# VisualElement > Base class for objects that are part of the UIElements visual tree. ## Definition * **Type:** Class * **Namespace:** [UnityEngine.UIElements](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements.md) * **Assembly:** UnityEngine.UIElementsModule * **Inherits from:** [Focusable](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable.md) * **Implements:** [IEventHandler](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/ieventhandler.md), [IResolvedStyle](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/iresolvedstyle.md), [ITransform](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/itransform.md), [ITransitionAnimations](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/experimental/itransitionanimations.md), [IExperimentalFeatures](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/iexperimentalfeatures.md), [IVisualElementScheduler](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/ivisualelementscheduler.md) ```csharp public class VisualElement : Focusable, IEventHandler, IResolvedStyle, ITransform, ITransitionAnimations, IExperimentalFeatures, IVisualElementScheduler ``` ## Remarks VisualElement contains several features that are common to all controls in UIElements, such as layout, styling and event handling. Several other classes derive from it to implement custom rendering and define behaviour for controls. For more information, refer to [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/manual/uitoolkits/uielements/uie-element-ref/uie-uxml-element-visual-element.md). To inherit from VisualElement and create a custom control, refer to [Creating a custom control](/engine/6000.0/manual/uitoolkits/uielements/uie-structure-ui/uie-uxml-examples/uib-structuring-ui-custom-elements.md). ## Static Fields | Value | Description | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | [disabledUssClassName](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/disabledussclassname.md) | USS class name of local disabled elements. | ## Constructors | Constructor | Description | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | [VisualElement()](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/ctor.md) | Initializes and returns an instance of VisualElement. | ## Properties | Property | Description | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [childCount](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/childcount.md) | Number of child elements in this object's contentContainer. | | [contentContainer](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/contentcontainer.md) | Child elements are added to it, usually this is the same as the element itself. | | [contentRect](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/contentrect.md) | The rectangle of the content area of the element, in the local space of the element. (Read Only) | | [customStyle](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/customstyle.md) | The custom style properties accessor of a [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) (Read Only). | | [dataSource](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasource.md) | Assigns a data source to this VisualElement which overrides any inherited data source. This data source is inherited by all children. | | [dataSourcePath](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasourcepath.md) | Path from the data source to the value. | | [dataSourceType](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasourcetype.md) | The possible type of data source assignable to this VisualElement. | | [disablePlayModeTint](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/disableplaymodetint.md) | Play-mode tint is applied by default unless this is set to true. It's applied hierarchically to this [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) and to all its children that exist on an editor panel. | | [enabledInHierarchy](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/enabledinhierarchy.md) | Returns true if the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) is enabled in its own hierarchy. | | [enabledSelf](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/enabledself.md) | Returns true if the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) is enabled locally. | | [experimental](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/experimental.md) | Returns the UIElements experimental interfaces. | | [generateVisualContent](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/generatevisualcontent.md) | Delegate function to generate the visual content of a visual element. | | [hierarchy](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/hierarchy-1.md) | Access to this element physical hierarchy | | [this\[\]](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/item.md) | Retrieves the child element at a specific index. | | [languageDirection](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/languagedirection.md) | Indicates the directionality of the element's text. The value will propagate to the element's children. | | [layout](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/layout.md) | The position and size of the VisualElement relative to its parent, as computed by the layout system. (Read Only) | | [localBound](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/localbound.md) | Returns a [Rect](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/rect.md) representing the Axis-aligned Bounding Box (AABB) after applying the transform, but before applying the layout translation. | | [name](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/name.md) | The name of this VisualElement. | | [paddingRect](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/paddingrect.md) | The rectangle of the padding area of the element, in the local space of the element. | | [panel](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/panel.md) | The panel onto which this VisualElement is attached. | | [parent](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/parent.md) | The parent of this VisualElement. | | [pickingMode](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/pickingmode.md) | Determines if this element can be pick during mouseEvents or [IPanel.Pick](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/ipanel/pick.md) queries. | | [resolvedStyle](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/resolvedstyle.md) | The final rendered style values of a visual element, as it's rendered in the current frame.