ActionScript 3.0 :: Wildcards For Referencing Instance Names?
Jan 30, 2010
I have a series of clips with instance names like box1, box2 etc. Altogether there are about two dozen. Is there any way I can run something like "box#.x = 0" where # would be a wildcard to place all instances starting in "box"?I'd also love to be able to set their y position where box#.y = (#-1)*2. For that I believe I need to do a count function, but I was hoping there was another way. For other reasons I need to be able to control the instance names and not have that be automated in any way.
Is this possible? Searches in these forums as well as Google and a few other places have turned up nothing. It would save me a huge amount of time and work if either of these were possible without having to rework all of my instance names that are already in use.If it's relevant, I'm doing this all in Flash CS4.
I've got a linked class, with an external .as file, tied to a movie clip called "Menu" in an encompassing fla. In this actionscript file, I am trying to pull some information from a few things I made with the flash authoring tool. There are a few symbols on stage in the fla that I drew with instance names "greensboro" and "birmingham", and I want to get their x-position inside some functions of the linked class. I've tried returning a value from "greensboro.x" but of course it says the variable greensboro doesn't exist, because I haven't defined it in the class. Surely there is some way of getting that info in a variable of my linked class!
Edit: here is some code to show what I've tried(cutting everything else). This is in the .as file of the linked class:
I started a thread about a reference to a symbol House, in the output window, which was: House_1. A lot of people said some useful things about that. All day I've been thinking about it, and I came to the conclusion that I don't understand things, at a very basic level.
Consider:I make a movieclip which I give the Symbol name Drawer. (I don't export it for AcitonScript.)On the stage I manually place two instances of this Symbol. The first one I give the Instance Name drawer (in the properties panel). The second one I leave nameless.Now if I trace the names of both these clips, by
Now I know that the so-called "instance name" which I gave in the Properties Panel (drawer) is, in reality, a variable name which Flash gives my first instance behind the scenes. And instance2 is a name that Flash gives my second instance. What exactly the nature of that name is, I do not know.My point is: both names (drawer and instance2) are the .name property of these movieclips. Otherwise I could not have traced them through asking for the .name property, in the above. Yet only the first of these two can be manipulated:
drawer.x can be set; instance2.x can (as we know) not be set.
But...why? What is the real difference between these two kinds of names? How can they both be the .name property of their underlying movieclip, yet be of such a different nature? What IS the nature of the instance2 name? If it's a String, how come the .name property of one movieclip can be a variable name, while the .name property of another (but identical) movieclip is a String?
I've searched every bit of web page on the net I could find. But it looks as if nobody addresses this issue. We all just work with it - but it makes no bloody sense. A name property = a name property, you'd think. Whether Flash set it or I set it should not make a difference. The x property of a clip, for example, does not change in nature according to who set it - me or Flash.So, again, just to emphasize the problem: how can a property (the name property) of a movieclip change in NATURE depending on who set it? After it's been set, shouldn't the name property of a clip be of exactly the same nature as the name property of another clip?
I've got another problem (similar to my last), although this time it's movie clip names, rather than variables.[code]I've created some movieclips as such ^ so for each user there are 2 empty movie clips, and now I'm trying to reference to these movie clips, but am having some trouble in doing that, for example:[code]While the last one doesn't bring any errors, it still doesn't seem to work.[code]
I am completely new to actionscript although I do come from a OOP background. I have been asked to trial Flash and Actionscript 3 in particular - so I do come with a few preconceptions on how I expect actionscript to behave. I have a problem I donot understand. I have created a new class and to test it I use a simple test harness in the form of a .fla file.
The issue I have is when I create a new instance of the class and assign it to a variable, subsequent background changes to that instance of the class are not 'picked-up' when referenced through the variable. I would expect that given instance of class could be assigned to many different variables and any updates using one variable would accessible using any of the other variables.
I'm trying to reference an instance through the use of a variable in my call to a prototype. The variable is myVar and contains the instance name to which I want to apply the resizeTo prototype. My syntax is incorrect.
Code: on(release){ //disregard this line this.swapDepths(this._parent.getNextHighestDepth()); //this is calling a prototype named resizeTo this.resizeTo(150, -100, -100); //Setting instance name of another movie myVar = "green"; //Trying to drop that instance name into my next prototype call this._parent.myVar.resizeTo(100, _parent.old_X, _parent.old_Y); }
I make a movie clip in the library ( a button with a text field on it ) and export it for actionscript. Then I create an instance of the object using code ( myButton = new Button1(); ).And then I want to access and change the text field ( whose instance name is "myField" in Flash ) afterwards.Is that possible, or I have to create a custom class for the object, or just create an entire button dynamically?
Because what I have tried until now doesn't work.
Code: var button1:button_test1 = new button_test1(); button1.x = stage.width / 2; button1.y = stage.width / 2;
[code]....
This questions is for all movie clips: is there a way to access a movie clip's objects with actionscript after you have created (with code) an instance of that object (which was designed in flash, and exported for AS) ?
I have a grid 8 columns, 3 rows.I used instance names such as 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, ect to easily identify each cell. I can call the movieclips within them without a problem by doing this["1-1"].gotoAndPlay(1); but how do I go about calling them when I can't use "this"? "1-1".gotoAndPlay(1); does not work.
In the first frame I have 60 buttons with each having a actionscript in it using the instance name "A1". What I need to know is how can I REPLACE the instance name from A1 to B1 in 60 buttons in my NEXT FREAME?
Is there an easy way to do it rather than typing one by one?? I used the "FIND AND REPLACE" option but it replaces A1 to B1 in both the frames. I need to alter the instance name only in the second frame. How can I do it?
