ActionScript 3.0 :: Building Components - Give Each Instance A Custom Timeline?
Oct 12, 2010
Something I've been struggling with and can't seem to figure out. What I want for a system is to create several components, BUT each with their own timeline. For instance for a quiz, I want a number of answerbuttons. But each one should have their own appearance, preferably on a timeline. However these should be components, seeing their 'answerbutton'-logic should be the same over all buttons (apart from their answerbutton-index, set in the Component Parameters).
I am created a dynamically adding a VBox, that contains two images. Into a Custom Component that is derived from UIComponent. The problem is the Vbox that contains the two image is only a really tiny size. I would like the VBox stretch to the size of the two images. This is how I am creating the Vbox....
I have 100+ of the same movieclips on the stage at the same time, all positioned differently.i'm getting really tired of clicking on one of them, then clicking in the instance name box then typing "i65", then clicking on one of them, then clicking in the instance name box then typing "i66"...
is there anyway flash can fill this information in for you? or a plugin anyone's heard of? this isn't really an actionscript question, I'm not so fussed about selecting the different movieclips based on getChildAt or any of that stuff, I'd just really like a faster way of assigning instance names.
I'm trying to give a button an instance name. The button is situated in the library, and i suppose that's why I cannot give it an instance name (which is really necessary.)It 's in actionscript 2.
I'm using this code to load and external swf, now how do I assign an instance name for it?
var eventInitialLoader:Loader = new Loader();var eventInitialURL:String = parent['eventPath'+ie];var eventInitialRequest:URLRequest = new URLRequest(eventInitialURL);eventInitialLoader.load(eventInitialRequest);eventOdd_MC.addChild(eventInitialLoader);
I've run into an interesting problem while working on a file. Everything was going really well until I got into work this morning, and suddenly I couldn't change any instance names on any existing movie clips. The movie still compiles fine, and everything that already had an instance name still has an instance name. However, I cannot change any instance names, nor can I give any new movie clips instance names. The instance name text box is grayed out and I can't select it. Everything else works fine, and I can give instance names to text fields that I create. I have no problems saving files, exporting SWfs, drawing, or animating.
After doing some research, it appears that this issue is limited only to my computer - everyone else can give instance names to movie clips, using the same files. Also, this problem appears to be affecting every file I open on this computer.
i'm going in trouble with instance names, classes, methods, and addChilded object...
that's my code:
- i have a class that (everytime the function is called by the timer) add an object(class "Monster") to the stage.
[Code]....
I also tried to avoid the problem changing my point of view; so i inserted the hitTestObject test into the loop for each ( var enemy:Monster in army ) but the same problem occurred, i have a lot of balls that doesn't have an instance name (or they have all the same one).
Is there any way to dynamically give a movieclip an instance name? This little process is gonna be spread out to a couple hundred dots, and while it's not really all that hard to type in the variable by hand (in fact it'd "only" take half an hour or so), but the more done dynamically the better, I think.
What I want to do is have a simple movie clip which checks it's own instance name as a variable, and then gotoAndPlay("thatvariable");. For example, say I have a movie clip with instance name "a1". On the clip I'd like to put onClipEvent (load) { this.gotoAndPlay(_root.a1); //but in place of "_root.a1",
I'd like to be able to call the instance name so that I can copy and paste the code to multiple movieclips without manually changing the name. } _root.a1 is a variable which contains the name of a frame inside of a1, so when you boil it down, it's just telling itself to gotoAndPlay("framename") in a roundabout way. Is this at all possible?
I have a grid with 16 cells, and I want to give each cell a different instance name; like for example, boxy1, boxy2, ....boxy16; how do I achieve that ? Here is the code:
I drag the combobox from the library and set the dataProvider through AS.however, I click the combo, the options show, I click an option but the value doesn't change. it's like I clicked outside or something, it simply stays with the same value there.
example:
[option0][v]
*clicks the v arrow*
[option0][v][code]......
I simply drag the object, give it an instance name and set a dataProvider, nothing else.
I am very new to AS3, and I'm confused about how things that would have been simple in AS2 are so complex and tricky now. For example, I want to create a bunch TextField objects that, for some reason, rise up every frame (as in : object.y-=1; ).However, I also need each TextField to reference the TextField that was created just before it.
