Calling a variable in one function from another

Question

Okay so here's the situation:
I have a function that has a For Loop inside it.  Inside that For Loop I am defining a button and calling to another function if clicked.  The issue is (since I shouldn't put functions inside other functions) how do I get the variable being processed in the For Loop to be considered in the function that was just activated by pressing the button.
lol sorry.  Here's the code.
All variable are defined elsewhere in the code.
function populateBox(DataInput:XML)
          linkAmount = DataInput.country[boxPartNum - 1].link.length(); /// defines amount of links being made
          for (k=0; k<linkAmount; k++)
                    myLink = new LinkClass();
                    box.boxMC.linksMC.addChild(myLink);
                    // set functions for links //
                    myLink.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, linkFunction);
/// now the function for when the button is pressed ///
function linkFunction(event:MouseEvent)
  trace(k);
I need to trace the "K" used in teh For Loop.
What are my options?

Answer 1

IF they are movieclips then you can assign the k value as a property of them dynamically.  Then you can retrieve that value in your event handler via the event argument that gets passed to the function.
function populateBox(DataInput:XML)
          linkAmount = DataInput.country[boxPartNum - 1].link.length(); /// defines amount of links being made
          for (k=0; k<linkAmount; k++)
                    myLink = new LinkClass();
                    box.boxMC.linksMC.addChild(myLink);
                    // set functions for links //
                    myLink.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, linkFunction);
                    myLink.kValue = k;
/// now the function for when the button is pressed ///
function linkFunction(event:MouseEvent)
  trace(event.currentTarget.kValue);
Note:  I am not surewhen it's needed, but it is possible you will need to cast the event.currentTarget as a MovieClip, so the line in the function might need to be...
trace(MovieClip(event.currentTarget).kValue);