How to unload/load swf

I have a Flash movie that automatically opens another Flash movie inside it. The main swf has a "Start" button at the bottom. When I click the Start button I want to unload the swf that loaded automatically (as a placeholder) and load a new Flash video swf. I'm doing this to create a placeholder for the video. I don't know what code I need to use on the button to unload the automatic swf and load the new swf video.

if you don't need to stop any loaded streams (like sound/video), you can just reuse the same loader to load the next swf. otherwise, apply unloadAndStop() to your loader before loading the next swf.

Similar Messages

How to unload an SWF

Hi All,
I have a problem working with SWFLaoder, I have loaded one
SWF(child) file inside another SWF(Parent) using an SWFLoader.Now I
have a "Back" button in second SWF(Child) on click of that button i
have to unload the current SWF(child) and and move back to my
(Parent) SWF. How can i achieve this. Please suggest me.
Cheers,
Chandu

in the last frame of your loaded swf:
if (this.parent is Loader) {
    this.parent.parent.dispatchEvent(new Event("playCompleted"));
and on the timeline that contains yoru loader in your main loading swf:
this.addEventListener("playCompleted",f)
function f(e:Event){
    removeChild(ldr); // where ldr is your loader that loads your external swf
    ldr.unload();
    ldr=null

Unloading Loaded SWF

I have a movie/presentation that runs a simple navigation
panel that loads in seperate SWF for each chapter.
These run for apporixmately 3-4 mins each. With sound etc.
They are published fine and that's working well. The problem I have
is when they finish i want the movie to return to a main menu
screen - also a seperate swf that loads up.
Where do i put an unload or load separate movie script that
won't attempt to load the main menu into the swf that is
running?

I have my ways I'm Just looking up all of the available classes in the SWF and then getting the class data out of it and using that to load the images into the app.
EDIT: I sort of see what the problem is. The SWF files are being loaded into the same application domain so I assume that somehow limits loading multiple classes with the same name. So maybe I have to load each SWF into a new ApplicationDomain instead of using the main apps domain?

How to center loaded swf & get screen coordinates of its component?

I made an swf using Flash CS4, it has a movieclip named 'mc' & and a vertical bar centered horizontally. I then load it using swfloaded & put it inside a canvas & set it's windows & height to 100%.
The codes:
<mx:Canvas id="cv" verticalScrollPolicy="off" horizontalScrollPolicy="off" width="{screen.width}" height="{screen.height}">
<mx:SWFLoader id="template" source="assets/sample.swf" width="100%" height="100%" complete="dump(event);"/>
<mx:HBox id="bb" />
</mx:Canvas>
<mx:Script>
private function dump(event:Event): void {
     var panel:MovieClip = MovieClip(template.content);
     var pt:Point = panel.localToGlobal(new Point(panel.mc.x, panel.mc.y));
     bb.x = pt.x; bb.y = pt.y; bb.width=10; bb.height = 10;
     panel.x = (cv.width - panel.conentWidth) / 2;
     Alert.show(
          "scaleratio x,y = " + panel.scaleX + "," + panel.scaleY +"\n"
          + "panel x,y = " + panel.x + "," + panel.y + "\n"
          + "local x,y = " + panel.mc.x + "," + panel.mc.y + "\n"
          + "global x,y = " + pt.x + "," + pt.y + "\n"
</mx:Script>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dump result is:
scaleratio x,y = 1,1
panel x,y = 100,800
local x,y = 775, 800
gloval x,y = 875, 800
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1. I draw an bound box according to the content object of this swf & saw this bound box is indeed centered. However, the bar object is some offset left from the center of screen. Why it's not aligned center as I saw it in Flash CS4?
Q2. I try to get the screen coordinates of component 'mc' by using localToGlobal to convert it to screen coordinates & draw a box to overlap their top-left point. However the topleft point of box is far left of mc's on screen. I think it's due to the swf is scaled, so I dump scaleX and scaleY of this swf but they are both 1? How can I get correct screen coordinates of mc?
Thanks in advance!
Scott

Because of margins and padding, the Canvas probably won't be positioned at
0,0, so setting its width to screen.width will make it hang over the right
edge. Use width="100%" instead. Same for height.
I believe there is a horizontalAlign property on the SWFLoader.

