Is it possible to define a listview's entry widget from an inheriting widget blueprint?

Development Programming & Scripting UI
, ,
1

I have a widget blueprint that uses a listview to display a history of a certain kind of event in the game.

After making this I realised this tool could also be used for other kinds of “event”. But rather than copy and paste the whole thing, I was hoping it would be possible to create a generic “list” control to which I simply set the entry widget type and then pass in objects appropriate for that type.

Is it possible to make something generic in this way with a ListView control?

2

Hi Daniel,

It isn’t possible to change a ListView’s EntryWidgetClass at runtime, and It has to be set before populating the list. To make it feel dynamic, use a UObject (a “payload”) for each row to hold its data, and let the row widget build itself based on that payload.

There are a few patterns that can fit what you want to get:

1 - Base Payload + Subclasses:

  • Create a base payload (e.g., ItemPayload) with common fields.
  • Add subclasses (e.g., ItemPayload_TypeA, ItemPayload_TypeB) for variations.
  • In the entry widget, detect the payload type and adjust the UI (e.g., using a WidgetSwitcher or toggling sections).

2 - Entry Widget as a Factory:

  • The entry widget dynamically creates child widgets based on the payload and attaches them to a container (VerticalBox, Overlay, etc.).
  • ListView reuses rows, so always clear containers and reset state before rebuilding.
  • Clean up properly in OnListItemObjectSet.

By using one of these two patterns, you can achieve a result similar to “reusing the list”.

If you want to do more advanced things, the only option would be to do C++ implementations.

Would you provide more details on how to implement it?

Best regards,

Gonzalo