(Read Only) | | [scaledPixelsPerPoint](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/scaledpixelsperpoint.md) | Return the resulting scaling from the panel that considers the screen DPI and the customizable scaling factor, but not the transform scale of the element and its ancestors. See scaledPixelsPerPoint. This should only be called on elements that are part of a panel. | | [schedule](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/schedule.md) | Retrieves this VisualElement's IVisualElementScheduler | | [style](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/style.md) | Sets the style values on a [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md). | | [styleSheets](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/stylesheets.md) | Returns a [VisualElementStyleSheetSet](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelementstylesheetset.md) that manipulates style sheets attached to this element. | | [tooltip](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/tooltip.md) | Text to display inside an information box after the user hovers the element for a small amount of time. This is only supported in the Editor UI. | | [transform](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/transform.md) | Returns a transform object for this VisualElement. [ITransform](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/itransform.md) | | [usageHints](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/usagehints.md) | A combination of hint values that specify high-level intended usage patterns for the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md). This property can only be set when the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) is not yet part of a Panel. Once part of a Panel, this property becomes effectively read-only, and attempts to change it will throw an exception. The specification of proper [UsageHints](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/usagehints.md) drives the system to make better decisions on how to process or accelerate certain operations based on the anticipated usage pattern. Note that those hints do not affect behavioral or visual results, but only affect the overall performance of the panel and the elements within. It's advised to always consider specifying the proper [UsageHints](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/usagehints.md), but keep in mind that some [UsageHints](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/usagehints.md) might be internally ignored under certain conditions (e.g. due to hardware limitations on the target platform). | | [userData](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/userdata.md) | This property can be used to associate application-specific user data with this VisualElement. | | [viewDataKey](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/viewdatakey.md) | Used for view data persistence, such as tree expanded states, scroll position, or zoom level. | | [visible](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/visible.md) | Indicates whether or not this element should be rendered. | | [visualTreeAssetSource](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/visualtreeassetsource.md) | Stores the asset reference, if the generated element is cloned from a VisualTreeAsset. | | [worldBound](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/worldbound.md) | Returns a [Rect](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/rect.md) representing the Axis-aligned Bounding Box (AABB) after applying the world transform. | | [worldTransform](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/worldtransform.md) | Returns a matrix that cumulates the following operations (in order): -Local Scaling -Local Rotation -Local Translation -Layout Translation -Parent `worldTransform` (recursive definition - consider identity when there is no parent) | ## Methods | Method | Description | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Add](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/add.md) | Add an element to this element's contentContainer | | [AddToClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/addtoclasslist.md) | Adds a class to the class list of the element in order to assign styles from USS. Note the class name is case-sensitive. | | [BringToFront](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/bringtofront.md) | Brings this element to the end of its parent children list. The element will be visually in front of any overlapping sibling elements. | | [Children](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/children.md) | Returns the elements from its contentContainer. | | [ClassListContains](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/classlistcontains.md) | Searches for a class in the class list of this element. | | [Clear](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/clear.md) | Remove all child elements from this element's contentContainer | | [ClearBinding](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/clearbinding.md) | Removes a binding from the element. | | [ClearBindings](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/clearbindings.md) | Removes all bindings from the element. | | [ClearClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/clearclasslist.md) | Removes all classes from the class list of this element. [VisualElement.AddToClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/addtoclasslist.md) | | [Contains](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/contains.md) | Checks if this element is an ancestor of the specified child element. | | [ContainsPoint](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/containspoint.md) | Checks if the specified point intersects with this VisualElement's layout. | | [ElementAt](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/elementat.md) | Retrieves the child element at a specific index. | | [EnableInClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/enableinclasslist.md) | Enables or disables the class with the given name. | | [FindAncestorUserData](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/findancestoruserdata.md) | Searches up the hierarchy of this VisualElement and retrieves stored userData, if any is found. | | [FindCommonAncestor](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/findcommonancestor.md) | Finds the lowest common ancestor between two VisualElements inside the VisualTree hierarchy. | | [GetBinding](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getbinding.md) | Gets the binding instance for the provided targeted property. | | [GetBindingInfos](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getbindinginfos.md) | Gets information on all the bindings of the current element. | | [GetClasses](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getclasses.md) | Retrieve the classes for this element. | | [GetDataSourceContext](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getdatasourcecontext.md) | Queries the [VisualElement.dataSource](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasource.md) and [VisualElement.dataSourcePath](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasourcepath.md) of a binding object. | | [GetFirstAncestorOfType](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getfirstancestoroftype.md) | Walks up the hierarchy, starting from this element's parent, and returns the first VisualElement of this type | | [GetFirstOfType](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/getfirstoftype.md) | Walks up the hierarchy, starting from this element, and returns the first VisualElement of this type | | [GetHierarchicalDataSourceContext](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/gethierarchicaldatasourcecontext.md) | Queries the [VisualElement.dataSource](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasource.md) and [VisualElement.dataSourcePath](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasourcepath.md) inherited from the hierarchy. | | [HasBinding](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/hasbinding.md) | Allows to know if a target property has a binding associated to it. | | [IndexOf](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/indexof.md) | Retrieves the child index of the specified VisualElement. | | [Insert](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/insert.md) | Insert an element into this element's contentContainer | | [MarkDirtyRepaint](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/markdirtyrepaint.md) | Triggers a repaint of the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) on the next frame. This method is called internally when a change occurs that requires a repaint, such as when UIElements.