How does a loaded swf talk back to the main movie?

Hi,
I'm new to as3 and have troubles finding the right path for
swfs to "talk" to one another.
In my movie, I load an swf "news.swf" into a mc called
container_mc.
At one point I want to swap the "news.swf" to "ueberuns.swf"
via button click in my main movie, but not directly: "news.swf" has
a frame labeled "out", which builds down some elements over appr.
20 frames. In the last frame of "news.swf", I want "news.swf" to
either load the next "ueberuns.swf" into that same container_mc of
my main movie or have my main movie find out that "news.swf" is
through with it's last frame and then throw out "news.swf" and put
"ueberuns.swf" in that container_mc.
I already found out that I address "news.swf" by the
following code:
if (newsLaden.content != null) {
newsLaden.content.gotoAndPlay("out");
where newsLaden is the Loaders name. But how do I get
"news.swf" to reply?
Anyone can help? Thanks a lot!
Cheers, Karl

This is one of the biggest problems of AS3 as communication
between swfs, levels, and nested MCs has taken a completely
different path than the previous 9 versions of Flash. Both Erick's
and TheWabbit's suggestions will work but I sort of follow Erick's
approach as LocalConnection is the perfect fit for .swfs
communicating in the same HTML page not for nested. The key is
defining the timelines of MovieClips in each class when you want to
tell them to do something.
Try tera's example and see if that helps but if you
understand Erick's approach keep going. I just wanted to add that
you have to start thinking about defining the MCs you want to
communicate with in each Object Class file such as:
var _root:MovieClip = new MovieClip(parent);
and then you can always sort of define who you want to talk
to a bit easier.
THIS REALLY REALLY SUCKS for those of us who have been with
Flash since version 2 because they took away one of the best and
easiest things to do (but I'm glad telltarget is gone!! lol). Now I
fear people are going to start throwing everything back into one
LARGE SWF again thereby undoing all the work we in the Flash
community did in the first ten years to define 'best practices'
and_levels definitely was one of them along with an 'actions'
layer. I think Adobe's programmers who joined the Macromedia guys
led the product somewhere it didn't necessarily need to go. The
problem is many didn't know how to use the Flash Community's Best
practices. They were new to Flash.

Unloading loaded SWF classes

This is a fairly complicated issue so I'll try to explain it as best I can.
The first part is that I am downloading a SWF from a server that has a bunch of exported images in it. I am doing a lookup of the class names for these images then using that to load the data into the application. Later on down the line it is possible to download a separate SWF that has images in the same format with overlapping names.
The issue here is that when loading the second SWF with duplicate names it doesn't overwrite the data as one might expect, it uses whatever was loaded first. So I need to know if it's possible to either make it overwrite the classes with the new data or throw them away before loading the new SWF so the old ones don't get in the way. Is this possible at all? If not I suppose we could change the name of all of the assets so they are guaranteed to be unique but that would be a massive headache that I want to avoid at all costs.

I have my ways I'm Just looking up all of the available classes in the SWF and then getting the class data out of it and using that to load the images into the app.
EDIT: I sort of see what the problem is. The SWF files are being loaded into the same application domain so I assume that somehow limits loading multiple classes with the same name. So maybe I have to load each SWF into a new ApplicationDomain instead of using the main apps domain?

Load swf directly into Captivate 5.5?

Hello,
How can I load swf files directly into Captivate 5.5 during runtime?
I do not wish to have one single large Captivate file. Rather, I wish to create multiple small swf files and load them into Captivate as needed.
I do this all the time in Flash, however,is this possible to load external swf into Captivate?
Thank You
iaustin

You can select the option to externalise resources such as animations and widgets (both SWF files) in Project Preferences.

