Button not in main timeline

Hello All,
I am fairly new to flash and would greatly appreciate some
help with this... I have many buttons that I need to attach event
handlers to but they are embedded within layers of movie clips, and
if I write the handler code in the main timeline's 1st frame they
are nowhere to be found because they are no yet displayed. If I
write the handler code in the movie clip that a button is contained
in, and my action is to gotoAndPlay a frame of a different movie
clip, that movie clip also not be found. My guess is that I need to
write the code within the movie clip that the button is contained
in and somehow call up the mainstage and then reference the movie
clip that is to be played by the buttonClick event through its
respective path... something like (in words):
"look to stage" then...
function buttonClick(speakevent:MouseEvent):void {
portal_mc.logomov_mc.gotoAndPlay(63)
speak_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, buttonClick);
can anybody tell me how to point back to the stage? or some
other way of doing this? surely it is possible. any comments would
be much appreciated.
thanks, sander.

kglad wrote:
i'm assuming your buttons are movieclip buttons. if "nextlevelbutton" is not the linkage id of a movieclip, your code makes no sense. if it is a movieclip over and down states wouldn't work unless you had code elsewhere.
scoresign.attachMovie("nextlevelbutton", "nextlevelbutton", scoresign.getNextHighestDepth(), {_x:126, _y:300});
scoresign.attachMovie("mainmenubutton", "mainmenubutton", scoresign.getNextHighestDepth(), {_x:35, _y:300});
scoresign.nextlevelbutton.onRelease=function(){gotoAndStop("first scene");
scoresign.mainmenubutton.onRelease=function(){
// do whatever

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Ned,
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Controlling multiple external swfs from main timeline

Hi, I've been trying to combine the features of two tutorials I found, one that deals with controlling external swf's from the main timeline and the other that explains how to load and unload multiple external swf's. I'd like to be able to load and unload multiple external swf's, and control these swf's buttons from the main timeline.
I asked this same question on the forum of the site where I found these tutorials, and receive only one reply saying that "it should'nt be hard to do." but they did not elaborate any further. This left me think that I was missing something very obvious and I've spent too much time now trying to work what it is now. I understand pretty much how both pieces of code work, but just can't work out how to combine them.
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var ldr:Loader = new Loader();
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var Xpos:Number = 110;
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var swf:MovieClip;
var loader:Loader = new Loader();
var defaultSWF:URLRequest = new URLRequest("swfs/eyesClosed.swf");
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demon.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, btnClick);
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I will not be able to help you with whatever relaxatraja provided though it is purported by relaxatraja to be clearly explaining what I was explaining (???).
Your loadHandler function appears a bit confused. For the code you show I don't see you assigning any event listeners for the events that will be dispatched in the loaded file. As I showed earlier, your loadHandler function should be assigning a listener for the event that will be dispatched (modified slightly below). and if you have three different events being dispatched in the loaded file, then you'll do better to have three different listeners. I show only one below for one of the events you dispatch...
function loadHandler (event:Event) {
// assign a listener for the loaded file's goExit function's event
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// I can't make sense of what you have here
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function event1Handler(e:Event):void {
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As far as what you have in the loaded file, you appear to be trying to pass the files names as if they were parameters. The file naming should be done at the receiving side for the event handler function for the event listener. While you could create a custom event that include parameters that you can pass, that's another level of coding that is better left for a future experience.
Study the following - understand it before you try to use it.
Below is a link to some files I made for another posting that demonstrates what I have been explaining. The neurope file is the main file. Publish the netherlands file so that you have an swf to load for it, and then run the neurope file. The file that gets loaded (netherlands) only has a button in it that when clicked dispatches an event for which the main file (neurope) has assigned a listener. The main file displays a message when the button gets clicked in the loaded file.
http://www.nedwebs.com/Flash/neurope.zip

