Controls share CSS-like layout: width and height in pixels ('120px') or parent fractions (0.5), offsets, alignment, padding and pointer observables. TextBlock draws (wrapping) text, Image a picture, Rectangle a rounded box around children, and Button a rectangle with a text block and/or image:
const GUI = BABYLON.GUI;
const ui = GUI.AdvancedDynamicTexture.CreateFullscreenUI('ui', true, scene);
const card = Object.assign(new GUI.Rectangle('card'), { width: 0.5, height: '120px' });
const title = Object.assign(new GUI.TextBlock('title', 'Patterns of the Deep Web'),
{ textWrapping: true, resizeToFit: true, width: '90px' });
const buy = GUI.Button.CreateImageWithCenterTextButton('buy', 'Add to cart',
'booknest-icons.png');
ui.addControl(card);
[title, buy].forEach((control) => card.addControl(control));
scene.render(); // lays the controls out
console.log(`card ${card.widthInPixels} x ${card.heightInPixels} px of ` +
`${ui.getSize().width}; title ${title.lines.length} lines, ${title.heightInPixels} px`);
console.log(`button parts: ${buy.children.map((child) => child.getClassName())}`);Output
card 160 x 120 px of 320; title 3 lines, 63 px button parts: Image,TextBlock
A width of 0.5 became half the 320-pixel canvas. Other controls include InputText, Checkbox, RadioButton, ColorPicker, Line and VirtualKeyboard.
<!doctype html>
<style>
body { margin: 0; background: #f7f3ec; font: 13px system-ui, sans-serif; color: #333; }
canvas { width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: 320px; display: block; touch-action: none; outline: none; }
#info { max-width: 600px; padding: 4px 8px; font-family: monospace; }
</style>
<canvas id="view"></canvas>
<div id="info"></div>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/babylonjs@9.28.0/babylon.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/babylonjs-gui@9.28.0/babylon.gui.min.js"></script>
<script>
// ---- BookNest's bookstore: the helpers the book keeps in bookstore.js ----
const ROOM = { width: 8, depth: 6, height: 3, wall: 0.15 };
const BOOKS = [
{ id: 1, title: 'The Quiet Harbor', author: 'Mara Ellison', color: '#1f5f8b', pages: 312, price: 14.99, rating: 4.6, inStock: true },
{ id: 2, title: 'Patterns of the Deep Web', author: 'Tomas Reyes', color: '#5b3f99', pages: 428, price: 32.5, rating: 4.4, inStock: true },
{ id: 3, title: 'Salt and Saffron', author: 'Priya Nair', color: '#e09a10', pages: 256, price: 24, rating: 4.8, inStock: false },
{ id: 4, title: 'Small Steps to Big Summits', author: 'Dana Whitfield', color: '#3f7d3a', pages: 198, price: 18.5, rating: 4.3, inStock: true },
{ id: 5, title: "The Clockmaker's Paradox", author: 'Julian Voss', color: '#b5452f', pages: 344, price: 16.75, rating: 4.7, inStock: true },
{ id: 6, title: 'Gardens in Glass', author: 'Lena Hart', color: '#2a9d8f', pages: 176, price: 21.3, rating: 4.5, inStock: true },
];
function createScene(engine) {
const scene = new BABYLON.Scene(engine);
scene.clearColor = BABYLON.Color4.FromHexString('#cfd8dcff');
const sky = new BABYLON.HemisphericLight('sky', new BABYLON.Vector3(0.3, 1, -0.4), scene);
sky.groundColor = new BABYLON.Color3(0.35, 0.32, 0.3);
return scene;
}
function paint(scene, name, hex) { // a matte color
const material = new BABYLON.StandardMaterial(name, scene);
material.diffuseColor = BABYLON.Color3.FromHexString(hex);
material.specularColor = BABYLON.Color3.Black();
return material;
}
function createRoom(scene) { // floor and three walls, front open
