ListView
UnityEngine.UIElements.ListView
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A ListView is a vertically scrollable area that links to and displays a list of items.
Note
The horizontal and vertical Scroller elements are standard UI Toolkit Scrollers.
Create a ListView
You can create a ListView with UI Builder, UXML, and C#. The following C# example creates a ListView:
var listView = new ListView();
ListView versus ScrollView
You can use a ScrollView control to create the same functionalities as using a ListView. However, a ListView is more efficient than a ScrollView when you do the following:
- Populate list items
- Manage item height
- Bind and unbind to objects
- Instantiate the number of visual elements required to fill a page
- Recycle visual elements to optimize memory handling
Refresh the collection view
In general, call the or method—these methods only refresh the collection view and are less expensive. If you call , the collection view is completely rebuilt, which can be expensive.
RefreshItemsRefreshItemRebuildHowever, you must call in the following cases:
Rebuild- You change the type of the data source, such as changing from a to a
List<float>.List<Vector3>
- You make changes to or
makeItem.destroyItem
Set item height
To change how item height is used to drive content, use the VirtualizationMethod:
- sets all items to the same height.
VirtualizationMethod.FixedHeight - allows items to have varying heights.
VirtualizationMethod.DynamicHeight
Control the scroll speed
The ListView has a built-in child ScrollView element that lets users scroll through the list. You can control the speed of the scroll by overriding the , , and properties of the ScrollView with C#.
mouseWheelScrollSizehorizontalPageSizeverticalPageSizeMake a list reorderable
By default, the ListView control is not reorderable. To make it reorderable, set the property to in UI Builder, UXML, or C#.
reorderabletruelistView.reorderable = true;
Implement drag-and-drop operations for ListView
Drag-and-drop is a common feature in UI design. To implement the drag-and-drop operations, override the following methods:
- To enable dragging items, override .
canStartDrag - To set which items are dragged, override .
setupDragAndDrop - To get item status changes, override . You can perform certain actions based on the drag position or other conditions.
dragAndDropUpdate - To control the drag-and-drop behavior, override .
handleDrop
During the drag-and-drop operation, you can enable the reordering of items by dragging. To enable, set the attribute to in UI Builder, UXML, and C#.
reorderabletrueRefer to Create a drag-and-drop list and tree views between windows for an example.
Use controller and keyboard navigation with ListView
To enable controller and keyboard navigation with a ListView, do the following:
- Enable selection mode: Set the Selection Type to Single or Multiple in the (orInspector
?
in C#). Keyboard and controller navigation events are tied to the selected state. If you disable selection, the list ignores these inputs.selectionType - Set initial focus: UI Toolkit doesn't always give the ListView focus on startup, so the list might not receive keys until something is focused. To receive keyboard or controller events without first clicking with a mouse, call via script (for example, in an
listView.Focus()callback).AttachToPanelEvent - Configure input for runtime UI: For runtime, refer to Runtime UI event system and input handling to connect the input system to UI Toolkit, and follow Set up input handling with the Input System package to configure project UI actions (D-pad, arrows, and other navigation). The Input System package UI support topic describes each UI action. For Panel Settings and the Panel Renderer workflow, refer to Configure runtime UI. In Editor panels, arrow keys are automatically converted to navigation events without additional configuration.
ListView FAQs
The following are some frequently asked questions about the ListView control.
Can I get the list of rows that are visible in the view?
There are no dedicated APIs for this. You can use UQuery to retrieve the elements of interest.
Is it mandatory for any of the overridden functions of a view controller to call ?
base.MethodCall this method only if you want to extend its default behavior.
I’ve added a Toggle to my row. Why doesn’t the selection jump to that row when the user selects it?
By default, the row is selected only if the mouse down event is not consumed by the row's contents. In this case, your Toggle stops the event propagation. To fix this, register a callback with on the Toggle to call .
PointerDownEventTrickleDownSetSelectionHow do I receive a callback when a user changes their selection in the view?
It is recommended to use the callback to retrieve data by index when needed. While you can also use , be aware that it returns a list of objects, which can cause boxing allocations when used with value types.
selectedIndicesChangedselectionChangedCan I get the indices of the rows that are visible on the screen?
There are no dedicated APIs for this. You can use the and callbacks to track these indices in .
bindItemunbindItemuserDataCan I have a horizontal ListView?
