When will the graph view api be replaced and how different will it be?

[Roozmehr]

Hi! I understand that similar discussions already exist, but I was hoping to get an update on this matter. Since the graph view api is still an experimental tool, when will the replacement be available for public access? and how different will it be from the current graphView api? I’m currently working on a project that heavily requires this functinality and any info would be helpful.

[boyaregames]

Tbh dont wait for it. It is already passed like 3-4 years?
They said before giving public API they need to rework Animation window first and something another (probably behaviour package)
As long as there is no new Animation we wont see new Graph API. And new Animation is no near finished

[Canijo]

I agree, dont wait for it. Also the API will be massively different. GraphView currently offers only some UIElements to get you started. It is not-at-all a full functional graph solution, so for most needs you’ll end up rewriting most of it. Or ignoring their callbacks in favor of your own.

The “”“incoming”“” GraphToolFoundation (GTF) or whatever it’s name, will suppossedly offer more of a “full-solution”. This would mean not only UIElements, but also Models to hold your data, a provided workflow to update such data, maybe a custom Undo support, maybe some “Processor” API to transform graph “authoring” objects into effective “runtime” graph objects. (i say this for what i did see when investigating GTF long ago, but i dont really know the current state nor design goals).

So for the time being just stick to GraphView, and treat it as a UI layer only. You will still need to work around serialization / bindings / models / etc for yourself

[Canijo]

Just as a follow-up, this has been mentioned on a Unity post during Unite in the context of animation workflows.

@UnityChinny

This new graph stack will consist of an authoring and runtime layer. It will be multithreaded and should support horizontal/vertical layouts, debugging and live editing, flow graphs and state machines.

Okay now to veer off course for a bit. A follow-up question might be “What about GraphView?” Well, we are not touching it. It is still experimental and will be until the day it retires. We know it is still being used as there is no decent alternative from us, but hopefully, one day everyone will have migrated to the new system (including all of Unity), so there will no longer be a need for anyone to keep using GraphView.

I was going to do my Q3 update on just the graph stuff, but when it became clear we would be able to announce something at Unite, I thought to just wait, so I could include it here.