Custom Action - Open URL

Temmy

Just put this simple action together which takes a URL and then will do Unity's Application.OpenURL() to open the URL in whatever web browser is your system default:

Just paste this into a script called ActionOpenURL:

using UnityEngine;
#if UNITY_EDITOR
using UnityEditor;
#endif

namespace AC
{
    [System.Serializable]
    public class ActionOpenURL : Action
    {
        // Declare variables here
        public string url;

        public ActionOpenURL()
        {
            this.isDisplayed = true;
            category = ActionCategory.Custom;
            title = "Open URL";
            description = "Opens a URL using Application.OpenURL()";
        }

        override public float Run ()
        {
            Application.OpenURL(url);
            Debug.Log("URL opened");

            return 0f;
        }

        #if UNITY_EDITOR

        override public void ShowGUI ()
        {
            // Action-specific Inspector GUI code her
            url = EditorGUILayout.TextField("URL to open:", url);

            AfterRunningOption ();
        }
        #endif
    }
}

Temmy

The result:

https://twitter.com/Hi_ImTemmy/status/1464323484071378945

ChrisIceBox

Looking good! One for the wiki, perhaps?

Quick note: with the updated API in v1.73.0, it's recommended to declare an Action's characteristics through properties rather than serializable fields in its Constructor. For the moment, the old format will work, but the newer one is a little cleaner:

using UnityEngine;
#if UNITY_EDITOR
using UnityEditor;
#endif

namespace AC
{
    [System.Serializable]
    public class ActionOpenURL : Action
    {

        public string url;

        public override string Title => "Open URL";
        public override ActionCategory Category => ActionCategory.Custom;
        public override string Description => "Opens a URL using Application.OpenURL()";

        override public float Run ()
        {
            Application.OpenURL(url);
            Debug.Log("URL opened");
            return 0f;
        }

        #if UNITY_EDITOR

        override public void ShowGUI ()
        {
            url = EditorGUILayout.TextField("URL to open:", url);
        }

        #endif
    }
}

Temmy

@ChrisIceBox I was hoping you'd chime in with how it could be improved. Custom actions aren't my forte, so all feedback is good feedback. I'll give your updated script a whirl.

Temmy

Works fine! I did a bit of modification for the text entry:

using UnityEngine;
#if UNITY_EDITOR
using UnityEditor;
#endif

namespace AC
{
    [System.Serializable]
    public class ActionOpenURL : Action
    {
        public string url;

        public override string Title => "Open URL";
        public override ActionCategory Category => ActionCategory.Custom;
        public override string Description => "Opens a URL using Application.OpenURL()";

        override public float Run()
        {
            Application.OpenURL(url);
            Debug.Log("URL opened");
            return 0f;
        }

#if UNITY_EDITOR

        override public void ShowGUI()
        {
            EditorStyles.textField.wordWrap = true;
            url = EditorGUILayout.TextField("URL to open:", url, GUILayout.MinHeight(100));
        }

#endif
    }
}

This gives a bit more space to see a long URL and also wraps the text:

sonicjoy

Thank you for taking the time to write and post this!

MAC

Just implemented this and works great. Thanks!

Endlessdescent

Where do we put this script file to get it to show up under custom actions?

Temmy

@Endlessdescent It depends on what folder you have setup to be the home of custom actions. This part of the manual explains it.

Endlessdescent

@Temmy thank you!

Endlessdescent

Sorry to bother again, but have attached this script to a button on my title screen. It shows correctly in the action list, but when you press the button in game, absolutely nothing happens. What did I do wrong here?

Temmy

@Endlessdescent If you put a different action in the action list, can you confirm the action list works?

Endlessdescent

@Temmy Yes, but good question. I swapped the action with starting a new game and it works fine. I'll try deleting the action and script then starting over in case I messed something up...
Edit: So deleting everything and starting over worked fine. Thank you for the helpful script!
I think the problem is that I probably incorrectly named/deleted the script on my first try. This seems to cause issues with the build's info, so always make sure to delete and load assets properly