AspectForUnity

Overview

AspectForUnity provides Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) functionality to Unity projects.
Using ILPostProcessor, you can insert processing before and after methods.
This allows you to implement cross-cutting concerns such as logging, performance measurement, and exception handling separately from business logic.
These are inserted at compile time, minimizing the impact on runtime performance.

Verified Environment

Environment	Version
Unity	6000.0.60f1
.Net	4.x, Standard 2.1

Main Features

JoinPoint.Before: Insert processing before method execution
JoinPoint.After: Insert processing after method execution
JoinPoint.AfterReturning: Insert processing after method completes normally
JoinPoint.AfterThrowing: Insert processing after method throws an exception
Regex-based Pointcut: Match method names and class names using regular expressions
Parameter Binding: Binding of method arguments/type arguments/return values
Unsafe Injection: Modification of return values and parameters

Installation Method

Installing ILPostProcessorCommon

ILPostProcessorCommon v2.5.0

Installing AspectForUnity

Open [Window > Package Manager].
Click [+ > Add package from git url...].
Enter https://github.com/Katsuya100/AspectForUnity.git?path=packages and click [Add].

If It Doesn't Work

The above method may not work in environments where git is not installed.
Download com.katuusagi.aspectforunity.tgz for the corresponding version from Releases
and install it using [Package Manager > + > Add package from tarball...].

If It Still Doesn't Work

Download Katuusagi.AspectForUnity.unitypackage for the corresponding version from Releases
and import it into your project from [Assets > Import Package > Custom Package].

Basic Usage

1. Creating an Aspect Class

Define an aspect class by adding the Aspect attribute to a class.

using Katuusagi.AspectForUnity;

[Aspect]
public class LoggingAspect
{
}

2. Implementing Advice Methods

Implement advice methods within the aspect class and add the Advice attribute and Pointcut attribute.
In the sample below, we use RegexPointcut (described later) to apply advice to methods containing TestMethod in their method name.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*TestMethod.*", PointcutNameFlag.MethodName)]
public static void BeforeAdvice()
{
    Debug.Log($"before method");
}

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterReturning)]
[RegexPointcut(".*TestMethod.*", PointcutNameFlag.MethodName)]
public static void AfterAdvice()
{
    Debug.Log($"after method");
}

For example, advice will be inserted into the following methods

public class SampleClass
{
    public static void TestMethod()
    {
        Debug.Log("method body");
    }
}

3. Execution Result

When TestMethod is executed, the following will be output:

before method
method body
after method

JoinPoint Settings for Advice

Before

Insert processing before method execution.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void BeforeAdvice()
{
    // Processing before method execution
}

After

Insert processing after method execution (executed even if an exception occurs).

[Advice(JoinPoint.After)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void AfterAdvice()
{
    // Processing after method execution
}

AfterReturning

Insert processing after method completes normally.

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterReturning)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void AfterReturningAdvice()
{
    // Processing after method completes normally
}

AfterThrowing

Insert processing after method throws an exception.

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterThrowing)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void AfterThrowingAdvice()
{
    // Processing when exception occurs
}

Pointcut Attributes

Pointcut attributes specify which methods the advice method will be applied to.
Multiple conditions can be set and are matched with AND conditions.

RegexPointcut

Match methods using regular expressions against the internal representation called method identifier name.
By combining with PointcutNameFlag, you can specify elements to include in the method identifier name.

*Example of method identifier name String SampleController::GetStatus<T>(Int32 parameter)

// Method names starting with "Get"
[RegexPointcut("^Get.*", PointcutNameFlag.MethodName)]

// Class names ending with "Controller"
[RegexPointcut(".*Controller$", PointcutNameFlag.DeclaringTypeName)]

// Methods starting with "Get" in classes ending with "Controller"
[RegexPointcut(".*Controller::Get.*", PointcutNameFlag.DeclaringTypeName | PointcutNameFlag.MethodName)]

Method Identifier Name Composition Example

When all elements are included, it is composed as follows:

AssemblyFamily.AssemblyName[assembly:AssemblyAttribute][module:ModuleAttribute][declaring:DeclaringAttribute][return:ReturnAttribute][MethodAttribute("AttributeParameter",Property="AttributeProperty")]public sealed override ReturnType DeclaringTypeName<[DeclaringGenericAttribute]TDeclaring>MethodName<[GenericAttribute]TMethod>([ParameterAttribute]ParameterType parameterName)

