How do I make buttons work?

Question

I am taking a college course which includes learning some
things about Dreamweaver/Flash, but the text I have is 3
generations behind the current software. I am trying to make a
start and stop button...it's not working. I have the symbols
created, the start/stop text put there, and the Buttons layer
created above my motion guide layer (with the motion guide nested).
My instructions tell me to go to:
Windows
Actions
Actions Folder (not there in the newer software)
Movie Control
Play - double click
Stop - double click
At this point I'm supposed to be able to close out of the
Actions pane and play/stop the movie using the buttons.
As I said these instructions are very old - how do I
accomplish this in the newer software? I assume there is a simple
way and I'm just not seeing it:-)
Thanks for your help...

Answer 1

first you need to determine which programming language you
want to use AS2 or AS3 - since the syntax is different to handle
mouse event (ie - a click) - then 'today' we usually create a new
layer called 'actions' and place code within frames in that layer.
so you would select the first frame and then open the actions panel
and place your button's code -
if using AS2:
play_btn.onPress = function() {
play();
stop_btn.onPress = function() {
stop();
however if you've decided to use AS3:
function playMovie(event:MouseEvent) {
play();
function stopMovie(event:MouseEvent) {
stop();
play_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playMovie);
stop_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, stopMovie);
in both cases another thing you need to do is give the
buttons 'instance names' - do this by selecting one on the Stage
and looking in the properties panel - you will see the box for the
instance name - type a name for the button, and then use that name
in code when referring to that object. (eg - play_btn,
stop_btn)