9 slice scaling - not working as described

Question

In order to create a 9 slice scaled object, I have tried
Flash help and various tutorials on the web and none of them
produce the result they say they will. All of the instructions say
basically this:
Create a movie clip symbol
Enable 9 slice scaling in its properties
Open the symbol in symbol editing mode
Move the guides where you want them to define the
non-scaleable regions
Place an instance of the symbol on the stage
At this point, I am supposed to be able to scale the object
with the guides taking effect. I have NOT once been able to do
this, the whole thing always scales and distorts the corners in the
way the guides are supposed to prevent! One tutorial told me that I
had to preview the movie and then I could see the result, but that
was not true either. Is there a step missing? Flash is constantly
one of the apps where I find tutorials and help often don't produce
the advertised result.

Answer 1

Don't know what to tell you. I've never done 9-slice and I
just looked it up in the help files and it worked both on the stage
and on publish.
Do you have Control -> Enable Live Preview checked?
That is what is needed to see it on stage.
Are you trying to scale imported bitmap images? They won't
9-scale.
Does your clip have nested clips inside it? They won't
9-scale.
Can't think of anything else.
Oddly enough I almost always find the help produces exactly
the advertised results.