Controlling loaded swf from main timeline

Hello,
I'm working on loading external swf files for ios. I am able to load the swf files and set them to visible or invisible in different frames. I am having trouble controlling the loaded swf files from the main timeline. Specifically, I would like to have a button on the main timeline, that when clicked will move a loaded swf to frame 1.
Here is a code that loads one swf file:
var myLoader1:Loader;
var loaderContext1:LoaderContext = new LoaderContext(false, ApplicationDomain.currentDomain, null);
if(myLoader1 == null)
myLoader1 = new Loader();
addChild(myLoader1);
myLoader1.load(new URLRequest("folder/file1.swf"),loaderContext1);
myLoader1.visible = true;
backbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, backbutton1);
function backbutton1(myEvent:MouseEvent):void {???????????? myLoader1.gotoAndStop(1);} (this line does not work)
(Once I load file1.swf, within the file1.swf I click a forward button to move to different frames. My question is: how do I code the 'backbutton' on the main timeline so that it causes the loaded file1.swf to go to frame 1?)
Thank you for your help.

sure.
if the movieclip on the loaded swf's main timeline has reference mc, you would use:
MovieClip(myLoader.content).mc.gotoAndStop(1);
p.s. you might find the following helpful, http://kb2.adobe.com/community/publishing/918/cpsid_91887.html

Loaded swf with button , not communicating to main timeline

my main stage/timeline has a UILoader "UILoaderOne" and
another one "UIloaderTwo".
i have some buttons on the main stage which pull up some
images into the UILoaderOne.
these work fine and look like this.
//BEGIN BUTTONCODE\\
//button to load image into loader "loaderOne" x01_btn and
x01_ldr, thumb image is "x01.jpg and main image is p01.jpg\\
//crop thumb image to size 50px tall by whatever wide and
resize loaderButton if needed, main image will resize
proportionatly\\
x01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClick);
function onClick(event:MouseEvent):void
//import fl.containers.UILoader;
import fl.controls.Label;
import fl.controls.ProgressBar;
var url:String = "assets/01.jpg";
//var myUILoader:UILoader //= new UILoader();
myUILoader.unload();
myUILoader.autoLoad = false;
myUILoader.source = url;
//myUILoader.move(10, 10);
myUILoader.scaleContent = true;
myUILoader.load();
var myProgressBar:ProgressBar = new ProgressBar();
myProgressBar.source = myUILoader;
myProgressBar.setSize(100, 10);
myProgressBar.move(myUILoader.x+340, myUILoader.y+250)
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progressHandler);
myProgressBar.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,
completeHandler);
addChild(myProgressBar)
var myLabel:Label = new Label();
myLabel.text = ". . . . . X . . . . . ";
myLabel.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
myLabel.move(myProgressBar.x, myProgressBar.y +
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addChild(myLabel);
function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
//trace("progress:", event.bytesLoaded, event.bytesTotal,
int(event.currentTarget.percentComplete) + "%");
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myLabel.text = ("progress:", event.bytesLoaded,
event.bytesTotal, int(event.currentTarget.percentComplete) + "%")
//myLabel.text =
Math.round((event.bytesLoaded/event.bytesTotal)*100) +"%";
function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
trace("complete:");
myProgressBar.removeEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS,
progressHandler);
myProgressBar.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,
completeHandler);
removeChild(myProgressBar);
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//trace("typeMe");
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the second Loader "UILoaderTwo" auto loads another swf file
with the INTENT to load from buttons, images into the ULLoader
"UILoaderOne" which is on the main timeline.
this part is failing
the error i get in Output window is
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of
a null object reference.
at sOne_fla::MainTimeline/onClickz()
the swf that loads is sOne.swf
and it has code of this
z01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClickz);
function onClickz(event:MouseEvent):void
import fl.containers.UILoader;
import fl.controls.Label;
import fl.controls.ProgressBar;
var url:String = "assets/xx.jpg";
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myUILoader.unload();
myUILoader.autoLoad = false;
myUILoader.source = url;
//myUILoader.move(10, 10);
myUILoader.scaleContent = true;
myUILoader.load();
var myProgressBar:ProgressBar = new ProgressBar();
myProgressBar.source = myUILoader;
myProgressBar.setSize(100, 10);
myProgressBar.move(myUILoader.x+340, myUILoader.y+250)
myProgressBar.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS,
progressHandler);
myProgressBar.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,
completeHandler);
addChild(myProgressBar)
var myLabel:Label = new Label();
myLabel.text = ". . . . . X . . . . . ";
myLabel.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
myLabel.move(myProgressBar.x, myProgressBar.y +
myProgressBar.height);
addChild(myLabel);
function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
//trace("progress:", event.bytesLoaded, event.bytesTotal,
int(event.currentTarget.percentComplete) + "%");
//myLabel.text = event.bytesLoaded + " of " +
event.bytesTotal + " bytes loaded.";
myLabel.text = ("progress:", event.bytesLoaded,
event.bytesTotal, int(event.currentTarget.percentComplete) + "%")
//myLabel.text =
Math.round((event.bytesLoaded/event.bytesTotal)*100) +"%";
function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
trace("complete:");
myProgressBar.removeEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS,
progressHandler);
myProgressBar.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,
completeHandler);
removeChild(myProgressBar);
removeChild(myLabel);
//addChild(myUILoader);
//trace("typeMe");
//end BUTTONCODE\\
//end BUTTONCODE\\

