A unit is a logical section of the plug-in.

Introduction

For example, an EQ section can be a unit.
The purposes of units are:

• Reveal the internal logical structure of the plug-in
• Organize parameters by associating them with units
• Support program lists
• Support handling of Complex Plug-in Structures / Multi-timbral Instruments
  
  • Multiple program lists (associated with a unit)
  • Access to program list data
  • Associations of MIDI tracks and units
  • Synchronization of plug-in GUI and host GUI

Unit details

• The plug-in can define any number and any kind of units. The semantics of a unit is not important.
  
  
• Units are organized in a hierarchical way. Each unit can contain sub-units.
  
  
• The root unit of this hierarchy is always present (explicit or implicit) and has ID '0'. A plug-in that does not define any further units simply consist of unit '0'.
  
  
• The plug-in has to assign a unique ID to each further unit it defines and must provide a suitable name for it to be shown in the GUI (Steinberg::Vst::UnitInfo).
  
  
• Each unit can 'contain' parameters. All parameters of the plug-in are managed and published by the Steinberg::Vst::IEditController, but each parameter can be associated with a unit. (Steinberg::Vst::ParameterInfo::unitId). A host can organize the list of parameters in a tree view reflecting the unit hierarchy as nodes.
  
  
• Each unit can be associated with a program list. (See Complex Plug-in Structures / Multi-timbral Instruments)
  
  
• A unit can be associated with specific busses. There can be any kind of combination, but the VST 3 interfaces only define queries for special situations. (See Units and Tracks)

Most things of interest in regard to units are GUI related, so the access interface Steinberg::Vst::IUnitInfo needs to be implemented as extension of the edit controller.

See also Steinberg::Vst::IUnitInfo, Presets & Program Lists

Examples

• Example of a plug-in (MultibandCompressor from Cubase pluginset) with structured parameters list that can be used by the host, here in Cubase for selecting a parameter to automate:
  
  
• Example of a plug-in (VST Amp Rack from Cubase pluginset) with structured parameters list visualized in the Parameters tab of the PluginTestHost application:
  
  
• Example of using the unit structure of HALion Sonic SE inside Cakewalk for automation selection: