Actionscript 3 :: What Does 'calling Methods Directly Instead Of Through A Reference' Mean
Aug 18, 2011
I just went through a slideshow from Grant Skinner on improving performance of ActionScript. One tip he gave was written as, "Call methods directly instead of through a reference." I don't quite understand what this means.Does is mean to avoid making a function call to a variable referencing a function object?[code]Or do avoid making a function call to a variable referencing another object, which possesses that method?[code]
I have two classes a main and one controlling a cloud graphic going on the stage. In the main class I am creating an instance of the cloud, adding it to the stage with an array and with a for loop I am setting the x speed (vx). I have noticed that if I set the vx in the cloud class and reference it directly then it does not work (clouds are drawn for a millisecond then a blank movie). I have to initialize the cloud.vx value in the main class to get it to work. Why can I not just pull the vx value from the cloud class without setting it to a value in the main class?
I'm having a hard time calling a method from a particular class within a MVC design pattern. I'm successful at calling the methods from the base (Model) class but haven't been able to call methods from it's subclass (PhotoModel).
My Objective From within the Controller subclass (PhotoController) call a method from my the Model subclass (PhotoModel).
In my document class file I have the following code which connects the two classes together.
PhotoDocument.as
ActionScript Code: public class PhotoDocument extends MovieClip { public var photoModel:PhotoModel;
[Code]....
I thought that defining the model class in this way would declare the PhotoModel class as the model for the PhotoController class, therefore letting me call it's methods and any inherited methods with syntax similar to this; model.method();. Using this syntax I can call the methods in the base Model class but not in the subclass where I've defined additional methods the base Model class does not have.
I've tried a billion different ways to call the methods inside the extended model class but have only a huge pile of failure to show from it.
- Flash Media Server 3.5 (using ActionScript 3 for server-side code)
- Flex application (built in Flex Builder 3, using ActionScript 3)
Now, I'm trying to get the server-side ASC code to call something from a connected client. It doesn't seem to work (thought everything else works beautifully). I've tried stuff like the following in the server side:
- In the application.onConnect function, I've tried this:
... currentClient.requestChat = function (reqID, destID){ trace("Requesting chat..."); currentClient.call("requestWaiting", new reqHandler(), reqID, destID);}; ...
(Where reqHandler is just some handler that I know gets called).
- I've also tried the following code outside the onConnect function:
Client.prototype.requestChat = function (reqID, destID){ trace("Requesting chat..."); this.call("requestWaiting", new reqHandler(), reqID, destID);}
Both seem to fire appropriately (when triggered from another client). However, the "requestWaiting" method call to the clients doesn't seem to work at all. I've tried some AS 2 examples on the client side, like:
nc = new NetConnection(); nc.client = new Object(); // function for handling queueing of requests for this station nc.client.requestWaiting = function (reqID:String, destID:String):void { trace("HELLO"); // check to make sure this is the right location, and if so, queue it if (destID == "WhateverTheIDIs") { chatQueue.push(reqID); btnChatWaiting.visible = true; } // if }
...but that doesn't seem to fire at all. I know the Flex has "sealed" the NetConnection class itself, so I can't just "extend" it as I do the "client" property.I've als tried some more AS 3-oriented stuff, like trying to make the "client" property reference a separate class that handles callbacks, but that doesn't work easily for me as I need access to properties in the class that contains the NetConnection.
Seems like sometimes when Selenium should call a certain method, it instead calls another, as pointed out by the following log
[Code]...
I've tried both Selenium server 1.0.3 and the 2.0 alpha 7 versions, they both display this behaviour. FlashSelenium is involved so I'm not sure where along the way lies the bug. Furthermore it's hard to reproduce as it doesn't happen only for some methods, and doesn't always happen.
I've tried searching for issues similar to these but couldn't find any remotely similar... Anyone experienced the same behavior? And if so, is there a fix for it? Edit: I doubt FlashSelenium is at fault for this, as the log tells that the command arrives correctly at the server... But I can't seem to be able to follow the path of execution from the moment the Selenium server gets the command and passes over to the browser, to the moment where it gets the response.
Hypothetically, I have a movieclip menu that's created using a class menu.as at runtime. When I instantiate that class on the stage of the main swf, how would I go about telling that stage what to do on a specific click? For instance, if I click button1 on the menu, how do I tell the stage to turn random_object's alpha down to 0?
Important note - buttons in the menu class are loaded dynamically, and there is no way (that I know of) of binding them specifically to event listeners on the main swf stage as in "menu.button1.addEventListener(...)". To summarize my question - how do I control the main stage from within a movieclip, without assigning eventListeners on that main stage?
I have managed to make it work using this method: Inside the class, I add an event listener to each button. On CLICK, the button calls e.currentTarget.root.desiredFunction() where desiredFunction is the function on the main swf stage I want to run. Is there a more efficient or clean way of doing this that anyone knows of?
-I know one can call javascript functions from as3 using ExternalInterface, but in all the examples I've seen the function has been a standalone function on the page. Can methods on objects (that are on the page) be called. E.g: obj.someFunc() rather than just someFunc()?
-The return value can be stored as well using ExternalInterfaces. Can this return value be a javascript object? If so, its methods be called from it directly?
I need a way to reference to object (or the class methods inside). I have a button "Add box" and when it is pressed it creates a new instance of class "MyBox". The thing is everyone of these objects get the same name "box".Here's a hint of what it's like:
Code: var arrBoxes:Array = new Array(); // var n:Number = 1;[code]...