well, I'm such a novice to begin with.
the loader is actually placed on stage manually, and instance
named manually so a lot of that code is may not be needed,
i do a lot of trial and error technique
it is all personal stuff
one guess i have is to set up a listner as to when the sOne
is loaded, and then get a way to communicate to each other?
how?

In actionscript 3.0 how do i make a nested movie clip button go to a frame on the main timeline

I am making a website based in flash actionscript 3.0 i have a button nested in its own movie clip, because I have the button expanding to be able to read it i have figured out the only way to do this is by creating it as a movie clipa nd inside the movie clip creating it as a button
I added an event listener to the blog button by saying,
blog.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,gotoblog);
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blog.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK.gotoblogpage);
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I have a similar problem if could please help me i'd really apreciate it!!
So i have a looping animation of some thumbnails, the hierarchy goes like this
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My buttons symbols are in the last MC "imgBarB" where i have this code:
ss1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, OneButtonClicked);
function OneButtonClicked(event:MouseEvent):void{
MovieClip(root).gotoAndStop("ssbox1");
I want to control the Btns in my "imgBarB" MC to play a labeled frame(named "ssbox1") on another MC on the main timeline,this other MC goes like this:
Scene1(main timeline)->ssbox_mc(MC where my labeled frame is)

How to add button inside move clip and call it from main timeline?

Hi,
On the main timeline I have a movie clip called clock_mc and playBtn
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playBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playClock);
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This is working fine for me.
But I want to add replayBtn to the last frame of clock_mc and set up the function on main Timeline.
Another words when the clock_mc rich last frame you see replayBtn.
code example:
replayBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playClock);
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I've tryed to placed the replayBtn on the stage on the main timeline and I've set it up to replayBtn.visible = false;
And then I add replayBtn.visible = true; to last AS frame of clock_mc but it wont work
Even when I put the button physically to the last frame of clock_mc it will not work either.
Please help

I've solved the problem:-)
I've set replayBtn.visible = false; on first frame of clock_mc
and replayBtn.visible = true; at the last frame
and than as you sugested I'v add:
clock_mc.replayBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, replayClock);
function replayClock(event:MouseEvent):void
        clock_mc.play();
        trace ("replay button was clicked");
I couldn't see replayBtn at the firs stage because I have clockTween assosiated with clock:
clockTween = new Tween(clock_mc, "x", Regular.easeOut, -469,438, .5, true);
and I had replyBtn in the wrong place so when clock_mc was coming up on the stage replayBtn was on the left side of the stage :/
Now I have to solve only one thing.
Maybe you would have any suggestions please.
I've set up stop(); in a first frame of clock_mc
that when you see clock_mc sliding in it has to wait for playBtn to be clicked
because I have two tween:
        clockTween = new Tween(clock_mc, "x", Regular.easeOut, -469,438, .5, true);
        playTween = new Tween(playBtn, "x", Regular.easeOut, -720,514, .5, true);
        playBtn.visible = true;
so when you click on playBtn:
function playClock(event:MouseEvent):void
    if (event.target == playBtn)
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        trace ("play button was clicked");
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Can't get button in sub movie to link back to main timeline