I tried creating a variable that would hold such a reference : ThisTextField.Ref=LastTextField; but - this returns an "Access of possibly undefined property..." error. It seems I can only have custom properties on mere Objects ! This is annoying because an Object doesn't seem to accept event listeners (remember, I need them to do something every frame). Is there a way to simply set custom properties on my TextFields, without having to use custom packages ? Or is there a way to use event listeners on Objects ? I've read something about strict mode which could allow setting properties on other objects - what are the risks of turning it off ?
I have a few long pieces of music (10 minutes plus) and was wondering if there is any actionscript 2.0 command I can give to basically say either after X.mp3 ends do Y timeline control or even if there is a way to enter in a time so after X minutes do Y timeline control.
I'm currently building a custom flv player and need some help. Maybe I'm missing something, I'm not sure. The main problem is that the FLV doesn't load/play, which most likely causes the secondary problems, such as the bufferClip always visible and no way to test the video and audio scrubbers.
I am creating an AIR app. In this app there's a need to copy a folder from a fixed known localtion C:xyz to app:/. I would like to know how can I do this copying before compilation/build so that they get packaged when I run the 'Export Release Build'
Building a custom skin for a flash video player but I do not want any play pause button. Instead I want the video scroller to play and pause on a click event. Problem is I want to change the graphics on the scroller to show the user when the video is paused and being played? I have attached the video player FLA file.
I'm a .Net developer who is trying to mend my evil ways and learn the Adobe development cycle--so if this a really obtuse question--please forgive me. I was once a graphic artist and I am very familiar with some Adobe products. I am having trouble understanding the workflow as it pertains to creating custom controls, or even reskinning controls and then using them in Flash builder. I haven't really dug into Catalyst, but I am comfortable in Flash Professional and I would like to believe I could take designs from my employers graphic artists, created in Illustrator, and bring the artwork into Flash professional and create custom components, or more likely skinned components, in Flash and export them for use in Flash Builder.
Our goal is to allow designers to create vector graphics skins for controls and applications in Illustrator (or possibly Fireworks) and to be able to apply those skins to controls and custom components in Flash Builder for deployment to the web or the desktop in an Adobe Air application. Ideally the designer would be able to update the designs easily at a later point.
Flash allows for skinning to be done fairly easily within the Flash application, but I have had some problems exporting controls or even implimenting them in Flash builder. The only "video" on that workflow used a movie clip from Flash and set it's "isButton" property to true in Flash Builder...so if a designer built a simple button and designed the states in Flash, I would have to convert it to a movieclip?
If I start with a Flex ready component from the "AeonGraphical" library, and apply a new skin, how do I successfully import that into Flash Builder?
- MX skins can be created in Illustrator and Fireworks and imported into Flash Builder however the format is obsolete and the designs rasterizes and are unacceptable even before scaling.
- Illustrator files can be saved in FXG format and dropped into an assets package in Flash Builder. These images can then be easily used in FB; however mapping them to a control requires each state to be a separate image and to be manually wired to the states of a skin. This is method of skinning is feasible but not ideal...Am I missing a step or improperly importing the files?
- Illustrator files can be saved as an FXG file and imported into Catalyst. In catalyst the artwork can be associated with a control type and the states of the control can be edited in using illustrator. The catalyst file (FXP) can then be imported into Flash Builder as a project which will provide a skin for that type of control. Remaining problems include scaling (skin doesn't stretch) and referencing the skin outside the project.
So that leaves me with Flash Professional as the seemingly most competent tool for creating & skinning custom controls. Using the very detailed and helpful online documentation on customizing controls (found here) I can create custom skins and have no problems implementing artwork from Illustrator--for an application authored in Flash Professional (not so much for Flash Builder).Catalyst can let you create "one off" costum controls easily, but creating one custom skin for several buttons (for example) is not so intuative and pulling it into Flash builder yeilds mixed results...
Flash is in and of itself a rich IDE and could be used to create an event driven application for AIR, but its not really geared to that user triggered, event-driven development model. I have been able to adjust my mindset to create successful prototypes of form based/even driven application that take advantage of Flash's powerful features, but some of my coworkers are having trouble adjusting their Microsoft Mindset (despite exposure to the remarkably "derivitaive" Expression studio) and strongly prefer the Flash builder coding environment.
Are there any resources; web pages with examples or step by step walk throughs, or videos which follow a process of taking a design from a grapjics application and using it to create a custom skin--and applying it in Flash Builder? The process is fairly straitforwards in Flash Professional--but my team and I are having less success in Flash Builder.