How to unload externally loaded swf which contains 3D Carousel?

Hello to all
I am learning AS3 and have been taking on various tutorials found on the net. While learning about AS3 I came across a lesson on http://tutorials.flashmymind.com/2009/05/vertical-3d-carousel-with-actionscript-3-and-xml/ titled "Vertical 3D Carousel with AS3 and XML".
I completed the tutorial and all worked fine so I then wanted to load the swf into a existing project. The loading of the swf goes fine and when I unload my loader it is removed but only visually as in my output panel in flash CS5 I get an error as follows
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at carousel_c_fla::MainTimeline/moveCarousel()
this error repeats over and over again slowing my swf movie.
So does this mean my main flash movie trying to still play / find my unloaded 3D Carousel?
If so how do I unload remove all the AS3 that is trying to run from the 3D Carousel?
I have included the AS3 below from the tutorial page and I understand that this is what I have to remove to "break free" from the 3D Carousel swf when it is unloaded. This is where I am stuck as my knowledge of AS3 is limited - Can you guys / girls help?
//Import TweenMax
import com.greensock.*;
//The path to the XML file (use your own here)
// old var from tutorial - var xmlPath:String = "http://tutorials.flashmymind.com/XML/carousel-menu.xml";
var xmlPath:String = "carousel-menu.xml";
//We'll store the loaded XML to this variable
var xml:XML;
//Create a loader and load the XML. Call the function "xmlLoaded" when done.
var loader = new URLLoader();
loader.load(new URLRequest(xmlPath));
loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, xmlLoaded);
//This function is called when the XML file is loaded
function xmlLoaded(e:Event):void {
     //Make sure that we are not working with a null variable
     if ((e.target as URLLoader) != null ) {
          //Create a new XML object with the loaded XML data
          xml = new XML(loader.data);
          //Call the function that creates the menu
          createMenu();
//We need to know how many items we have on the stage
var numberOfItems:uint = 0;
//This array will contain all the menu items
var menuItems:Array = new Array();
//Set the focal length
var focalLength:Number = 350;
//Set the vanishing point
var vanishingPointX:Number = stage.stageWidth / 2;
var vanishingPointY:Number = stage.stageHeight / 2;
//We calculate the angleSpeed in the ENTER_FRAME listener
var angleSpeed:Number = 0;
//Radius of the circle
var radius:Number = 128;
//This function creates the menu
function createMenu():void {
     //Get the number of menu items we will have
     numberOfItems = xml.items.item.length();
     //Calculate the angle difference between the menu items (in radians)
     var angleDifference:Number = Math.PI * (360 / numberOfItems) / 180;
     //We use a counter so we know how many menu items have been created
     var count:uint = 0;
     //Loop through all the <button></button> nodes in the XML
     for each (var item:XML in xml.items.item) {
          //Create a new menu item
          var menuItem:MenuItem = new MenuItem();
          //Calculate the starting angle for the menu item
          var startingAngle:Number = angleDifference * count;
          //Set a "currentAngle" attribute for the menu item
          menuItem.currentAngle = startingAngle;
          //Position the menu item
          menuItem.xpos3D = 0;
          menuItem.ypos3D = radius * Math.sin(startingAngle);
          menuItem.zpos3D = radius * Math.cos(startingAngle);
          //Calculate the scale ratio for the menu item (the further the item -> the smaller the scale ratio)
          var scaleRatio = focalLength/(focalLength + menuItem.zpos3D);
          //Scale the menu item according to the scale ratio