Each element of the method identifier name corresponds as follows:

PointcutNameFlag Options

Flag	Description	Component in Above Method Identifier Name Example
AssemblyAttribute	Include assembly attributes in method identifier name	`[assembly:AssemblyAttribute]`
AssemblyName	Include assembly name in method identifier name	`AssemblyFamily.AssemblyName`
ModuleAttribute	Include module attributes in method identifier name	`[module:ModuleAttribute]`
DeclaringTypeAttribute	Include declaring type attributes in method identifier name	`[declaring:DeclaringAttribute]`
DeclaringTypeName	Include declaring type name in method identifier name	`DeclaringTypeName`
DeclaringTypeGenericArgumentAttribute	Include declaring type generic argument attributes in method identifier name	`<TDeclaring>`
DeclaringTypeGenericArgumentName	Include declaring type generic argument names in method identifier name	`<[DeclaringGenericAttribute]>`
MethodAttribute	Include method attributes in method identifier name	`[MethodAttribute]`
MethodName	Include method name in method identifier name	`MethodName`
ReturnTypeAttribute	Include return value attributes in method identifier name	`[return:ReturnAttribute]`
ReturnTypeName	Include return value type name in method identifier name	`ReturnType`
GenericArgumentAttribute	Include generic argument attributes in method identifier name	`<TMethod>`
GenericArgumentName	Include generic argument names in method identifier name	`<[GenericAttribute]>`
ParameterAttribute	Include parameter attributes in method identifier name	`([ParameterAttribute])`
ParameterTypeName	Include parameter type names in method identifier name	`(ParameterType)`
ParameterName	Include parameter names in method identifier name	`(parameterName)`
MethodAccessModifier	Include method public/private/protected modifiers in method identifier name	`public`
MethodStaticModifier	Include method static modifier in method identifier name	`static`
MethodOverrideModifier	Include method override/abstract/virtual/sealed modifiers in method identifier name	`sealed override`
AttributeArguments	Include attribute constructor arguments in method identifier name	`("AttributeParameter")`
AttributeProperties	Include attribute properties in method identifier name	`(Property="AttributeProperty")`
AncestorDeclaringTypeAttribute	Recursively traverse parent class attributes and include in method identifier name Can only be used when DeclaringTypeAttribute is enabled	`[declaring:DeclaringAttribute]` Recursively traverses as follows `[declaring:DeclaringAttribute,AncestorDeclaringTypeAttribute]`
AssemblyFullName	Include assembly fully qualified name in method identifier name Can only be used when AssemblyName is enabled	`AssemblyFamily.AssemblyName` Becomes full name as follows `AssemblyFamily.AssemblyName, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null`
TypeFullName	Include type fully qualified name in method identifier name Can only be used when any TypeName is enabled	`DeclaringTypeName` and others Becomes full name as follows `Namespace.DeclaringTypeName`
Simple	Basic identifier name	N/A
LocalSignature	Identifier name within assembly	N/A
GlobalSignature	Global identifier name	N/A
All	Include all elements in method identifier name *Behavior may change with updates.	N/A

How to Check Method Identifier Name

If you want to check the method identifier name, add the OutputPointcutMethodName attribute to the target function.

// Specify the identifier name you want to output with PointcutNameFlag
[OutputPointcutMethodName(PointcutNameFlag.Simple)]
public void SampleMethod(int parameter)
{
    // Method body
}

Output Destination

Logs/PointcutMethodName/[AssemblyName]/[ClassName].txt

Parameter Binding

Basic Binding

By giving the advice method's parameters the same name as the target method's arguments, you can bind values.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void BeforeAdvice(int parameter1, string parameter2)
{
    Debug.Log($"parameter1: {parameter1}, parameter2: {parameter2}");
}

The following is the target method

public class SampleClass
{
    public static void TestMethod(int parameter1, string parameter2)
    {
        // Method body processing
    }
}

Special Binding

By adding the following attributes to advice method parameters, you can obtain runtime information.

