Actionscript and Action panel?

From what I understand, ActionScript (.as files) and Action Panel (F9 embedded in Flash) are completely different. If so, which one is better used for game programming and which one is more powerful? Can ActionScript do everything that the Actions Panel can do?
Thank you!

they're different but not completely different.
actionscript code can be placed in the action panel or it can be in stand-alone .as files. there's no difference in the code used in an .as file vs code in the action panel.
and i'm not sure powerful is the right word, but code in stand-alone .as files can do everything code in the action panel can do but not vice-versa: you can create classes in .as files and you can't do that in the action panel.

Similar Messages

Call actionscript file function from actions panel of a movie clip

i have a movie clip with an actions layer
can i call a function from an actionscript file from the actions panel?

does that actionscript file specify a class or not?
if not, then use:
include "yourpath/yourfilename.as"
on any timeline.
any function in that as file will be added to the timeline that has the include statement and you reference that function with normal dot syntax from your calling timeline.

Actionscript code can be seen in a search, but not seen in Actions Panel nor symbol

I purchased a template which has flash menu buttons. The current button url's go to index.html, index-2.html, index-3.html, and so on. I want to change these. In Flash, I searched for index-3.html and it finds it at the location: Symbol 'Button2 copy 3' -> Layer 'Layer 4' -> Frame '1' and the actionscript command is: getURL("index-3.html");
Everything is fine so far. However, when I double-click the symbol and go to the location (or double-click the search result), the actionscript command cannot be found at all. I tried pressing F9 to open the Actions Panel, and I see the button symbol but I don't see any actionscript commands associated with it. It seems to be very unusual - the search picks up the actionscript command but it can't be seen in the symbol's location where it says it is nor can it be seen in the Actions Panel. The script does work but it just cannot be seen! Does anyone know how to see the actionscript code in the Actions Panel or in the button symbol?

show a screenshot of movie explorer after searching for getURL("index-3.html")

What are the little red squares on the lower left hand corner of a movieclip in the actions panel?

What do the little red squares on the lower left hand corner of the movieclips in the actions panel mean? [Fig. 1]
I'm working off this template in Flash CS3, that's using ActionScript 2.0 actually.
I don't know whether or not that means anything in regards to the above inquire?
Again, any help is appreciated.
Fig.1

OK, I think I might have figured this out.
First. You guys keep insisting it's the Movie Explorer. It is not. It is the Actions Panel. You can see for yourself. Option+F9 opens the Actions Panel. Option+F3 opens the 'Explorer Window'. They are similar in appearance but they're not the same thing. They're just not.
Second. I believe that the red dots on the movieclips, and also buttons, indicates when there is actionscript directly on the movieclip and/or button, as oppose to actionscript written on a frame within a movie clip and/or button.
You really have to pay special attention to the top of the Actions Panel right next to where it says 'Actions' there's a dash '–' and then it says either 'Frame', 'Movie Clip', or 'Button'. This indicates exactly where you're about to write script to, or where you're reading the script from, so it's important to pay attention to this.
That left side pane, in the Actions Panel, is divided by 'Scene' and by 'Symbol Definition(s)' and it's confusing because it's possible to have a symbol appear more than once depening on where the actionscript is located (i.e. on a frame or on the movie clip or button itself).
For example if you have script on a FRAME within movie clip A, it'll appear in the SYMBOL DEFINITION(S) pane, without a red box, but if you were to write script on movie clip A itself, it would still not have the red box on it in the SYMBOL DEFINITION(S) pane, BUT it would appear again as movie clip A in the SCENE pane, and this time it would appear with the red box next to it, casue it now has actionscript directly on the movie clip itself. Wow, how confusing is that ha.
Keep in mind that if you made a movie clip B, within movie clip A, and if you placed actionscripts directly on movie clip B, NOT on a frame, then movie clip B would get a red box and appear UNDER movie clip A, within the SYMBOL DEFINITION(S) pane, NOT the SCENE pane. Ha.
If you wrote script on a FRAME within movie clip B it would appear in the SYMBOL DEFINITION(S) again, yes a second time, twice, but WITHOUT a red box. Confused yet? ha.
I don't know why Flash decided to do it this way. But it starts to make sense when you're actually viewing it, when it's in front of you. I think this is just for actionscript 2.0 (and for actionscript 1.0 presumably), but I don't think this is the case for ActionScript 3.0, because in as3 it's all instance name based, and targeting based, so there's no such thing as writing script directly onto a symbol of any kind, button, movie clip or otherwise.
But yeah, that's it in a nutshell.
Thanks for trying to help anyway.