          menuItem.scaleX = menuItem.scaleY = scaleRatio;
          //Position the menu item to the stage (from 3D to 2D coordinates)
          menuItem.x = vanishingPointX + menuItem.xpos3D * scaleRatio;
          menuItem.y = vanishingPointY + menuItem.ypos3D * scaleRatio;
          //Add a text to the menu item
          menuItem.menuText.text = item.label;
          //Add a "linkTo" variable for the URL
          menuItem.linkTo = item.linkTo;
          //We don't want the text field to catch mouse events
          menuItem.mouseChildren = false;
          //Assign MOUSE_OVER, MOUSE_OUT and CLICK listeners for the menu item
          menuItem.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, mouseOverItem);
          menuItem.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, mouseOutItem);
          menuItem.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, itemClicked);
          //Add the menu item to the menu items array
          menuItems.push(menuItem);
          //Add the menu item to the stage
          addChild(menuItem);
          //Assign an initial alpha
          menuItem.alpha = 0.3;
          //Add some blur to the item
          TweenMax.to(menuItem,0, {blurFilter:{blurX:1, blurY:1}});
          //Update the count
          count++;
//Add an ENTER_FRAME listener for the animation
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, moveCarousel);
//This function is called in each frame
function moveCarousel(e:Event):void {
     //Calculate the angle speed according to mouseY position
     angleSpeed = (mouseY - stage.stageHeight / 2) * 0.0002;
     //Loop through the menu items
     for (var i:uint = 0; i < menuItems.length; i++) {
          //Store the menu item to a local variable
          var menuItem:MenuItem = menuItems[i] as MenuItem;
          //Update the current angle of the item
          menuItem.currentAngle += angleSpeed;
          //Calculate a scale ratio
          var scaleRatio = focalLength/(focalLength + menuItem.zpos3D);
          //Scale the item according to the scale ratio
          menuItem.scaleX=menuItem.scaleY=scaleRatio;
          //Set new 3D coordinates
          menuItem.xpos3D=0;
          menuItem.ypos3D=radius*Math.sin(menuItem.currentAngle);
          menuItem.zpos3D=radius*Math.cos(menuItem.currentAngle);
          //Update the item's coordinates.
          menuItem.x=vanishingPointX+menuItem.xpos3D*scaleRatio;
          menuItem.y=vanishingPointY+menuItem.ypos3D*scaleRatio;
     //Call the function that sorts the items so they overlap each other correctly
     sortZ();
//This function sorts the items so they overlap each other correctly
function sortZ():void {
     //Sort the array so that the item which has the highest
     //z position (= furthest away) is first in the array
     menuItems.sortOn("zpos3D", Array.NUMERIC | Array.DESCENDING);
     //Set new child indexes for the item
     for (var i:uint = 0; i < menuItems.length; i++) {
          setChildIndex(menuItems[i], i);
//This function is called when a mouse is over an item
function mouseOverItem(e:Event):void {
     //Tween the item's properties
     TweenMax.to(e.target, 0.1, {alpha: 1, glowFilter:{color:0xffffff, alpha:1, blurX:60, blurY:60},blurFilter:{blurX:0, blurY:0}});
//This function is called when a mouse is out of an item
function mouseOutItem(e:Event):void {
     //Tween the item's properties
     TweenMax.to(e.target, 1, {alpha: 0.3, glowFilter:{color:0xffffff, alpha:1, blurX:0, blurY:0},blurFilter:{blurX:1, blurY:1}});
//This function is called when an item is clicked
function itemClicked(e:Event):void {
     //Navigate to the URL that's assigned to the menu item
     var urlRequest:URLRequest=new URLRequest(e.target.linkTo);
     navigateToURL(urlRequest);