const room = new BABYLON.TransformNode('room', scene);
const floor = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateGround('floor', { width: ROOM.width, height: ROOM.depth }, scene);
floor.material = paint(scene, 'oak', '#b08d6a');
floor.parent = room;
const plaster = paint(scene, 'plaster', '#fff3e0');
for (const [name, width, x, z] of [['backWall', 8, 0, 3], ['leftWall', 6, -4, 0], ['rightWall', 6, 4, 0]]) {
const wall = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox(name, { width, height: ROOM.height, depth: ROOM.wall }, scene);
wall.position.set(x, ROOM.height / 2, z);
wall.rotation.y = x ? Math.PI / 2 : 0;
wall.material = plaster;
wall.parent = room;
}
return room;
}
function createBookcase(scene, name, x) { // 8 boxes merged into 1 mesh
const [w, h, d, t] = [3, 2.2, 0.35, 0.04];
const parts = [[t, h, d, -w / 2, h / 2, 0], [t, h, d, w / 2, h / 2, 0], [w, h, t, 0, h / 2, d / 2 - t / 2]];
for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) parts.push([w, t, d, 0, 0.1 + i * 0.5, 0]);
const bookcase = BABYLON.Mesh.MergeMeshes(parts.map(([width, height, depth, px, py, pz]) => {
const part = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('part', { width, height, depth }, scene);
part.position.set(px, py, pz);
return part;
}), true);
bookcase.name = name;
bookcase.material = paint(scene, 'walnut', '#6d4c33');
bookcase.position.set(x, 0, ROOM.depth / 2 - ROOM.wall / 2 - d / 2); // against the back wall
return bookcase;
}
function drawCover(scene, book) { // cover art painted on a canvas
const tex = new BABYLON.DynamicTexture('cover' + book.id, { width: 256, height: 384 }, scene);
const c = tex.getContext();
c.fillStyle = book.color; c.fillRect(0, 0, 256, 384);
c.fillStyle = 'rgba(0,0,0,0.4)'; c.fillRect(0, 0, 18, 384); // the dark left edge
c.strokeStyle = '#fff8e1'; c.lineWidth = 3; c.strokeRect(34, 24, 202, 336);
c.fillStyle = '#fff8e1'; c.textAlign = 'center'; c.font = 'bold 30px Georgia';
const lines = [''];
for (const word of book.title.split(' ')) {
const test = (lines[lines.length - 1] + ' ' + word).trim();
if (c.measureText(test).width > 180) lines.push(word); else lines[lines.length - 1] = test;
}
lines.forEach((line, i) => c.fillText(line, 135, 110 + i * 38));
c.font = '20px Georgia'; c.fillText(book.author, 135, 330);
tex.update();
return tex;
}
function placeBooks(scene, bookcase, shelf = 2) { // six books, spines out, covers on +x
const strip = new BABYLON.Vector4(0, 0, 0.07, 1);
const faceUV = [strip, strip, new BABYLON.Vector4(0, 0, 1, 1), strip, strip, strip];
let x = -0.35; // left end of the row, local to the bookcase
return BOOKS.map((record) => {
const width = record.pages / 4000 + 0.02; // spine thickness from page count
const book = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox(`book${record.id}`, { width, height: 0.3, depth: 0.22, faceUV, wrap: true }, scene);
book.parent = bookcase;
book.position.set(x + width / 2, 0.12 + shelf * 0.5 + 0.15, -0.02);
x += width + 0.012;
book.material = new BABYLON.StandardMaterial(record.title, scene);
book.material.diffuseTexture = drawCover(scene, record);
book.material.specularColor = new BABYLON.Color3(0.15, 0.15, 0.15);
book.metadata = record; // the record, for picking
return book;
});
}
// The book cuts the storefront with CSG2 (Manifold WebAssembly); this sandbox cannot download
// the .wasm, so the older pure-JavaScript BABYLON.CSG makes the same cuts here.