PointcutThis

Obtain the this instance of the target method.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void BeforeAdvice([PointcutThis] object self)
{
    Debug.Log($"instance type: {self.GetType().Name}");
}

PointcutMethod

Obtain information about the target method.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void BeforeAdvice([PointcutMethod] MethodBase method)
{
    Debug.Log($"method name: {method.Name}");
}

PointcutParameters

Obtain the target method's parameters as an array.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void BeforeAdvice([PointcutParameters] ParameterArray parameters)
{
    Debug.Log($"parameter count: {parameters.Length}");
}

PointcutReturned

Obtain the target method's return value.
*Can only be used with AfterReturning

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterReturning)]
[RegexPointcut("^String$", PointcutNameFlag.ReturnTypeName)]
public static void AfterReturningAdvice([PointcutReturned] string returnValue)
{
    Debug.Log($"return value: {returnValue}");
}

PointcutThrown

Obtain the thrown exception.
*Can only be used with AfterThrowing

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterThrowing)]
[RegexPointcut(".*")]
public static void AfterThrowingAdvice([PointcutThrown] Exception exception)
{
    Debug.LogError($"exception: {exception.Message}");
}

PointcutGenericBind

Specify how to bind generic parameters.

[Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
[RegexPointcut(@"<T>(T value)", PointcutNameFlag.GenericArgumentName | PointcutNameFlag.ParameterTypeName | PointcutNameFlag.PointcutParameterName)]
public static void GenericAdvice<[PointcutGenericBind(GenericBinding.ParameterType)]T>(T value)
{
    Debug.Log($"generic argument: {typeof(T).Name}, value: {value}");
}

GenericBinding Options

BindingType	Description
GenericParameterName	Bind by generic parameter name. Default behavior.
ParameterType	Implicitly bind when used as a parameter type.

Advanced Features

Unsafe Injection

By adding ref to arguments, you can modify return values and parameters.

[Advice(JoinPoint.AfterReturning, unsafeInjection: true)]
[RegexPointcut("^Int32(Int32 parameter)$", PointcutNameFlag.ReturnTypeName | PointcutNameFlag.ParameterTypeName | PointcutNameFlag.PointcutParameterName)]
public static void ModifyReturn(ref int parameter, [PointcutReturned] ref int returnValue)
{
    parameter = 42;  // Modify argument
    returnValue = 999;  // Modify return value
}

Explicitly Specifying Aspect Scope

Apply Only Within the Assembly and to References

Defining an Aspect within an assembly prevents it from affecting external assemblies.
However, it will apply to other assemblies that reference the assembly where the Aspect is defined.

Apply to All Assemblies

Create an AssemblyReference from AspectForUnity/Runtime/AspectEntry/AspectEntry.asmdef.
Place the Aspect class in the folder created by step 1.
The aspect will be applied to all AssemblyDefinitions.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Blocking Aspects

You can disable aspect application for specific methods.

[BlockAspect(typeof(LoggingAspect))]
public void NoLoggingMethod()
{
    // LoggingAspect will not be applied to this method
}

It is also possible to disable aspect application for the entire Assembly with the following notation:

[assembly: BlockAspect(typeof(LoggingAspect))]

Performance Considerations

Due to compile-time code generation by ILPostProcessor, runtime overhead is minimal
However, applying many aspects may increase compilation time

Sample: Performance Measurement

using System.Diagnostics;
using Katuusagi.AspectForUnity;

[Aspect]
public class PerformanceAspect
{
    private static Stopwatch stopwatch = new Stopwatch();

    [Advice(JoinPoint.Before)]
    [RegexPointcut(".*")]
    public static void StartTimer()
    {
        stopwatch.Restart();
    }

    [Advice(JoinPoint.After)]
    [RegexPointcut(".*")]
    public static void StopTimer([PointcutMethod] MethodBase method)
    {
        stopwatch.Stop();
        Debug.Log($"{method.Name} duration: {stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds}ms");
    }
}

Sample: Exception Handling

using System;
using Katuusagi.AspectForUnity;

[Aspect]
public class ExceptionHandlingAspect
{
    [Advice(JoinPoint.AfterThrowing)]
    [RegexPointcut(".*")]
    public static void HandleException(
        [PointcutMethod] MethodBase method,
        [PointcutThrown] Exception exception)
    {
        Debug.LogError($"method: {method.Name} exception: {exception.Message}");
        // You can log exceptions or send them to an error reporting service
    }
}

Technical Details

Architecture

ILPostProcessor: Modifies IL code at compile time using Unity.CompilationPipeline
Mono.Cecil: Used for reading and writing IL code
Attribute-based Configuration: Uses attributes to define aspects and advice

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
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packages		packages
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
README_ja.md		README_ja.md

License

Katsuya100/AspectForUnity

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