[BaseField\.value](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/basefield1/value.md) is changed or the text in a [Label](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/label.md). If you are implementing a custom control, you can call this method to trigger a repaint when a change occurs that requires a repaint such as when using [VisualElement.generateVisualContent](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/generatevisualcontent.md) to render a mesh and the mesh data has now changed. | | [PlaceBehind](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/placebehind.md) | Places this element right before the sibling element in their parent children list. If the element and the sibling position overlap, the element will be visually behind of its sibling. | | [PlaceInFront](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/placeinfront.md) | Places this element right after the sibling element in their parent children list. If the element and the sibling position overlap, the element will be visually in front of its sibling. | | [Remove](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/remove.md) | Removes this child from the [VisualElement.contentContainer](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/contentcontainer.md)[VisualElement.hierarchy](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/hierarchy-1.md). | | [RemoveAt](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/removeat.md) | Remove the child element located at this position from this element's contentContainer | | [RemoveFromClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/removefromclasslist.md) | Removes a class from the class list of the element. | | [RemoveFromHierarchy](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/removefromhierarchy.md) | Removes this element from its parent hierarchy. | | [SendEvent](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/sendevent.md) | Sends an event to the event handler. | | [SendToBack](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/sendtoback.md) | Sends this element to the beginning of its parent children list. The element will be visually behind any overlapping sibling elements. | | [SetBinding](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/setbinding.md) | Assigns a binding between a target and a source. | | [SetEnabled](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/setenabled.md) | Changes the [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) enabled state. A disabled visual element does not receive most events. | | [Sort](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/sort.md) | Reorders child elements from this VisualElement contentContainer. | | [ToggleInClassList](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/toggleinclasslist.md) | Toggles between adding and removing the given class name from the class list. | | [TryGetBinding](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/trygetbinding.md) | Gets the binding instance for the provided targeted property. | | [TryGetDataSourceContext](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/trygetdatasourcecontext.md) | Queries the [VisualElement.dataSource](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasource.md) and [VisualElement.dataSourcePath](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/datasourcepath.md) of a binding object. | | [TryGetLastBindingToSourceResult](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/trygetlastbindingtosourceresult.md) | Returns the last [BindingResult](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/bindingresult.md) of a binding object from the UI to the data source. | | [TryGetLastBindingToUIResult](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/trygetlastbindingtouiresult.md) | Returns the last [BindingResult](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/bindingresult.md) of a binding object from the data source to the UI. | ## Classes | Class | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [VisualElement.UxmlSerializedData](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/uxmlserializeddata.md) | This is used by the code generator when a custom control is using the [UxmlElementAttribute](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/uxmlelementattribute.md). | ## Structs | Struct | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [VisualElement.Hierarchy](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/hierarchy.md) | Hierarchy is a struct allowing access to the hierarchy of visual elements | ## Enums | Enum | Description | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [VisualElement.MeasureMode](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement/measuremode.md) | The modes available to measure [VisualElement](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/visualelement.md) sizes. | ## Inheritance **Inherited Members:** * [Focusable.Blur()](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/blur.md) * [Focusable.focusController](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/focuscontroller.md) * [Focusable.focusable](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/focusable.md) * [Focusable.tabIndex](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/tabindex.md) * [Focusable.delegatesFocus](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/delegatesfocus.md) * [Focusable.canGrabFocus](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/focusable/cangrabfocus.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.RegisterCallback\(EventCallback\, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/registercallback.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.RegisterCallbackOnce\(EventCallback\, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/registercallbackonce.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.RegisterCallback\(EventCallback\, T, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/registercallback.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.RegisterCallbackOnce\(EventCallback\, T, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/registercallbackonce.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.UnregisterCallback\(EventCallback\, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/unregistercallback.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.UnregisterCallback\(EventCallback\, TrickleDown)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/unregistercallback.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.HasTrickleDownHandlers()](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/hastrickledownhandlers.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.HasBubbleUpHandlers()](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/hasbubbleuphandlers.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.HandleEventBubbleUp(EventBase)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/handleeventbubbleup.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.HandleEventTrickleDown(EventBase)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/handleeventtrickledown.md) * [CallbackEventHandler.NotifyPropertyChanged(BindingId)](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityengine/uielements/callbackeventhandler/notifypropertychanged.md)