Hi Ned thanks for the reply,
Ok so I have a button in my main movie that loads the external swf
stop();
var my_loader:Loader = new Loader();
var my_btn:Button = new Button();
var my_pb:ProgressBar = new ProgressBar();
my_pb.source = my_loader.contentLoaderInfo;
my_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,startLoading);
function startLoading(e:MouseEvent):void{
my_loader.load(new URLRequest("carousel.swf"));
addChild(my_pb);
my_loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, finishloading);
function finishloading(e:Event):void{
addChild(my_loader);
my_loader.addEventListener("killMe",
killLoadedClip);
removeChild(my_pb);
function killLoadedClip(e:Event):void {
my_loader.removeEventListener("killMe",
killLoadedClip);
my_loader.unloadAndStop();
removeChild(my_loader);
Then I have a button in my loaded swf that closes the loader
This is spread over 2 frames
Frame1
function closeIt(e:MouseEvent):void {
parent.dispatchEvent(newEvent("killMe"));
Frame 2
back_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, closeIt);
Frame 2 also holds all the code for the carousel
Thanks for your time and help in advance people ; )

Hello please, somebody knows how to unload a movie clip recently loaded and back to the main SWF?

Good night guys!
I come humbly ask for your help ...
I have an extensive animation .. A kind of map of Brazil with 33 stores in 4 states distributed .. Clicking on the desired state, it expands and appear their stores. Only the animation and the first store were enough to generate a SWF comporting 3 megabytes .. So I decided to use an external SWF to every single stores, otherwise would be too heavy ..
My goal is: Every shop clicked, loads a new external SWF which occupies the entire screen .. So if I wanted to return to the main SWF with button, how should I proceed?
I have found an article that shows communication between two SWF, however, some steps did not work and I want it to button.
Please, if you know, needs to be in ActionScript 3.
Can somebody help me?
Thanks, I hope to answer

Olá Felipe, tudo bem com você?
In order to unload content loaded into a Loader object you can use either the unload() method or the unloadAndStop() method. The difference between them is that unloadAndStop() will unload the loaded SWF and try to stop executing any code that it was running including animations, sound and event listeners.
If you wanto to call the unload() or unloadAndStop() methods from the loaded SWF you can use its loaderInfo.loader property to reference the Loader object that loaded it.
It could be someting like this:
this.closeButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, this.handleClose);
protected function handleClose(event:MoueEvent):void {
this.loaderInfo.loader.unloadAndStop();
You can pass a Boolean parameter to unloadAndStop() to indicate if Flash's garbage collector should be run ont the unloaded SWF in order to free up memory. Considering the size of your SWFs, this could be a good option. The downside is that there is a performance penalty and in my professional experience, CPU is still a resource that is more scarce than memory, so use with care.
Hope this helps.
Abraço,
Rui

How to load and unload external .swfs in a main .fla then load another external .swf on top

I know that the question sounds confusing. I am new to AS3 but a little dangerous with it.
The project
I'm putting together a website tour with has a main .fla with navigation buttons. The navigation buttons load external .swfs using X and Y properties. Every external .swf houses a scrubber bar, play pause buttons which calls to a movie clip which houses the animation.
The problem:
Everything was working great, until someone mentioned "Hey, what if at the end of each loaded external .swf, a button appears that says "go to next section".
So basically we are trying to give the user another way to get to the next section in the left hand navigation once the animation ends, in addition to being able to click in the left hand navigation for the next section. It's kind of like when a youTube video ends and it displays a button to go to the next movie that's in line, but you can also do it in the thumnail navigation as well.
Ok, let's try it. Well, after many nights, searching the web and trying everything I am waving the white flag. I went through the lynda.com book over and over but I get an error message when I add code related to the parent timeline. I can actually get the next section to load on top of the previously loaded .swf, but it's buggy and I think the previous section is showing through underneath. Plus the scrubber isn't really working right. Since every .swf has a scrubber to control it, shouldn't it just load on top of the previous .swf? Do I need to add coding related to the parent timeline?
I don't know if I should paste my code here, I have a sample .fla too. Help is so greatly appreciated!!!! If this can work, I think it would be very useful for anyone else doing something like this - I would definitely share any knowledge gained!
Thanks.
Jen