Inside of the addBox function I can easily refer to the Object with just "box" (for example box.name = ..)but when in another function I cannot (and by then I might have created many "box"es).
how to reference methods in different places.I understand that I can reference a method of class that I pull into something, but how do I do it the other way around? Am I even supposed to? Let me explain more:
My Class: [AS] package com.selectBox{ import flash.display.Sprite;[code]....
My question lies in the onSubmenuClick function in my class. I want to update a function on the stage with the info contained in the item clicked on when the user click on that item.
I have a class file named Main.as and another class called icon.as
package { import icon; public class main { public var _time:String; function main() { [Code] .....
How do I get the current update from the main class without calling the MainObj repeatedly. Is this possible in Flash AS3, or any other alternate method for this idea.
I've got a class (say ButtonBase) that extends MovieClip. ButtonBase has a method that names it ((this.)name = 'bb1') and adds it to the MainTimeline. Now I can see my extended ButtonBase MC on the MainTimeline. And if from a frame I write trace(this['bb1']), it returns an instance. The problem is that the instance is not recognized as an instance of ButtonBase. Suppose ButtonBase has another method, say testMethod(). Well, if I trace(this['bb1'].testMethod) from a frame on the mainTimeline, it returns undefined. If I trace(this['bb1'] is ButtonBase), > false I can attach a fla if you need it.
Is there an all in one place that outlines all the opperands of XML in e4X similar to Adobe Livedocs or the MSDN library reference (for C# and MS frameworks)?I'd like a nice place to go and check out all the opperands, as I do not know them all, and there is quite a bit to it.I'm not referring to the methods available directly through the XML object in AS3.[code]my google searches just keep coming up with Blog entries and W3Schools tutorials but no place like livedocs or similar.
If I need to call a specific function in the parent application from a child in a flex project, what's the best practice for this? Would it be to dispatch a custom event from the child and have a listener call that function? Or to directly call the function with FlexGlobals.topLevelApplication?
How do I write my class so it passes all of its functions/methods to the calling movieclip? For example, the following code imports my graphics class and creates a square:
ActionScript Code: import sprites.vectorGraphics; var vGX = new vectorGraphics(); var newSquare = vGX.createVector(this, 'square', 'rectangle', 20, 20, 0xff0000, 1, 0x0000ff, true);
there is a movieclip named movie with instance name movie.Inside this movie there is a textbox in frame 1.I want to give properties and methods to that textbox.
I'm working on a Flash MX application which involves a Parent movie and a Child movie.
I've loaded the Child movie into the Parent movie using LoadMovie. The instance name of the Child movie is Child1.
In the Child movie I have a user-defined function called getChildXML (we don't need to get into more details about the function).
The point here is that I want to call the getChildXML function from the Parent movie. I've tried something like Child1.getChildXML(); but with no luck.
I've basically got an MC (menu_mc) that is on the first frame of the main timeline. I want menu_mc to call functions on the main timeline depending on its status. When the function is successfully called, I want to move menu_mc, however I get a null object reference despite the object menu_mc being visible on the stage.
As you can see from the commented out lines, I've tried doing the same thing with eventDispatcher, but have been unable to listen to the event from the main timeline.It seems as if the function is being called before menu_mc is placed on the stage, despite the ADDED_TO_STAGE eventListener.
I'm having a hard time because of an "Error #1009:Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference" Iget everytime I try to run my Flash-movie. I've attached the codethat is contained in frame 1.The function bringUpEasyQuestion is defined on frame 2, alongwith other functions that are defined there. Now when I test themovie, I get this message:TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method ofa null object reference.at MES_fla::MainTimeline/bringUpEasyQuestion()atMES_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()I've read that the Error1009-message means that you aretrying to access something that isn't there yet. And indeed, thebringUpEasyQuestion-function accesses objects that exist only onframe 2. But the first line of the function bringUpEasyQuestion isgotoAndStop(2);. The curious thing is that it works when i put thelast line of the code in frame one (the function callbringUpEasyQuestion(0);) on the first line with the command gotoAndStop(2);?
I have called this flash code in Flex using SWF loader . I got the following Error. Here I have attached flash coding for header_text_fla Kindly do the needful.
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference. at header_text_fla::MainTimeline/loaderComplete() var myEvent:Event; var myParams:LoaderInfo;
I'm having this frustrating error showing up and I have no idea why. Let me show you my classes and see if you can spot anything wrong. First, here's my ILode interface:
So the problem I'm having is the compiler is throwing that 1000: Ambiguous reference error for any reference to instance.priority or instance.label. Why??? Instance is typed to IFlexLodeInstance, and IFlexLodeInstance lists method signatures of priority and label getters, and it inherits ILode, which lists method signatures for priority and label setters. What can I do to get the compiler to stop complaining?
My code is an external .as file. Google provides this code on their demo, which contains the this keyword:
[Code]...
Notice that I have 4 calls to console.log. The first 3 fire, but after the new GATracker statement, the 4th does not fire. I have a feeling that I'm overriding the entire package with the object created from new GATracker when I should be passing a different context. I believe the correct context I should pass is whatever this defaults to when not inside of a package/external file, I assume it references the main stage object.
I have some problems with flash display in the browser. If i open with the browser a file .swf it appears smaller than the original version. I can see it in the correct dimensions only if I use the Full Sceen option (F11). How can I correct this problem to let the user get the original version?
How can insert sprites from the IDE? When I press f8 the only options are MovieClip, Buttons and Shapes. If I export to ActionScript I can change the class to Sprite, but I want to insert a Sprite directly from the IDE.