Hi All.....
First, thank you for helping me! I am pulling my hair out. I
know there is an easy answer to this question, but I can't figure
it out.
I have my main timeline (Scene 1) and then on frame 5, I have
a movie that plays for about 70 frames (within itself). On the main
timeline it is only 3 frames long, and I have an action at the top
layer to stop at the first frame.
At the end of the 70 frame movie, I have a "next" button; the
action is in normal mode;
on (press) {
gotoAndPlay("Scene 1", 11);
I am ultimately telling this button to go back to the main
timeline (scene 1) and continue on with the next movie.
When I publish, the movie goes through just fine, gets to the
next button, I press it and it goes to the 11th frame of the that
same movie, instead of the 11th frame of the main timeline (scene
1).
Help! I appreciate it...let me know if I left anything
out...........
Aubry

aubrycan wrote:
> Ahh!
> Thank you! It worked!
>
> You have saved me. :-)
better yet label the frame you like to target and target that
label
_root.gotoAndPlay("labelNameHere");
There is no scenes in SWF file upon export. So if you have 10
frame in scene 1
and 10 in scene 2, the frame 10 in scene two become frame
number 20.
The action sugested by FamousSeamus is not really correct
even tho it might work,
but as soon as you try to target frames across multiple
scenes, you can't refer to them
by their numbers unless it's one long scene only.
Best Regards
Urami
<urami>
If you want to mail me - DO NOT LAUGH AT MY ADDRESS
</urami>

Attempt to move main timeline from inside a movie clip breaks menu buttons.

I am attempting to have the main timeline move from a stopped position over a movie clip to frame 1, where my start menu is.
The code I'm using does move the timeline but in doing so it somehow breaks the 4 buttons I have in frame 1.
My code in the movie clip:
stop()
function replayMovie(event:MouseEvent):void
MovieClip(parent).gotoAndStop(1);
Menu.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, replayMovie);
My code in frame 1 of the main timeline:
stop();
function bo(event:MouseEvent):void
gotoAndPlay(21)
SoundMixer.stopAll()
espesp.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, bo);
function ho(event:MouseEvent):void
gotoAndPlay(31)
SoundMixer.stopAll()
espeng.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ho);
function yo(event:MouseEvent):void
gotoAndPlay(41)
SoundMixer.stopAll()
engesp.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, yo);
function go(event:MouseEvent):void
gotoAndPlay(51)
SoundMixer.stopAll()
engeng.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, go);
The error output when I use my Menu button at the end of the movie clip.
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at SSubjunctiveProjNewgrounds_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()
at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndStop()
at SSubjunctiveProjNewgrounds_fla::Esp_5/replayMovie()
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

