Unity UniRx - Reactive Extensions for Unity (Legacy)

Overview

UniRx is a legacy Reactive Extensions library for Unity, widely used in pre-2022 Unity projects. For new projects, prefer R3 (unity-r3 skill).

Library: UniRx by neuecc

UniRx vs R3: UniRx is the predecessor to R3. R3 offers better performance and modern C# features, but UniRx is still maintained and used in many existing projects.

Status: ⚠️ Legacy library - Maintained but not actively developed. New projects should use R3.

Foundation Required: unity-csharp-fundamentals (TryGetComponent, FindAnyObjectByType), csharp-async-patterns (async fundamentals), unity-async (Unity context)

Core Topics:

• Observable sequences and observers
• Reactive operators and transformations
• ReactiveProperty and ReactiveCommand
• UniRx-specific Unity integration
• MessageBroker pattern
• MainThreadDispatcher

Learning Path: C# events → UniRx basics → Observable composition → MVVM with UniRx

Quick Start

Basic Observable Patterns

using UniRx;
using UnityEngine;

public class Example : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Start()
    {
        // Button clicks
        button.OnClickAsObservable()
            .Subscribe(_ => Debug.Log("Clicked"))
            .AddTo(this);

        // Update loop as observable
        Observable.EveryUpdate()
            .Where(_ => Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
            .Subscribe(_ => Jump())
            .AddTo(this);

        // Time-based
        Observable.Timer(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1))
            .Subscribe(_ => Debug.Log("1 second passed"))
            .AddTo(this);
    }
}

ReactiveProperty (UniRx)

using UniRx;

public class Player : MonoBehaviour
{
    // IntReactiveProperty is UniRx-specific
    public IntReactiveProperty Health = new IntReactiveProperty(100);
    public ReadOnlyReactiveProperty<bool> IsDead;

    void Awake()
    {
        IsDead = Health
            .Select(h => h <= 0)
            .ToReadOnlyReactiveProperty();

        IsDead.Where(dead => dead)
            .Subscribe(_ => OnDeath())
            .AddTo(this);
    }

    public void TakeDamage(int amount)
    {
        Health.Value -= amount;
    }
}

When to Use

Unity UniRx (This Skill)

• ✅ Maintaining existing UniRx projects
• ✅ Unity 2019 - 2021 LTS projects
• ✅ Projects with large UniRx codebase
• ✅ Teams experienced with UniRx

When to Choose R3 Instead

• ✅ New projects (Unity 2022+)
• ✅ Better performance requirements
• ✅ Async enumerable integration needed
• ✅ Modern C# feature support

UniRx-Specific Features

MessageBroker Pattern

using UniRx;

// Global event system
public class GameEvents
{
    public struct PlayerDiedEvent { }
    public struct ScoreChangedEvent { public int NewScore; }
}

// Publish
MessageBroker.Default.Publish(new GameEvents.PlayerDiedEvent());

// Subscribe
MessageBroker.Default.Receive<GameEvents.PlayerDiedEvent>()
    .Subscribe(_ => ShowGameOver())
    .AddTo(this);

ReactiveCommand

using UniRx;

public class ViewModel
{
    // Command can be enabled/disabled reactively
    public ReactiveCommand AttackCommand { get; }

    private IntReactiveProperty mStamina = new IntReactiveProperty(100);

    public ViewModel()
    {
        // Command only enabled when stamina > 10
        AttackCommand = mStamina
            .Select(s => s > 10)
            .ToReactiveCommand();

        AttackCommand.Subscribe(_ => ExecuteAttack());
    }
}

MainThreadDispatcher

using UniRx;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

async Task DoBackgroundWork()
{
    // Do background work
    await Task.Run(() => HeavyComputation());

    // Return to Unity main thread
    await UniRx.MainThreadDispatcher.SendStartCoroutine(UpdateUI());
}

Common UniRx Patterns

UI Event Handling

// Input field with validation
inputField.OnValueChangedAsObservable()
    .Where(text => text.Length >= 3)
    .Throttle(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500))
    .Subscribe(text => ValidateInput(text))
    .AddTo(this);