The ListView control doesn't support horizontal layout and virtualization. It's recommended to use a ScrollView with to layout elements horizontally. However, applying this to a ListView breaks virtualization.
flex-direction: rowExamples
The following UXML example creates a ListView:
<UXML xmlns="UnityEngine.UIElements"> <ListView class="the-uxml-listview" fixed-item-height="20" /></UXML>
The following USS example styles the ListView:
.the-uxml-listview { height: 200px;}.unity-list-view__item-content > .unity-label { flex-grow: 1; margin-top: 2px;}
The following C# example illustrates some of the customizable functionalities of the ListView:
// Create some list of data, here simply numbers in interval [1, 1000] const int itemCount = 1000; var items = new List<string>(itemCount); for (var i = 0; i < itemCount; i++) items.Add(i.ToString()); // The "makeItem" function will be called as needed // when the ListView needs more items to render Func<VisualElement> makeItem = () => new Label(); // As the user scrolls through the list, the ListView object // will recycle elements created by the "makeItem" // and invoke the "bindItem" callback to associate // the element with the matching data item (specified as an index in the list) Action<VisualElement, int> bindItem = (e, i) => ((Label)e).text = items[i]; var listView = container.Q<ListView>(); listView.makeItem = makeItem; listView.bindItem = bindItem; listView.itemsSource = items; listView.selectionType = SelectionType.Multiple; // Callback invoked when the user double clicks an item listView.itemsChosen += (selectedItems) => { Debug.Log("Items chosen: " + string.Join(", ", selectedItems)); }; // Callback invoked when the user changes the selection inside the ListView listView.selectedIndicesChanged += (selectedIndices) => { Debug.Log("Index selected: " + string.Join(", ", selectedIndices)); // Note: selectedIndices can also be used to get the selected items from the itemsSource directly or // by using listView.viewController.GetItemForIndex(index). };
To try this example live in Unity, go to Window > UI Toolkit > Samples.
For more examples, refer to the following:
- Create list and tree views: Use ListView, TreeView, MultiColumnListView, and MultiColumnTreeView to create list and tree views.
- Create a complex list view: Use ListView to create a custom Editor window with a list of characters.
- Bind to a list with ListView: Create a list of toggles and bind the list to an underlying list of objects.
GameSwitch - Create a drag-and-drop list and tree views between windows: Use ListView, TreeView, and MultiColumnListView to create a drag-and-drop UI between windows.
C# base class and namespace
C# class:
ListViewNamespace:
UnityEngine.UIElementsBase class:
BaseListViewMember UXML attributes
This element has the following member attributes:
Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| | A UXML template that constructs each recycled and rebound element within the list. This template is designed to replace the You can use it along with |
Inherited UXML attributes
This element inherits the following attributes from its base class:
Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| | This property allows the user to allow or block the addition of an item when clicking on the Add Button. It must return If the callback is not set to |
| | This property allows the user to allow or block the removal of an item when clicking on the Remove Button. It must return If the property is not set to |
| | Path of the target property to be bound. |
| | This property controls whether every element in the list will get its data source setup automatically to the correct item in the collection's source. When set to |
| | The height of a single item in the list, in pixels. This property must be set when using the |
| | Whether an element can potentially receive focus. If false, the element can't receive focus. If true, the element receives focus only when its |
| | This property controls the text of the foldout header when using If the |
| | This property controls whether the collection view shows a horizontal scroll bar when its content does not fit in the visible area. |
| | This property controls the drag and drop mode for the list view. The default value is |
| | Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the user can drag list items to reorder them. The default value is |
| | Controls the selection type. The default value is |
| | This property controls whether a footer will be added to the list view. The default value is |
| | This property controls whether the background colors of collection view rows alternate. Takes a value from the |
| | Enable this property to display a border around the collection view. If set to true, a border appears around the ScrollView that the collection view uses internally. |
| | This property controls whether the list view displays the collection size (number of items). The default value is |
| | This property controls whether the list view displays a header, in the form of a foldout that can be expanded or collapsed. The default value is |
| | An integer used to sort focusable elements in the focus ring. Must be greater than or equal to zero. Setting the |
| | The virtualization method to use for this collection when a scroll bar is visible. Takes a value from the The default value is |
This element also inherits the following attributes from :
VisualElementName | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| | Logical container where child elements are added. If a child is added to this element, the child is added to this element's content container instead. When iterating over the If the content container is the same as the element itself, child elements are added directly to the element. This is true for most elements but can be overridden by more complex types. The |
| | Assigns a data source to this VisualElement which overrides any inherited data source. This data source is inherited by all children. |
| | Path from the data source to the value. |
| | The possible type of data source assignable to this VisualElement. This information is only used by the UI Builder as a hint to provide some completion to the data source path field when the effective data source cannot be specified at design time. |
| | Returns true if the This flag isn't changed if the VisualElement is disabled implicitly by one of its parents. To verify this, use |
| | Indicates the directionality of the element's text. The value will propagate to the element's children. |
| | The name of this VisualElement. Use this property to write USS selectors that target a specific element. The standard practice is to give an element a unique name. |
| | Determines if this element can be the target of pointer events or picked by Elements can not be picked if: - They are invisible- Their Elements with a picking mode of |
| | Sets the style values on a The returned style data, computed from USS files or inline styles written to this object in C#, doesn't represent the fully resolved styles, such as the final height and width of a VisualElement. To access these fully resolved styles, use For information about how to use this property and all the supported USS properties, refer to the Apply styles in C# scripts and USS properties reference manual pages. |
| | 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. |
| | A combination of hint values that specify high-level intended usage patterns for the |
| | Used for view data persistence, such as tree expanded states, scroll position, or zoom level. This key is used to save and load the view data from the view data store. If you don't set this key, the persistence is disabled for the associated |
USS classes
The following table lists all the C# public property names and their related USS selector.
