"));

That supports moving the asset, but it's hard to figure out where it is when you're looking at the file.

I'm looking at having the uxml/uss/cs files next to each other, with the same name. Then you can do something like:

Code (csharp):

1. var pathOfThisFile = AssetDatabase.GetAssetPath(MonoScript.FromScriptableObject(this));
2. var pathToUSS = pathOfThisFile.Substring(0, pathOfThisFile.Length - 2) + ".uss";

This works as both Editor and EditorWindow inherits from ScritpableObject.

 

Sorry for reviving this thread, but seems like a less hacky and built-in solution would still be super useful for this.
Many people seem to be not aware of this thread, and hardcoding all their plugin paths instead

 

I've mentioned this in another thread, but you can use the default references of your editor/editor window's monoscript asset to have these references available when they're opened, as they are scriptable objects after all.