Missing Items in the Action Panel

Hi! I'm making my way through Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom and am stumped by one of the directions.
I'm learning the basics of ActionScript 3.0 and it says, referring to the Action Panel, "Press the Add a new item to script button and choose flash.display > MovieClip > Methods > stop."
However, when I click the Add icon, it lists only:
Top Level
Language Elements
adobe.utils
air.net
fl.accessibility
fl.containers
fl.controls
I don't see flash.display anywhere. What did I miss?
Matt

Thanks, but I don't think that's it.
This is what I see:
Thoughts?

Flash Pro CS6 "Actions Panel" will not appear

I'm using CS6 and when I open Window->Actions, I see the Actions Tab but not the "Actions Panel." I've looked all over the place and can't get it to open. The "Actions Panel" when working with older scripts in AcxtionScript 2 where there are a bunch of programs added to many different frames. Please tell me how I can open the "Actions Panel." Thanks, Allan
[personal information removed... Mod - https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-3731]
[This is an open forum, not Adobe support, please do not post personal information]

Thank you for answering my question. When I follow your directions, I still don't see the Actions Menu. According to
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/actions-actions-panel.html it should appear in the middle in the Essentials Workspace layout. All I get are the following tabs [color-swatches] and [Align-Info-Transform] and [Code Snippets-Components-Motions Presets] and [Project] in the middle section. With [Properties-Library-Actions] on the left. [Timeline-Motion Editor] on the bottom. And the [.fla and .as] open in the top left.
I can't find the Actions Menu. The only reason that I know that the Actions Menu exists is that I had to work on another guys PC for a morning, and there is was! I is a bug help with older ActionScript 1/2 projects.
I appreciate your help, Allan

Can't select frame in Actions panel

Hello people,
For some reason, I can't select the current Frame in my actions panel. Therefore, all actionscript ends up in Frame 1.
Anyone ever had this problem before? And, if so, how did you resolve it?
Thanks,
ehrenfest

Hi kglad,
Thanks, but I did do that, of course. I click F6, make a keyframe, then I put some actionscript in my actions panel. But the little a won't appear in the keyframe, and my actionscript shows up as belonging to every frame in the timeline, not my keyframe.
I did something wrong in the lower left hand of my actions panel; where it says "Current Selection", etc. But I don't know what. In any new document I open, this lower left hand part will immediately show the number of the frame I put my keyframe on, but in this document, not so much.
Any idea? I guess I'll move my stuff over to a new document. Which is a bit bother some.
Thanks,
ehrenfest

Actions Panel does not open CS6 Flash Pro

When I open Window->Actions, the Action Panel doesn't open. I really need it to develop this app. According to
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/actions-actions-panel.html the action panel is supposed to open at the same time that the Actions code panel opens.
Please help, Allan
[email protected]
[email protected]

Thank you for answering my question. When I follow your directions, I still don't see the Actions Menu. According to
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/actions-actions-panel.html it should appear in the middle in the Essentials Workspace layout. All I get are the following tabs [color-swatches] and [Align-Info-Transform] and [Code Snippets-Components-Motions Presets] and [Project] in the middle section. With [Properties-Library-Actions] on the left. [Timeline-Motion Editor] on the bottom. And the [.fla and .as] open in the top left.
I can't find the Actions Menu. The only reason that I know that the Actions Menu exists is that I had to work on another guys PC for a morning, and there is was! I is a bug help with older ActionScript 1/2 projects.
I appreciate your help, Allan