If you want to utilize that code as a starting point (hopefully you understand what it does, and that the code actually works), then you need to modify it such that the array at the start has your filenames instead of the three it now shows, and the three buttons it uses are changed to the next and previous buttons you intend to use. Here are the functions you need to make adjustments to...
function onCompletePreloading():void {
        _loadedSWFs = 0;
        contentContainer.addChild(_swfClipsArr[_loadedSWFs]);
        next_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setContent);
        prev_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setContent);
function setContent(event:MouseEvent):void {
        var _swfToAdd:MovieClip;
        if(event.currentTarget.name == "next_btn") {
            _loadedSWFs += 1;
            if(_loadedSWFs == _swfClipsArr.length){
                   _loadedSWFs = 0;
        } else if(event.currentTarget.name == "prev_btn"){
            _loadedSWFs -= 1;
            if(_loadedSWFs == -1){
                   _loadedSWFs = _swfClipsArr.length-1;
        _swfToAdd = _swfClipsArr[_loadedSWFs];
        contentContainer.removeChildAt(contentContainer.numChildren-1);
        contentContainer.addChild(_swfToAdd);
        trace(_swfToAdd.customID);

FAQ: How do I load an external SWF file into a parent SWF file?

A ton of Flash users visit Adobe’s we site every month wondering about how to load an external SWF file from within another SWF.
Adobe's own TechNote on the subject attempts to answer the basic question, along with some common follow-up questions, including:
How do I load more than one SWF?
How do I load a SWF into a specific location in the display list?
How do I resize the loaded SWF?
How do I set its X and Y location?
Here are some additional resources that elaborate on loading content and on working with the display list:
Sample files for the above TechNote. A set of 3 FLA and 3 corresponding SWF files, including a parent SWF and 2 SWFs that the parent loads.
Help > AS3 Developer’s Guide > Loading an external SWF file
Help > AS3 Developer’s Guide > Loading display content dynamically
Loading multiple external SWFs within a main SWF – CreativeCow.net forums
Video tutorial: ActionScript 101 – Episode 6: Adding named objects to the Stage. By Doug Winnie. An example of how to add the loaded external asset to the Stage and modify its location or other properties.
Video tutorial: Preloading in ActionScript 3.0. By Lee Brimelow. A slightly more complicated example, showing how to make the parent SWF display information about the progress of loading the external SWF.
Tutorial: Loading and unloading SWFs - FlashAndMath.com
This article provides several examples of how to communicate between a parent SWF file and the loaded SWF:
SWF to SWF Communcation via ActionScript 3.0 (by kglad)

quote:
Originally posted by:
NedWebs
You now seem to want to get rid of the swf once it has loaded
and played itself thru. To do that you would need to have something
in the swf itself that triggers its removal in its last frame. The
following might work...
MovieClip(this.parent).removeChild(this);
Unfortunately I couldn't get this to work. I placed it on the
last frame of the SWF to be called - is that right?
I am not sure I am doing it correctly...

Remove / unload external swf file(s) from the main flash file and load a new swf file and garbage collection from memory.