As a longtime user of Adobe products, I have by nature of that association become the inhouse Adobe Evangelist and not only have I taken the position seriously--I have managed to convince upper management to abandon WPF and Pyxus (for mobile applications) and develop AIR applications which will span platforms and lend elements to mobile AIR applications. They have even initiated a program which will likely result in our delivering Andriod based tablets to our dealer networks preloaded with AIR applications for business.
While I know know this is all "do-able" I am working double overtime to become competent enough to make this happen...but the workflow between Flash Builder and Flash is only sparringly covered online and the information lacks details...I have found that browsing the online videos sometimes turns up better results than searching (doing "Google Gymnastics")--for example Flash Downunder series has great stuff that doesn't always show up when searching Google...And we joined Lynda.com, and while they have lots of great stuff, they need to develop more stuff on CS5 specifically...
Where can I find information on creating/applying custom skins from Ai to Flash Builder and all points between? (I'll buy any recommended books as well...) Of course we have agressive deadlines and unfortunately there is no experienced Flex/Air developer on our staff (yet)...The "Classroom in a Book" series on Flash and Catalyst have only just started shipping...is that where I should look? Are there any online resources that address both skinning and creating custom components for AIR applications in Flash and/or Catalyst?
I'm trying to make an XML driven popout menu (click a menu item to open its submenu) and have run into a snag. I haven't figured out how to "hide" elements that aren't supposed to be on the screen.The menu is constructed completely out of TextFields based on the structure of a simple XML file. I added Event Listeners to each of the TextFields but I can't figure out how to make those TextFields go away when they are not supposed to be seen.
I have tried to add each TextField onto a common DisplayObject and the use container.removeChild to remove the TextFields that shouldn't be there but I keep getting errors telling me that the target of removeChild must belong to the caller. So how do I manage the visibility of menu items based on mouse clicks in a menu?I've attached the specific AS file (SOMAMenu.as) that handles the menu if anyone finds that helpful.
I was wondering if anyone knew how to create custom components, like a Window for exemple. Flash's help doesn't really help on that, and the subject is pretty new so Google return nothing relevant.
After browsing the internet for a while I found everyone shows you how to make a custom preloader with your own graphics which is all fine and good but what about the people who just want to use the components and be done with it? I know I would have to use the UILoader and another component. How to use the necessary components to make a preloader? I have quite a big swf and I need one.
I'm working in flex, but using as3. I have two components, and need to communicate between vars. I have my main app, and two components. I declare "newsDB" in the main app like this.
[Code]..
This gives me an error like so TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference. I get that it is trying to touch the var before it is implemented. How should I go about this?
A few days ago I decided I wanted to make my own drag&drop flash components, with inspectable properties. Since the documentation for flash components is so limited, I followed the workflow of some blogs I found around the web (mostly about CS3 components). In the end I managed to create a component that has a Live View, that gets a visual update whenever you change the properties (width, height, color..) ....in CS4 !
The problem in CS5 is that when I drag my component on the stage, the timeline of this movieclip starts playing in a loop. As you may or may not know, Components have 1 "Avatar" frame, and 1 "Assets" frame. So this looks kinda weird when that timeline plays.
There is always the possibility that I made a mistake, but when I download the source files from the blog post on the page http://active.tutsplus.com/tutorials/actionscript/creating-flash-compo nents-for-distribution/comment-page-1/#comment-33865 the same thing happens.
When I then save my CS5 FLA as a CS4 FLA and try to use the downloaded component and my own, both of them work fine in CS4. So I think this might be a bug in CS5.? Which is pretty bad because I wanted to use these components in iphone development using the CS5 packager...I read somewhere that we actually use the UIComponent because it has no timeline, so I don't see how it's possible that it plays.
I'm trapping keyboard events on the stage and dispatching custom events through a framework (Mate, though I don't know that this is an important issue), but I'm pretty confused by the scope. The structure is:application (traps keyboard events and dispatches custom event mainPanel (receives dispatched events but mainCalendar (a child element) is null on debugging. Obviously if I try to call a public method on mainCalendar it errors out, even though it's a child of mainPanel. However, mainCalendar is NOT null IF I use FlexGlobals.topLevelApplication.mainPanel.mainCalendar. Outerdocument and parentDocument do not expose mainCalendar either, BTW mainCalendar (a custom component inside mainPanel with public methods. Creation policy is 'all' and it's visible and exists long before I trap any keystrokes at the top level)Could someone take a minute and explain why the mainCalendar is out of scope when mainPanel receives a custom event, even though mainCalendar is a child of mainPanel. Is there a better way to manage the events so I don't have to always address the component via the topLevelApplication?