Flash CS3 ActionScript and "Test Movie" on Mac

I recently switched over to a PowerMac and Flash CS3 from
Flash 8 on a PC.
I've been on a PC forever but wanted to migrate over to the
Mac as XP and Vista and the headaches we all know about.
So, within Flash you can "Test Movie" and a little test
window pops up displaying your swf.
It has always been the case on the PC, and my friends with
Flash 8 on the Mac tell me it's the same for them, that you can be
writing in the Actions panel and then hit "Control/Apple - Enter"
and the ActionScript actions you just typed will be reflected in
the "Test Movie" pop up. In other words it the "Test Movie" window
acts as a constantly updated reflection of the latest edit to your
Flash piece, regardless of whether you've "Saved" the .fla document
itself.
This is part of the normal work flow to me. Write some
actions, edit them, when they are right, I save. But in the
meantime, as I'm writing I can keep hitting "Control/Apple - Enter"
to watch the changes of my edits and I'll see them.
Well, on my new Mac with Flash CS3, the "Test Movie" window
never updates to the latest edit. Whether with hot-keys or with the
cursor/menu selection, the window will not reflect the latest edit,
UNLESS, I close it first. If I close it, and then hit the
hot-keys/menu for "Test Movie" then it will load my latest edit
(regardless of whether the .fla is saved). So it seems that closing
the pop up "Test Movie" window prior to is the only way to ensure
getting the current edit/actions to preview.
If you write a lot of actions script, then I'm sure you can
agree that adding that "close the window" step into your work flow
is really really a headache. And, if I can't find a way around
that, sadly, I'll have to migrate back to the PC, ugh, and Flash
CS3 on it, which still acts as it always has, with "control-enter"
faithfully launching the current edit.
Any ideas? Have you experienced this.

You have to switch the focus back to the application and then
to the test window. Evidently between Flash MX04 (the one I have to
test) and CS3, they made it so that just clicking in the AS editor
window doesn't return the focus to the application. In that case
the Testing Environment intercepts the apple-enter and just
re-tests the already compiled version.
If you click the application window, then click the
actionscript window, it will recompile the swf. However I
personally don't find apple-w to close the window so
onerous.

Feature Request: Standard Keyboard Navigation in Media Browser and Project Panel

It's been a while since I've had time to submit a feature request. I've wanted to see this one for a while. If you agree, please submit your own feature request here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish/
System Navigational Keyboard Shortcuts in Media Browser and Project Panel
Windows (and I'm sure Mac) has a standard set of keyboard and mouse navigational shortcuts for keyboard and mouse. I'm so used to using them in daily browsing (both in Windows Explorer and in any web browser) that missing them in the PPr Media Browser, or getting a different result in the Project Panel, is still very jarring and slows my workflow (even after having used Premiere Pro [again] since version CS4).
I propose that the Media Browser and Project Panel should honor the OS defaults for keyboard and mouse folder/file navigation. A few of the standard (Windows) keyboard and mouse navigational shortcuts are listed below (listed in order of most helpful to my own work):
Moust Back Button = "BACK"
ALT + LEFT ARROW = "BACK"
UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT = steps through the various folders within the view.
UP, DOWN walks through the directory tree while RIGHT expands the currently selected folder and LEFT contracts that directory (twirl down, etc).
ENTER opens a folder.
ALT + UP = "Folder Above"
ALT + RIGHT ARROW = "FORWARD"
F2 Renames a folder
ENTER "takes" that name to the clip. (current functionality used ENTER to rename a file/folder).
ESC cancels the renaming operation.
Pressing Enter on any piece of Media or Title, etc should take an "expected" action acording to it's context. (i.e. ENTER on a video clip would load it inot the Source Monitor. ENTER on a Title would open it in the Title Editor. ENTER on a folder would take us into that folder).
These functions exist in both Windows Explorer as well as most modern Web browsers. When browsing files and Project folders, it's what I've come to expect. It's muscle memory, if not intuitive. I realize that many of these keyboard commands are already in use in other windows/panels of the application, therefore, these commands should be Panel-specific (i.e. ALT+LEFT works differently in the Media Browser and Project Panel than it does on the Timeline/Sequence). And as always, when making such changes (i.e. changing the behavior of ENTER to F2), this set of keys should be highly configurable based on preference:
Preference:
checkbox: Use OS-specific navigational keyboard and mouse commands in Media Browser and Project Panel
checkbox: Use the (very few) "classic" Adobe keyboard commands in the Media Browser and Project Panel
The most common habit I find myself doing in the Media Browser is clicking the BACK button on my mouse—only to realize, yet again, it doesn't work that way in PPr.
The most common habit I find myself doing in the Project Panel is pressing F2 to rename a folder/bin. Of course that doesn't work. And when I've renamed it, I press ENTER to save the name, but that only moves me to the next folder ready to rename it, too. I also find, out of habit, I try to navigate the bins using the arrow keys and then open the bin/folder using ENTER. Instead, my bin is asking for a new name and I hit ESC to avoid renaming it—now THERE's a shortcut that works the way it should.
I realize this feature may be controversial to some, since it's not the way we're used to doing things in PPr. However, I'm sure there are just as many out there, like me, who are confounded as to why PPr has never worked with the "conventional" navigation shortcuts found throughout the rest of the operating system, be it Windows or Mac.
If you agree with this feature request, please submit your own feature request here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish/