I can't seem to remove / unload the external swf files e.g when the carousel.swf (portfolio) is displayed and I press the about button the about content is overlapping the carousel (portfolio) . How can I remove / unload an external swf file from the main flash file and load a new swf file, while at the same time removing garbage collection from memory?
This is the error message(s) I am receiving: "TypeError: Error #2007: Parameter child must be non-null.
at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer/removeChild()
at index_fla::MainTimeline/Down3()"
import nl.demonsters.debugger.MonsterDebugger;
var d:MonsterDebugger=new MonsterDebugger(this);
stage.scaleMode=StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
stage.align=StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
stage.addEventListener(Event.RESIZE, resizeHandler);
// loader is the loader for portfolio page swf
var loader:Loader;
var loader2:Loader;
var loader3:Loader;
var loader1:Loader;
// resize content
function resizeHandler(event:Event):void {
    // resizes portfolio page to center
loader.x = (stage.stageWidth - loader.width) * .5;
loader.y = (stage.stageHeight - loader.height) * .5;
// resizes about page to center
loader3.x = (stage.stageWidth - 482) * .5 - 260;
loader3.y = (stage.stageHeight - 492) * .5 - 140;
/*loader2.x = (stage.stageWidth - 658.65) * .5;
loader2.y = (stage.stageHeight - 551.45) * .5;*/
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame,false, 0, true);
function onEnterFrame(ev:Event):void {
var requesterb:URLRequest=new URLRequest("carouselLoader.swf");
loader = null;
loader = new Loader();
loader.name ="carousel1"
//adds gallery.swf to stage at begining of movie
loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
trace(event);
try {
loader.load(requesterb);
} catch (error:SecurityError) {
trace(error);
addChild(loader);
loader.x = (stage.stageWidth - 739) * .5;
loader.y = (stage.stageHeight - 500) * .5;
// stop gallery.swf from duplication over and over again on enter frame
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame);
//PORTFOLIO BUTTON
//adds eventlistner so that gallery.swf can be loaded
MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
function Down(event:MouseEvent):void {
// re adds listener for contact.swf and about.swf
MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
//unloads gallery.swf from enter frame if users presses portfolio button in nav
var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("carouselLoader.swf");
    loader = null;
loader = new Loader();
loader.name ="carousel"
loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
trace(event);
try {
loader.load(requester);
} catch (error:SecurityError) {
trace(error);
addChild(loader);
loader.x = (stage.stageWidth - 739) * .5;
loader.y = (stage.stageHeight - 500) * .5;
removeChild( getChildByName("about") );
removeChild( getChildByName("carousel1") );
// remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of gallery.swf
MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down);
//INFORMATION BUTTON
//adds eventlistner so that info.swf can be loaded
MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
function Down1(event:MouseEvent):void {
//this re-adds the EventListener for portfolio so that end user can view again if they wish.
MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("contactLoader.swf");
loader2 = null;
loader2 = new Loader();
loader2.name ="contact"
loader2.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
trace(event);
try {
loader2.load(requester);
} catch (error:SecurityError) {
trace(error);
addChild(loader2);
loader2.x = (stage.stageWidth - 658.65) * .5;
loader2.y = (stage.stageHeight - 551.45) * .5;
// remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of info.swf
MovieClip(root).nav.info.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1);
//ABOUT BUTTON
//adds eventlistner so that info.swf can be loaded
MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
function Down3(event:MouseEvent):void {
//this re-adds the EventListener for portfolio so that end user can view again if they wish.
MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("aboutLoader.swf");
loader3 = null;
loader3 = new Loader();
loader3.name ="about"
loader3.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
trace(event);
try {
loader3.load(requester);
} catch (error:SecurityError) {
trace(error);
addChild(loader3);
loader3.x = (stage.stageWidth - 482) * .5 - 260;
loader3.y = (stage.stageHeight - 492) * .5 - 140;
removeChild( getChildByName("carousel") );
removeChild( getChildByName("carousel1") );
// remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of info.swf
MovieClip(root).nav.about.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3);
stop();

