muharremtozan Unity UI Toolkit Data Binding
Connect your game data (Model) to your interface (View) using modern high-performance data binding. This skill leverages Unity's unity.properties system to eliminate "Update" loop logic for UI updates.
Core Features
- BindableProperty: A wrapper class that uses
[CreateProperty]to expose values to the UI Toolkit binding engine. - MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel): Separates raw game data from UI-formatted data using a ViewModel mediator.
- Reactive Synchronization: UI elements update automatically when the underlying property value changes (or is polled by the engine).
- C# Based Binding: Set up complex bindings programmatically without relying on the UI Builder's inspector fields.
Core Files (Max 3)
BindableProperty.cs.txt: Generic property wrapper for data sources.BindingExample.cs.txt: Practical example showing a Coin display and Health bar bound to a ViewModel.
Usage
1. Define the ViewModel
Initialize BindableProperty fields that return formatted data from your model.
public BindableProperty<string> HealthText { get; }
HealthText = BindableProperty<string>.Bind(() => $"HP: {model.hp}/{model.maxHp}");
2. Set the Data Source
Assign your ViewModel to the dataSource property of your root VisualElement.
root.dataSource = myViewModel;
3. Establish the Binding
Use SetBinding on specific elements to link their properties (text, value, style) to paths in the ViewModel.
label.SetBinding("text", "HealthText.Value");
Key Principle
Always use one-way binding (ToTarget) for displays and two-way binding only for inputs (checkboxes, text fields). This keeps the "Source of Truth" in your Model.