Nice ideas Jeff.
There is a site - Flash Catalyst Wishlist/Ideas where you can post these ideas so that the community can vote on them.

Edge Animate CC 2014.1 issues with the new Actions Panel

Hi Guys - I am totally confused with the latest undated EA CC 2014.1 actions panel.
With the old one - its was simple :
but the new one - I get nowhere, freezes the program and I cannot edit any actions... Very frustrating - am I doing something wrong or is it a program flaw?
Is there tutorials I can access on the new actions panel?

Strange. I do not think we have seen this. When you choose an action for example, you need to drill down to the element that needs the action and then double-click to apply it. Is it what you are doing?

Where can I find the Action Panel in Photoshop?

Where can I find the Action Panel in Photoshop?

Are you using photoshop or photoshop elements and which version?
(in photoshop it should be under Window>Actions or Window>Show Actions)
(only photoshop elements 11 has Window>Actions)
(no other version of photoshop elements has Window>Actions)
What operating system?

Lost ability to view Effects in Action Panel

Adobe illustrator CS5 on Mac OS X 10.7.4.
I used to be able to do something like effect->3d-> revolve, then go to the actions panel and bring up the 3D revolve, click on it and edit it again. Now, when I open the actions panel the simple 3d revolve is replace with a long long list of actions of course I can't bring up the 3d revolve effect and edit it.
I have removed all of the Illustrator prefs in my library file; but, it still does it.
How can I get this behavior back?

Try the Appearance panel. Select the object with the 3D effect and it should show up there.

Loading in a second Actions panel with the same functionality as the first, but independent from it

The actions panel is perfect at what it does; however, if you have a few action sets and, in order to eliminate scrolling, you need to expand them into a double row of buttons, it quickly becomes difficult to maintain. As soon as you delete an action or add an action to it, it disorders the others and you have to reorganize again, which becomes a vicious cycle. I like to keep things organised and neat with all that I do and pretty much the only way to have this feature is to expand it on the back end of the software or, if possible, create a script that loads a second Actions panel with the same functionality as the first but completely independent from it. I assume that the SDK will not allow us to expand on the software in this particular way, as Photoshop is not open source; however, maybe this suggestion will be taken into account for future updates or versions since I have yet to find a suitable way to do this.
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards

That would depend on the links on the page. Some pages have links that refer to different areas on the same page. If you want to force a link to open in a new tab, you can middle-click it.

Need Help for Installing TK ACTIONS PANEL for PHOTOSHOP CC

I recently just subscribed to Photoshop CC. And the first thing I try to do is to install the TK ACTIONS PANEL into photoshop. I did what I used to do with CS5 to install the TK ACTIONS PANEL. I follow the instruction the same way, but I couldn't get the panel install. Instead I got a message " Load panel xml error Error #2032 ". Please HELP!!!

Panel extensions were are developed using Adobe configurator and there were several versions and there needs to be a different install developed for each panel extension for each version of Photoshop there seems to be no compatibility between Photoshop versions each gets it own copy of everything. I developed a panel for one of my packages but don't use it or distribute it. Instead I just link Photoshop Scripts path to my scripts path and use a single copy of my scripts for all versions of Photoshop, I address Photoshop incompatible change in my scripts maintain a single script by adding code to test for Photoshop version in functions that need to be coded for various versions of Photoshop,

Actionscript and Action panel?

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