Basic define variable code won't work

Question

hi.
this is very odd. i took a 3-day actionscript workshop. we
used the same one-line method of declaring and assigning a
String/Number/Boolean/etc instance many many times. now i am on my
home computer and trying to review the basics. the basic code
(STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOOK) is not working! i have tried variations
of the same type of declaration by grabbing code from the
macromedia sample tutorials and same problem. both the computer
that i was using at the workshop and my home computer have Flash 8.
the only difference i can think of is the class had a PC, whereas i
use a mac at home. i am totally baffled. if anyone has any insight,
i'd be very appreciative.
my code...
var userName:String = "fred";
trace(userName);
returns
undefined.
on the other hand, this 2-line method of declaring/assigning
does work for me on my mac:
var userName:String;
userName = "fred";
trace(userName);
merry christmas btw :)

Answer 1

kglad, i think i have identified the problem.
at first i unknowingly opened up a new document from template
(Advertising), which appears to be just a blank doc sized to
certain dimensions. the code does NOT work.
but when i open a new plain flash document, the code that i
posted works fine.
i'm not sure what specifically about the advertising
templates makes good code not work. but now i know not to ever use
them.
thanks for your replies. appreciate it.