Button

A nine-sliced frame with a label, for running an action. Shorthand for the most common interactive element, but any element can have an Action, so use an Image when you want a bookmark or a tab rather than a labelled button.

{
  "Type": "Button",
  "TexturePath": "Assets/PeacefulEnd.Parchment/button1",
  "TextureSourceRectangle": { "X": 0, "Y": 0, "Width": 18, "Height": 18 },
  "HoverTextureSourceRectangle": { "X": 0, "Y": 18, "Width": 18, "Height": 18 },
  "Text": "To the start!",
  "FontType": "Small",
  "Sizing": "ShrinkToFit",
  "Alignment": "Center",
  "Scale": 2,
  "Padding": 2,
  "Action": "PeacefulEnd.Parchment_GoToStart"
}

Action or Actions is required. A button that does nothing is an authoring mistake, and Parchment will skip it with a warning.

Button fields

Property	Type	Default	Description
Padding optional	int	0	Extra space between the frame's inner edge and the label, in unscaled sprite pixels × Scale. 0 means flush against the inside of the border.
Sizing optional	sizing mode	ShrinkToFit	How wide the button is. ShrinkToFit hugs the label.
Width optional	int?	—	The content width in unscaled sprite pixels × Scale. The border and padding are added around it. Required when Sizing is Fixed.
TextScale optional	number	1	The label's scale, independent of Scale, which sizes the frame.

Text fields

The label is always centred in the button. Small is usually the right FontType. SpriteText at TextScale: 1 makes for an enormous button.

Property	Type	Default	Description
Text optional	string	—	The text to draw. Wraps automatically to the available width, including breaking words that are too long for a line on their own. \n forces a line break.
FontType optional	font type	varies	Which font to draw with. The default differs per element type.
TextColor optional	color	the book's default	The text colour.

Sprite fields

HoverTextureSourceRectangle is what gives the button a pressed or highlighted state. Put the hover art directly beneath the normal art in the sheet and the two rectangles differ only in Y.

The texture must nine-slice: the border is a third of the shorter side. A 16×16 button gives 5-pixel corners and a 6×6 middle. Keep the visible frame inside those 5 pixels and the middle flat. See Preparing your art.

Property	Type	Default	Description
TexturePath optional	string	—	The asset name of the sprite sheet, such as Assets/PeacefulEnd.Parchment/panelFrame2 or a vanilla path like LooseSprites/Cursors. This is a game asset name, not a file path in your content pack. Load your PNG into the game's content with a Content Patcher Load patch first. See Loading your art.
TextureSourceRectangle optional	Rectangle	the whole texture	The area of the sprite sheet to draw. Almost always needed: without it, the whole sheet is used, which for a multi-sprite sheet means a much larger element than you expect.
HoverTextureSourceRectangle optional	Rectangle?	—	An alternate source rectangle drawn while the cursor is over the element. Must be the same size as TextureSourceRectangle. The element's layout is measured from the normal rectangle, so a differently-sized hover sprite will overhang its own bounds. For a moving hover state on an Image, use HoverFrames instead.
TintColor optional	color	white	A colour multiplied into the sprite. Multiplying means it can only darken: red on grey art gives red, red on blue art gives near-black. Best on neutral or greyscale art.
SpriteEffects optional	None | FlipHorizontally | FlipVertically	None	Mirrors the sprite within its own bounds. It does not move the element. If flipping appears to shift the art sideways, the sprite has uneven transparent padding inside its source rectangle. Combine with a comma: "FlipHorizontally, FlipVertically". Ignored by Panel and Button, which are nine-sliced.

Common fields

Scale on a Button is the frame scale. Use TextScale for the label. The two are separate so you can thicken the border without growing the text.

Property	Type	Default	Description
Type required	element type	—	Which kind of element this is. Determines every other field below.
Id optional	string	—	An optional identifier for this element. Not used for navigation, purely for your own reference.
Alignment optional	Left | Center | Right	Left	Where the element sits within its container's width. Only has an effect when the element is narrower than the space available (see Layout).
Scale optional	number	1	The element's scale. Its meaning depends on the element type: sprite scale for Image, Panel, Banner, Button and Divider. Font scale for Title, Heading and Paragraph. See Units and scale.
SpacingAfter optional	int	8	The gap between this element and the next one, in unscaled sprite pixels × Scale. Not applied after the last visible element, so a trailing gap can't appear at the bottom of a page or panel.
MarginLeft optional	int	0	Space reserved to the element's left, in unscaled sprite pixels × Scale. This narrows the width the element measures against, so text wraps at the indented width rather than overflowing.
MarginRight optional	int	0	Space reserved to the element's right, in unscaled sprite pixels × Scale.
Position optional	Point	{ X: 0, Y: 0 }	The element's position, in screen pixels. Only used in Background, Foreground, Underlay and Overlay, where elements are placed rather than stacked. Unlike every other spacing field this is not multiplied by Scale. Changing an element's scale resizes it in place rather than moving it.
Condition optional	string	—	A game state query. When it evaluates false the element is hidden, and elements below it close the gap. Re-checked several times a second while the book is open.
Action optional	string	—	A trigger action run when the element is clicked. When set, the element becomes interactive: any element type can have one, not just Button.
Actions optional	list of string	—	Trigger actions run in order when the element is clicked. Combined with Action rather than replacing it, so an element with both runs Action first.
Sound optional	string	bigSelect	The cue played when the element is clicked. Only used when Action or Actions is set, and played once however many actions run. Set to null for a silent click.
HoverAction optional	string	—	A trigger action run when the cursor moves onto the element. Runs on entry, not while the cursor rests there. Sound doesn't apply.
HoverActions optional	list of string	—	Trigger actions run in order when the cursor moves onto the element. Combined with HoverAction rather than replacing it, so an element with both runs HoverAction first.
DisplayName optional	string	—	The bold title of the element's hover tooltip. Works in every list, including a page's Background and Foreground.
Description optional	string	—	The body of the element's hover tooltip. Works in every list, including a page's Background and Foreground, where setting it is also what makes an otherwise decorative element reachable by the cursor.