I have two buttons, they're both movie clips, and have identical code except for their names. When I place one of each on the stage and give them instance names, they come up output:
I have 30 buttons called thumb01 to thumb30. I have created this functions so when hover over and hover out of the one of the buttons it changes colour. I would like to use this for all my 30 buttons, but I dont want ot write the same code 30 times. Is there a way to for example to use wildcards so I can write thumbxx and address all the buttons.
var col:Color = new Color(); col.setTint(0xFFFFFF, 0.5); set1_mc.thumb01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,hoverOver); function hooverOver(event:MouseEvent):void { set1_mc.thumb01_btn.transform.colorTransform = col; } set1_mc.thumb01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,hoverOut); function hooverOut(event:MouseEvent):void { set1_mc.thumb01_btn.transform.colorTransform= new ColorTransform() }
I get the error "Access of undefined property menu_bar" when menu_bar is an instance name directly on the main timeline. I'm not sure how I would call it in the other class. It also isn't exported for actionscript is that the problem?
I have it imported to my document class as:
var mouseClicks:MouseClicks = new MouseClicks(); addChild(mouseClicks);
I know I've read something about this here before but I can't find it, so for Mr. Thicky here, I have dragged some buttons on my stage - each one is actually an instance of the same movieclip. In the IDE, I have given them instance names like 'myButton1', 'myButton2' etc. I've then grouped all these buttons together into a single container movieclip called 'buttonHolder'. Now, in my code, I am trying to retrieve the instance name of the button I have clicked on:
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 have a 4x4 set of square buttons that I need to give instance names to. They will be named 'btn_1' thru 'btn_16'. Is there any shortcut to assigning the names or do I have to go through 16 times clicking on the button and clicking down to the 'instance name' text box?
I am working on making a photo flip animation between 5-7 photos but i have to duplicate this 70 different times. So what i have done is made a scene for each set of 5-7 photos, they are externally being pulled in through an AS3 script to prevent a large .swf file from happening with all those photos. The problem i am running into so that i cant seem to run a find and replace search to replace the instance name values.
iv got these buttons animated using the inbuilt tween function and am coding them like this:
function navOver(e:MouseEvent):void { var page = MovieClip(e.currentTarget).buttonThumb; var myTween16:Tween = new Tween(page, "y", Regular.easeOut, 0, -25, 0.35, true);
[code]....
MovieClip(e.currentTarget).instanceName returns undefined neather of which are the instance name.i cant hardcode the function because its used on lots of different mcs throughtout the flash file
I am trying to get the instance name that i gave to a dynamically created movieclip the movieclip was created using var zebra_mc:Zebra = new Zebra(); //creating a new instance of the zebra class The movieclip was then added to the stage using a for loop, as it was contained in an array. Each time a movieclip is added to the stage it is then added to another array (existingObjects) I then need to iterate through this array and pull out each objects names. I have tried using existingObjects[i].name, which returns "instance140" and existingObjects[i].toString, which returns functionFunction(){}, very useful. and existingObjects[i] which just returns the object.
I know its possible to hit test From something without an instance name if you have it in a seperate .as file. All you have to do is type in this.hitTest(InstanceName);
But, Is it possible to do a hit test from something without an instance name against something else that doesn't have an instance name?[code]...
I know you can store instance names in an array and call on the array values to reference the instance names in it.I was wondering if there is any way I can take an instance name, feed it directly into a function and use the name of the function variable/array/whatever to affect the object instance of whatever I name.
if it's an array of instance names, what is it actually an array of? Also, is there any way to hold and reference an instance name in a single value? sidenote: this doesnt have much to do with my question, but can arrays be fed directly into the header of a function?
I have a Flash CS4 FLA throwing the following error when I hit Ctrl+Enter to test the movie: WARNING: Multiple 3D objects on the same frame have the same instance name. 3D instance names must be unique. All but one of the instances will be renamed during export. On my layers, I can't see any duplicate instance names, and Flash doesn't give me ANY indication as to which names are causing the problem. I know it's to do with two layers making use of 3D Tween. When I hide them, the problem goes. I've even tried removing and replacing the Symbols. First of all, I have to have the objects on those layers Tween in 3D, and I have to give them instance names as I refer to them from ActionScript code.
I have a series of movieclips which I want to use as buttons.The instance names of the clips are as follows: "ms1", "ms2", "ms3" and so on...I want to put frame actions on these buttons, so that when the mouse rolls over on them, the button movie clip changes frame. I created an array to store instance names and then referred to it for actions, but the problem is that although my buttons do work, but when I roll over them, the button doesn't move to its next frame.
Here is my code: ActionScript Code: var men:Array=new Array();
I haven't seen much to explanation of this in any Flash documentation,but maybe someone knows more about this. Initially I was trying tofix a buggy application. The app is fixed now, but I'm still curious.I have an app that defines some object instances (buttons and movie clips)in various frames and on various levels of a timeline. For any object thatneeds to be manipulated by AS, I give it an instance name. However, there's no safeguard against giving several instances the samename. So, I experimented with giving two buttons, on differentlayers and different frames, the same instance name ("playbtn"). Then I defined an event handler:
playbtn.onRelease = function () { gotoAndPlay(1); }
I am working with a number of movieclips and I was wondering if there was an easy method using actionscript to assign them instance names instead of doing it manually for each movieclip.
I have some movieclips on stage each with an instance name like this: 101, 102,103,104.. etc.When I click one of them, it's istance name is added in an array:[code]I've got a button on stage too and I want when this button is clicked to change the Y of all the selected movieclips:[code]