function createFrontWall(scene) {
const box = (width, height, depth, x, y) => {
const mesh = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('cut', { width, height, depth }, scene);
mesh.position.set(x, y, -ROOM.depth / 2);
return mesh;
};
const solid = box(ROOM.width, ROOM.height, ROOM.wall, 0, ROOM.height / 2);
const windowHole = box(3.2, 1.6, 1, -1.4, 1.6), doorHole = box(1.1, 2.2, 1, 2.3, 1.1);
const wall = BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(solid).subtract(BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(windowHole))
.subtract(BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(doorHole)).toMesh('frontWall', scene.getMaterialByName('plaster'), scene);
[solid, windowHole, doorHole].forEach((mesh) => mesh.dispose());
return wall;
}
// ---- end of the bookstore helpers ----
const canvas = document.getElementById('view');
const engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true, {}, true);
const scene = createScene(engine);
scene.clearColor = BABYLON.Color4.FromHexString('#e9e4dcff');
const camera = new BABYLON.ArcRotateCamera('cam', -Math.PI / 2, 1.3, 2.4, new BABYLON.Vector3(-0.55, 0, 0), scene);
camera.attachControl(canvas, true);
const record = BOOKS[1]; // Patterns of the Deep Web
const coverTexture = drawCover(scene, record);
const book = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('book', { width: 0.6, height: 0.9, depth: 0.12,
faceUV: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5].map((face) => new BABYLON.Vector4(0, 0, face === 1 ? 1 : 0.07, 1)), // -z: the cover
wrap: true }, scene);
book.material = new BABYLON.StandardMaterial('cover', scene);
book.material.diffuseTexture = coverTexture;
scene.onBeforeRenderObservable.add(() => { book.rotation.y = Math.sin(performance.now() / 1500) * 0.6; });
// Images come from URLs; here the cover canvas and a cart icon become data: URLs
const icon = document.createElement('canvas');
icon.width = icon.height = 64;
const g = icon.getContext('2d');
g.strokeStyle = '#fff'; g.lineWidth = 5;
g.beginPath(); g.moveTo(8, 14); g.lineTo(18, 14); g.lineTo(26, 42); g.lineTo(52, 42); g.lineTo(56, 22); g.lineTo(21, 22); g.stroke();
g.fillStyle = '#fff'; g.beginPath(); g.arc(28, 52, 5, 0, 7); g.arc(48, 52, 5, 0, 7); g.fill();
const GUI = BABYLON.GUI;
const ui = GUI.AdvancedDynamicTexture.CreateFullscreenUI('ui', true, scene);
ui.idealWidth = 600;
const card = Object.assign(new GUI.Rectangle('card'), { width: '250px', height: '220px', left: '-150px',
background: 'white', cornerRadius: 10, thickness: 1, color: '#c9bfae' });
ui.addControl(card);
const thumb = Object.assign(new GUI.Image('thumb', coverTexture.getContext().canvas.toDataURL()),
{ width: '70px', height: '105px', left: '14px', top: '14px',
horizontalAlignment: 0, verticalAlignment: 0 }); // 0: left / top
const title = Object.assign(new GUI.TextBlock('title', record.title),
{ textWrapping: true, resizeToFit: true, width: '140px', left: '96px', top: '16px', fontSize: 17,
fontWeight: 'bold', color: '#222', horizontalAlignment: 0, verticalAlignment: 0, textHorizontalAlignment: 0 });
const byline = Object.assign(new GUI.TextBlock('byline', `${record.author}\n$${record.price.toFixed(2)} ★ ${record.rating}`),
{ resizeToFit: true, left: '96px', top: '76px', fontSize: 13, color: '#555', horizontalAlignment: 0, verticalAlignment: 0,
textHorizontalAlignment: 0 });
const buy = GUI.Button.CreateImageButton('buy', 'Add to cart', icon.toDataURL()); // icon left, text right
Object.assign(buy, { width: '210px', height: '52px', top: '-16px', verticalAlignment: GUI.Control.VERTICAL_ALIGNMENT_BOTTOM,
background: '#1f5f8b', color: 'white', cornerRadius: 8, fontSize: 16 });
let inCart = 0;
buy.onPointerUpObservable.add(() => { buy.textBlock.text = `In cart: ${++inCart}`; });
[thumb, title, byline, buy].forEach((control) => card.addControl(control));
scene.onAfterRenderObservable.addOnce(() => { // after the first layout
document.getElementById('info').textContent = `card ${card.widthInPixels} x ${card.heightInPixels} px; ` +
`title ${title.lines.length} lines, ${Math.round(title.heightInPixels)} px; button parts: ` +
buy.children.map((child) => child.getClassName()).join(', ');
});
engine.runRenderLoop(() => scene.render());
addEventListener('resize', () => engine.resize());
</script>