ActionScript 3.0 :: Can Buttons/assets Be Loaded Externally And Referencing Dynamic Content By Name

I have a widget containing a number of displayobjects, i.e. up arrows, down arrows, tab 'buttons', backgroundrectangularblocks, sliders, company logos etc.I am currently creating these displayobjects using the graphics class with parameters taken from an external file, things such as fontsize, font, colour, width, height e.t.c and adding them as children of "container" sprite objects for easy manipulation and referencing later can these assets be loaded in their entirety externally, rather than being created using graphics class draw methods (which I want to avoid) as some of the things I need to design cannot be created in pure actionscript very easily (if at all?), and then used or do they always have to be in the library and instantiated from there?

if the first question is yes they can be loaded externally, this question probably isn't needed; however, if I have to put the items in the library and recompile each time a client wants to use say a curved blue up arrow instead of a yellow one and then decides he wants a yellow circle instead then how do I write the code to do the following:-Say on my first ever compile I have 'upArrowBtnset1' in the library, I instantiate it and use the instance name to access it in the usual way using standard code,

upArrowBtnset1.addEventListener.... container.upArrowBtnset1.scaleY = .3 e.t.c

Now if they send me a second set of 'upArrow' graphics they want to use I could either update all the upArrowBtnset1 assets with the new graphics meaning the original set is no longer available to the client and I would either have to hold a "original set" FLA file with the first set of arrowbuttons or I could import these to the library as upArrowBtnset2 and a third set they send as upArrowBtnset3 and so on each time I am sent some new assets; I would then recompile them into the SWF and adjust the references to the new assets within the code. In the code, for each instance of "upArrowBtnset1" I would have to rename them to "upArrowBtnset2", recompile and send it back to the client.

Because I have already abstracted the font/colour/size choices out to an external file, they can change that as much as they like without a recompile which is what we want. The problem comes if they want to use set1 again and haven't kept the original "set 1" compiled SWF. It would be easier to abstract the 'setchoice' also to the external file. The SWF would over time build more and more available sets that they could use by just changing an external variable.

For example, if the designer wants to use set 1 on Monday, set 2 on Tuesday and set 3 on Wednesday I want to make it so they can just adjust an option in an external file to "setchoice = 3" for weds instead of either having to recompile the swf each time or they have to have 3 versions of the SWF for each asset set. The idea is that as more and more assets are added in, they have more and more choices. Ideally, in an external file there would be a list of assets and links to where they are loaded from. (i.e question 1 above).

If I have an external file (say XML) which holds the setchoice option that the designer wants to use (say they want set3 today) my 'generic' code has to be something like upArrowBtn(setchoice).scaleY and every instance in the code where that object is used I append the 'setchoice' as chosen by the designer from the external file where (setchoice) is retrieved from something like var setchoice:String = "set3"; from the external file (I am currently abstracting all the adjustable variables to a configuration.as file. I will work on using an XML later when the principle of external files works (I hope!);

Is it possible to import assets from external sources and then use them in the SWF as if they were in the library? The loader class? Is this just fraught with danger I wonder.

Essentially I am being asked to remove as much as I can from the SWF so that if the client wants to change the positioning of things on the stage or the text on buttons or change the style of the buttons or the company logo they don't have to come back to us to ask for a recompile of the SWF for each tiny adjustment. Inevitably SOMETIMES a recompile will be unavoidable (such as if they want the widget to suddenly be twice as wide (i.e. the stage). My code already handles some of this using stage.stageWidth and then positioning objects relative to other objects already on the stage using this value and centred so that just changing the document properties is all I would have to do and everything else adjusts proportionally. I am trying to make this as reusable as possible with as little effort from myself as possible to save our company wasted time.

After all that waffle, my question is this, if I can't load all my buttons and assets and things externally, how do I write the code for this:- I have a library asset called upArrowBtnset1 and another called upArrowBtnset2. Instantiated with say upArrowButtonset1 and upArrowButtonset2 The code would normally be upArrowButtonSet1.x = 100; upArrowButtonSet2.y = 300; but I need it to be upArrowButton(setchoice).x = 100; upArrowButtonSet2(setchoice).y = 300; where (setchoice) comes externally from var setchoice:String = "set1";How does the code change if the (setchoice) string was named not at the end i.e 'button(setchoice)UpArrow'?

ActionScript Code:
var numClips:Number = 5;
for (var i:Number = 0; i < numClips; i++)

[code]....

I need to do something like, getChildByName("mainTab"+i).addChild(myMovieClip) ? or maybe this["mainTab"+i].addChild(MovieClip)?Is it possible without using .name?