For the sake of space, I'll leave out all the package declarations and class declarations and just talk about the functions.
First, the Game class, it has two functions. The first one is the constructor function and it launches at the beginning of the game: First the Game function:
public function Game():void
//Game code goes here
}//Game
We want to listen for someone to click the mouse on the MenuPage, so lets create a new MenuPage and add a listener to the button contiained within it.
public function Game():void
menuPage = new MenuPage;
menuPage.startButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, startGame);
addChild(menuPage);
}//Game
You will notice that before I declared a variable var menuPage:MenuPage, but that's all I did was declare it. I didn't really make a new instance of it, I just set aside space for it. In the first line within the Game function, I'm actually turning that variable into a new instance of a MenuPage.
We don't have a picture of this imaginary menuPage instance, but lets' assume that in our MenuPage MovieClip in the library, we created a SimpleButton called startButton. Here, I'm adding an EventListener that patiently waits for someone to click that button. Once we receive that event, Flash is told to call the startGame function.
As you get better at this, you'll get into custom events, and the eventListener for the button will exist in the MenuPage class file, or even in another class file that you create just for the button. Something like StartButton.as But for now, we can do it as above.
Now the startGame function:
public function startGame(evt:MouseEvent):void
//Remove the start Page
//Add the zombie
//Add the gun
}//startGame
And we'll replace those comments with real code. It follows along with what we just did above.
public function startGame(evt:MouseEvent):void
zombie = new Zombie;
addChild(zombie);
gun = new Gun;
addChild(gun);
And we also want to clean up some by removing the menuPage, and throwing out the eventListener.
public function startGame(evt:MouseEvent):void
zombie = new Zombie;
addChild(zombie);
gun = new Gun;
addChild(gun);
menuPage.startButton.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.Click,startGame);
removeChild(menuPage);
}//startGame
Now our Game class is complete.
The Zombie Class
public function zombieWalk(evt:Event):void
this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,zombieWalk);
this.x = this.x + 10;
}//zombieWalk
Notice we've added a function to the Zombie Class.
The first function adds an EventListener to the zombie. We can use the word this and actionScript knows we're talking about the zombie that the class is written for. This listener fires off every frame. If our FLA file is set to 12fps, then 12 times every second it will call on the zombieWalk function.
The zombie walk function moves the zombie 10 pixels to the right every time the function is called.
On a more advanced level, you'll want to add animation in the MovieClip to move the zombie legs. You'll also want to use Timer events to space out how often the funtion fires and not ENTER_FRAME events. And you'll want to use a static constant to establish how far the zombie moves. We have it now set to 10 pixels, but that can get irritating if we want to change that value later. But again, baby steps.
And finally, the Gun class
public function Gun():void
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fireGun);
}//function
public function fireGun(evt:MouseEvent):void
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
}//fireGun
First we add an EventListener for when someone clicks on the gun. Once this happens, the listener calls on the fireGun function.
The fireGun function takes advantage of the frames within the Gun MovieClip. Say we have three frames in the Gun MovieClip. The first is just a picture of the gun. The second is the gun with a flash coming out of the nozzle. And the third is the gun at rest again. The line this.gotoAndPlay(2) sends the gun to the second frame with the flash graphic.
For this to work, each frame in the Gun MovieClip has to have some stop and play commands.
But.. you said no code on our timeline!! Liar!
I know. This is the exception. You will need basic stop() commands and gotoAndPlay commands to loop animations. Any MovieClip that has more than one frame will need something to control it.
So our Gun MovieCLip has the following:
Frame 1: stop();
Frame 2: no actionScript... and I mean nothing, not even the words, "no actionScript"
Frame 3: gotoAndStop(1);
This will loop the gun to the beginning and wait for the next time the user clicks the gun.
Advanced features of the Gun class might include a Bullet.as sub-class that creates a bullet MovieClip to fly across the screen. Sound to play when the shooting takes place. Object collision detection to see if the bullet hits the target. And a means by which a custom event will tell the Game.as class that a zombie has been hit and it should be removed from the stage.
As you go down the rabbit hole of ActionScript 3, you will find yourself at a point where it's just a matter of getting the syntax right for all the built in functions and classes. Arrays, Loaders, casting variable types.. all that stuff will come.
I hope this has been helfpul. It's been on my to-do list for a long time. When I first started out, no one could provide me with basic answers for how all these classes and whatnot worked. After teaching myself AS3 for 2 years and reading a gabillion books, I think I've gotten to a point where I'm pretty comfortable with it all.

Button in movieclip to main timeline

I have a button(A) that opens a movie clip which contains a
button (B). I want button B to go to and play a frame on the main
timeline, NOT a frame in the movieclip. Is this possible?
If not, what I am aiming for is a menu of buttons, that are
rollovers from which another menu pops up with buttons you can
click.
Help!
Thanks

Hi, Sorry I am new to ActionScript.
This is what I wrote:
this.menu_orange1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,clickListener2);
function clickListener2(event:MouseEvent):void {
_root.gotoAndPlay("test");
and the error message says:
1120: Access of undefined property _root.

Targeting main timeline from a button symbol

I have been using Edge since it's inception. However I have not been using it over the last year as I have not had any contract work for HTML5 animation but I just got a contract to re create animations originally done in Flash. My Edge basics are pretty fresh but I have a hard time doing the following.
I have a 2 state button up down which was converted into a symbol with a mouseover to change the state. Now I need to have an onclick event play the main timeline which I cannot seem to grasp.
Any help coding this?
Thx
RD

Hi, RD-
Try using sym.getParentSymbol() (if you're only one level down) or sym.getComposition().getStage() to get the main timeline, then call play().
Hope that helps,
-Elaine

How to _root in as3 (buttons in movie clip referencing to main timeline)

Hi, I created buttons within a movie clip that i placed in the main timeline.I am a novice to as3. I just wanted the button to go to the frame label of the main timeline. i used to do this with _root in the old flash. how do i do this?
thumb02_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, buttonClicked);
function buttonClicked(event:MouseEvent):void
gotoAndPlay("slide2");

Thanks for the quick reply!
somehow i must be doing something wrong though. It's not working...
I added a stop to the "slide02" labeled section of the main timeline.
and I also added a stop to the beginning and end of the movieclip. Am I doing something wrong? attached is my file....thanks!!
stop();
thumb02_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, buttonClicked);
function buttonClicked(event:MouseEvent):void
MovieClip(this.root).gotoAndPlay("slide2");
stop();

Button not in main timeline

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