// Toggle button
toggle.OnValueChangedAsObservable()
    .Subscribe(isOn => OnToggleChanged(isOn))
    .AddTo(this);

Coroutine Integration

// Convert coroutine to observable
Observable.FromCoroutine<string>(observer => GetDataCoroutine(observer))
    .Subscribe(data => ProcessData(data))
    .AddTo(this);

IEnumerator GetDataCoroutine(IObserver<string> observer)
{
    UnityWebRequest www = UnityWebRequest.Get(url);
    yield return www.SendWebRequest();
    observer.OnNext(www.downloadHandler.text);
    observer.OnCompleted();
}

MVVM Pattern (UniRx)

// ViewModel
public class PlayerViewModel : IDisposable
{
    private CompositeDisposable mDisposables = new CompositeDisposable();

    public IReadOnlyReactiveProperty<int> Health { get; }
    public IReadOnlyReactiveProperty<string> Status { get; }
    public ReactiveCommand HealCommand { get; }

    private IntReactiveProperty mHealth = new IntReactiveProperty(100);

    public PlayerViewModel()
    {
        Health = mHealth.ToReadOnlyReactiveProperty().AddTo(mDisposables);

        Status = mHealth
            .Select(h => h <= 30 ? "Critical" : h <= 70 ? "Wounded" : "Healthy")
            .ToReadOnlyReactiveProperty()
            .AddTo(mDisposables);

        HealCommand = mHealth
            .Select(h => h < 100)
            .ToReactiveCommand()
            .AddTo(mDisposables);

        HealCommand.Subscribe(_ => mHealth.Value += 20).AddTo(mDisposables);
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        mDisposables.Dispose();
    }
}

Migration to R3

If migrating from UniRx to R3:

API Differences

// UniRx
IntReactiveProperty health = new IntReactiveProperty(100);
ReadOnlyReactiveProperty<bool> isDead = health
    .Select(h => h <= 0)
    .ToReadOnlyReactiveProperty();

// R3 (nearly identical)
ReactiveProperty<int> health = new ReactiveProperty<int>(100);
ReadOnlyReactiveProperty<bool> isDead = health
    .Select(h => h <= 0)
    .ToReadOnlyReactiveProperty();

Key Migration Points

1. Namespace: using UniRx; → using R3;
2. Types: IntReactiveProperty → ReactiveProperty<int>
3. MessageBroker: No direct equivalent in R3 (implement custom or use event aggregator)
4. MainThreadDispatcher: R3 uses Observable.ReturnOnMainThread() and Unity's SynchronizationContext

Integration with Other Skills

• unity-r3: Modern alternative for new projects
• unity-unitask: UniRx can work with UniTask via conversion methods
• unity-vcontainer: Inject ReactiveProperty as dependencies
• unity-ui: Bind UniRx observables to UI elements
• unity-async: Bridge async operations with Observable.FromAsync()

Platform Considerations

• WebGL: Full support with frame-based timing
• Mobile: Efficient for UI and event handling
• All Platforms: Mature and battle-tested

Best Practices

1. Always use AddTo(): Prevent memory leaks with automatic disposal
2. Use CompositeDisposable: Group related subscriptions for cleanup
3. Throttle/Debounce input: Prevent excessive processing
4. ReactiveProperty for state: Better than manual event raising
5. MessageBroker for global events: Decoupled communication
6. MainThreadDispatcher awareness: Always return to main thread for Unity APIs
7. Consider migration to R3: For long-term projects on Unity 2022+

Performance Notes

UniRx performance is good but R3 offers:

• 30-50% better allocation performance
• Struct-based observers (zero allocation)
• Better GC pressure management
• Async enumerable integration

For performance-critical applications on Unity 2022+, migrate to R3.

Reference Documentation

UniRx Advanced Patterns

Detailed UniRx patterns:

• MVVM architecture with ReactiveProperty
• Event aggregator and state management
• Custom operator creation
• Error handling strategies

External Resources

• UniRx GitHub
• UniRx Official Wiki

Migration Guide: See unity-r3 skill for R3 patterns and migration considerations.