Confused about AS3 buttons (did read David Stiller's blog)

Question

I'm trying to convert an AS2 file over to AS3 and I can't get
the buttons to work. They do not want to gotoAndStop at certain
frames in specific scenes. In the following code, if you click on a
button it works fine, but when you attemp to change to a new Scene,
it breaks and both buttons won't work thereafter. I've tried
everything for almost a day now and cannot get this to work and
cannot find any reference to the problem. Is AS3 buttons not able
to go to a new scene as it suggests in the Help files?:

Answer 1

Laura,
> Old patterns, old habits...time to change.
Well, not necessarily! The old ways still work. :) Just
configure
your publish settings for AS2 or AS1, and bingo. It all
depends on what
you're trying to accomplish. If your aim is to output to TV,
then by all
means, use scenes! If you're not using code -- or using very
little code --
then it basically doesn't matter what version of ActionScript
you use.
> Now the flash animation drawing tools are so lame it's
just
> embarrassing. It's all about interactivity and coding is
essential.
I can hear that you're frustrated, and it probably helps to
vent (it
often helps me), but for the sake of others who might be
reading this
thread, I'm respectfully asking you for specifics. What new
animation
and/or drawing tools do you mean? How are they embarrasingly
bad?
The 3D and inverse kinematics (IK) tools, new to CS4, are
hardly
something I'd call embarrassing. On the contrary, they're
cool all hell!
True, the 3D tools require the FLA to be configured for AS3,
but no
scripting is required to use 3D or IK (though you *can*
script them if you
want to).
The blend modes and filter effects introduced in Flash 8
were a welcome
edition. They didn't hinder anyone's workflow, as far as I
know. If you
wanted to use them, great! If not, great! Improved text
rendering has been
a joy ... and again, use it or not -- the choice has always
been up to the
designer's whim.
> Ok, scenes are kinda old school. I can see why.
They're only problematic (speaking historically) in cahoots
with
ActionScript. Unlike some, I actually do endorse the use of
scenes ;) --
just not in the context of programming. Keep using old school
if that's
what works for you. If you like, experiment with the new
stuff as your
schedule allows.
> Why do anything in the timeline if you can do it in the
code?
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic in this line, but
either which
way, the answer (at least, from my perspective) is a
pragmatic one. Use the
timeline when doing so takes the least amount of work; the
reverse holds
true for code. There are plenty of animations --
specifically, character
animations, including lipsynch -- that, for me, are easier to
do by hand, by
direct manipulation of the symbols with my mouse and/or
graphics tablet.
I find it easier to design complex gradients using the
drawing tools. I
often find it easier to design complex tween eases by hand.
When I'm
working on animation, I tend not to code as often; when I'm
building a
Flash-based website, it's likely to be a combination of
timeline techniques
and code; when I'm writing applications, it's obviously a
case of
mostly-code.
> [code gives you] more control. It can be more dynamic
and
> flexable. It is easier to edit. Next I need to do more
external
> .as doc scripting.
Writing custom classes is another layer of technique.
Depending on your
workflow, it may or may not be useful. For what it's worth, I
wrote a
tutorial series for Community MX not so very long ago that
might help
illustrate this point ...
http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=ECBF0
... the first article is free, and demonstrates a technique
(using code) for
causing letters to wiggle into place. Over the course of
several
installments, this series works toward moving the code from
the timeline to
a class file, which shows how custom classes can provide a
workflow boost,
even for a movie that doesn't necessarily need to be
übercoded in other
respects. I hasten to add, I'm not one who relishes the role
of a "Here,
the first one is free" salesman, so be aware that you can
also read the
remaining articles free if you sign up for a trial
membership, which you can
cancel without obligation in a week's time.
> My working file is now all on a single timeline with no
scenes.
> Who needs scenes. Yipee!
Under the hood (meaning, in the SWF) all those scenes are
ultimately
converted to one big timeline anyway. Granted, the use of
scenes is a
convenient organizational tool during authoring, and I don't
deny that
scenes-with-ActionScript would be equally convenient, but
again ... scenes
have been "broken" in ActionScript for a long time. It looked
like Flash
CS3's AS3 finally resurrected the workflow, and -- for the
time being -- it
looks like CS4 might somehow be missing the mark. If so, as
kglad proposes,
the AS3 gotoAndPlay() issue is a bug in CS4, and we can hope
for a fix from
Adobe.
David Stiller
Adobe Community Expert
Dev blog,
http://www.quip.net/blog/
"Luck is the residue of good design."