Is there a C# code in unity to identify when a Button is pressed and when it is released?

Question

I'm currently trying to set up a code in C# that identifies when a certain button is pressed and when it is released

I'm trying to make this certain button scale down when pressed and scale up when released

public class clickshake : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject click;
    public void Update()
    {    
        if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
        {
           transform.localScale += new Vector3(-0.1F, -0.1f, 0);
        }
        if (Input.GetMouseButtonUp(0))
        {
           transform.localScale += new Vector3(0.1F, 0.1f, 0);
        }
    }
}

by making this script exclusive to the button in its On Click command it only grew the button in size and didn't shrink it down

Answer 1

making this script exclusive to the button in its On Click command

that makes little sense. Especially since the Update method is called all the time every frame. So calling it additionally from the onClick will call it twice in that frame. Also from Button.onClick

Note that EventType.MouseDown and EventType.MouseUp are called prior to onClick .

---

You can eg use the IPointerDownHandler and IPointerUpHandler interfaces to implement that

public class clickshake : MonoBehaviour, IPointerDownHandler, IPointerUpHandler, IPointerExitHandler
{
    //Detect current clicks on the GameObject (the one with the script attached)
    public void OnPointerDown(PointerEventData pointerEventData)
    {
        transform.localScale -= new Vector3(0.1F, 0.1f, 0);
    }

    //Detect if clicks are no longer registering
    public void OnPointerUp(PointerEventData pointerEventData)
    {
        transform.localScale += new Vector3(0.1F, 0.1f, 0);
    }
}

Note

Ensure an EventSystem exists in the Scene to allow click detection. For click detection on non-UI GameObjects, ensure a PhysicsRaycaster is attached to the Camera.

and non-UI objects ofcourse will also need a Collider .

Answer 2

Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0) is triggered when the button is pressed , since you call it when the button is already pressed, it doesn't trigger.

Input.GetMouseButtonDown

Returns true during the frame the user pressed the given mouse button.

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Input.GetMouseButtonDown.html

try tu use Input.GetMouseButton(0) instead.

Or call it elsewhere than in the OnClick() .

But be aware that Input.GetMouseButton(0) if in a loop, will trigger multiple time since its detects when the button is held down.

EDIT By trigger I mean that its returns True so it triggers your if