ActionScript 2, attachMovie

Question

Hey, people!
I've got a small issue with attachMovie.
I've got an array with references to movie clips which I want to place at random locations on the scene.
Here is my function:
function randomize(target_array){
    top_y = 87;
    bottom_y = 296;
    left_x_range = 16;
    right_x_range = 220;
    left_x_range_second = 305;
    right_x_range_second = 535;
    for(i = 0; i < target_array.length; i++){
        var mc = target_array[i];
        trace(mc);
        mc_clothes_holder.attachMovie(mc, mc, mc_clothes_holder.getNextHighestDepth());
        currY = Math.floor(Math.random() * (1 + bottom_y - top_y)) + top_y;
        if(i%2 != 0){
            currX = Math.floor(Math.random() * (1 + right_x_range - left_x_range)) + left_x_range;
            mc_clothes_holder.mc._x = currX;
            mc_clothes_holder.mc._y = currY;           
        }else{
            currX = Math.floor(Math.random() * (1 + right_x_range_second - left_x_range_second)) + left_x_range_second;
            mc_clothes_holder.mc._x = currX;
            mc_clothes_holder.mc._y = currY;
            trace(mc_clothes_holder.mc);
The thing here is that the trace of "mc" in the beginning returns the correct movie clip reference, but "mc_clothes_holder.mc" after the attachMovie returns "undefined".
Does anyone have any idea why this doesn't work? What have I done wrong?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Your problem may lie in the way you are using "mc"  In an attachMovie scenario, the first argument is supposed to be the linkage ID of the object in the library.  Then you go and name the instance you create that same thing, "mc", which is bound to conflict with the var mc you already defined which is merely a string value.
I'm tempted to tell you to try tracing...
trace(mc_clothes_holder[mc]);
because if mc is a string, and is the instance name as well, you would need to use bracket notation (or eval) to have the string treated as an object reference.
But I'd recommend changing the name of the instance you create to something else, maybe: mc+"Obj" just to avoid any confusion...
trace(mc_clothes_holder[mc+"Obj"]);