C# property | USS selector | Description |
|---|---|---|
| | The USS class name for ListView elements. Unity adds this USS class to every instance of the ListView element. Any styling applied to this class affects every ListView located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name of item elements in ListView elements. Unity adds this USS class to every item element the ListView contains. Any styling applied to this class affects every item element located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name for label displayed when ListView is empty. Unity adds this USS class to the label displayed if the ListView is empty. Any styling applied to this class affects every empty label located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name for reorderable animated ListView elements. Unity adds this USS class to every instance of the ListView element when |
| | The USS class name for item elements in reorderable animated ListView. Unity adds this USS class to every element in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for item container in reorderable animated ListView. Unity adds this USS class to every item container in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for drag handle in reorderable animated ListView. Unity adds this USS class to drag handles in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for drag handle bar in reorderable animated ListView. Unity adds this USS class to every drag handle bar in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for the footer of the ListView. Unity adds this USS class to the footer element in the ListView. Any styling applied to this class affects every ListView located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name for the foldout header of the ListView. Unity adds this USS class to the foldout element in the ListView. Any styling applied to this class affects every foldout located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name for the size field of the ListView when show bound collection size is enabled Unity adds this USS class to the size field element in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for the size field of the ListView when foldout header is enabled. Unity adds this USS class to the size field element in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for the size field of the ListView when the footer is enabled. Unity adds this USS class to the size field element in the ListView when |
| | The USS class name for ListView when foldout header is enabled. Unity adds this USS class to ListView when |
| | The USS class name for ListView when add/remove footer is enabled. Unity adds this USS class to ListView when |
| | The USS class name for scroll view when add/remove footer is enabled. Unity adds this USS class scroll view of |
| | The USS class name for BaseVerticalCollectionView elements. Unity adds this USS class to every instance of the BaseVerticalCollectionView element. Any styling applied to this class affects every BaseVerticalCollectionView located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name for BaseVerticalCollectionView elements with a border. Unity adds this USS class to an instance of the BaseVerticalCollectionView element if the instance's |
| | The USS class name of item elements in BaseVerticalCollectionView elements. Unity adds this USS class to every item element the BaseVerticalCollectionView contains. Any styling applied to this class affects every item element located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name of the drag hover bar. Unity adds this USS class to the bar that appears when the user drags an item in the list. Any styling applied to this class affects every BaseVerticalCollectionView located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name of the drag hover circular marker used to indicate depth. Unity adds this USS class to the bar that appears when the user drags an item in the list. Any styling applied to this class affects every BaseVerticalCollectionView located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name applied to an item element on drag hover. Unity adds this USS class to the item element when it's being dragged. Any styling applied to this class affects every BaseVerticalCollectionView item located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | The USS class name of selected item elements in the BaseVerticalCollectionView. Unity adds this USS class to every selected element in the BaseVerticalCollectionView. The |
| | The USS class name for odd rows in the BaseVerticalCollectionView. Unity adds this USS class to every odd-numbered item in the BaseVerticalCollectionView when the |
| | The USS class name of the scroll view in the BaseVerticalCollectionView. Unity adds this USS class to the BaseVerticalCollectionView's scroll view. Any styling applied to this class affects every BaseVerticalCollectionView scroll view located beside, or below the stylesheet in the visual tree. |
| | USS class name of local disabled elements. |
You can also use the Matching Selectors section in the Inspector or the UI Toolkit Debugger to see which USS selectors affect the components of the at every level of its hierarchy.
VisualElement