Andrei1,
Thank you for the helpful advice. I made the changes as you suggested but I am receiving a #1009 error message even though my site is working the way I wan it to work. I would still like to fix the errors so that my site runs and error free. This is the error I am receiving:
"TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference."
I'm sure this is not the best method to unload loaders and I am guessing this is why I am receiving the following error message.
     loader.unload();
     loader2.unload();
     loader3.unload();
I also tried creating a function to unload the loader but received the same error message and my portfolio swf was not showing at all.
     function killLoad():void{
     try { loader.close(); loader2.close; loader3.close;} catch (e:*) {}
     loader.unload(); loader2.unload(); loader3.unload();
I have a question regarding suggestion you made to set Mouse Event to "null". What does this do setting the MouseEvent do exactly? Also, since I've set the MouseEvent to null do I also have to set the loader to null? e.g.
---- Here is my updated code ----
// variable for external loaders
var loader:Loader;
var loader1:Loader;
var loader2:Loader;
var loader3:Loader;
// makes borders resize with browser size
function resizeHandler(event:Event):void {
// resizes portfolio page to center
     loader.x = (stage.stageWidth - loader.width) * .5;
     loader.y = (stage.stageHeight - loader.height) * .5;
// resizes about page to center
     loader3.x = (stage.stageWidth - 482) * .5 - 260;
     loader3.y = (stage.stageHeight - 492) * .5 - 140;
//adds gallery.swf to stage at begining of moviie
     Down();
//PORTFOLIO BUTTON
//adds eventlistner so that gallery.swf can be loaded
     MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
function Down(event:MouseEvent = null):void {
// re adds listener for contact.swf and about.swf
     MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
     MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
//unloads gallery.swf from enter frame if users presses portfolio button in nav
     var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("carouselLoader.swf");
     loader = new Loader();
     loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
     function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
     trace(event);
     try {
     loader.load(requester);
     } catch (error:SecurityError) {
     trace(error);
     this.addChild(loader);
     loader.x = (stage.stageWidth - 739) * .5;
     loader.y = (stage.stageHeight - 500) * .5;
// sure this is not the best way to do this - but it is unload external swfs
     loader.unload();
     loader2.unload();
     loader3.unload();
// remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of gallery.swf
     MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down);
//INFORMATION BUTTON
     //adds eventlistner so that info.swf can be loaded
     MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
     function Down1(event:MouseEvent = null):void {
     //this re-adds the EventListener for portfolio so that end user can view again if they wish.
     MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
     MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
     var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("contactLoader.swf");
     loader2 = null;
     loader2 = new Loader();
     loader2.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
     function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
     trace(event);
     try {
     loader2.load(requester);
}      catch (error:SecurityError) {
     trace(error);
     addChild(loader2);
     loader2.x = (stage.stageWidth - 658.65) * .5;
     loader2.y = (stage.stageHeight - 551.45) * .5;
loader.unload();
loader2.unload();
loader3.unload();
     // remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of info.swf
     MovieClip(root).nav.info.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1);
//ABOUT BUTTON
     //adds eventlistner so that info.swf can be loaded
     MovieClip(root).nav.about.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3, false, 0, true);
     function Down3(event:MouseEvent = null):void {
     //this re-adds the EventListener for portfolio so that end user can view again if they wish.
     MovieClip(root).nav.portfolio.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down, false, 0, true);
     MovieClip(root).nav.info.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down1, false, 0, true);
     var requester:URLRequest=new URLRequest("aboutLoader.swf");
     loader3 = null;
     loader3 = new Loader();
     loader3.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioError);
     function ioError(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
     trace(event);
     try {
     loader3.load(requester);
}      catch (error:SecurityError) {
     trace(error);
     addChild(loader3);
     loader3.x = (stage.stageWidth - 482) * .5 - 260;
     loader3.y = (stage.stageHeight - 492) * .5 - 140;
     loader.unload();
     loader2.unload();
     loader3.unload();
     // remove eventlistner and prevents duplication of info.swf
     MovieClip(root).nav.about.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, Down3);
     stop();

[Unload SWF] - Automatically unloading a swf while loading - GC issue?

Hi, I am trying to load a few style SWFs at runtime using the StyleManager.loadStyleDeclarations. There are more than 4 style SWFs and I load them through a for loop and add the IEventDispatcher to an array as a reference.. The files seem to load properly. But some times, some of the style SWFs are automatically unloaded . I see the [unload SWF] in the log... I am not sure how to avoid the files being GCed at the time of loading... Also it seems like they are being loaded/ decompressed twice. Please see the log below...
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/Common.swf - 45,421 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/StyleSkin.swf - 253,886 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/StyleSkin_Fonts.swf - 440,292 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/ StyleSkin _Assets.swf - 189,281 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/ StyleSkin _Assets.swf - 1,153,335 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/ Common.swf - 1,153,335 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/ StyleSkin _Fonts.swf - 1,153,335 bytes after decompression
[SWF] /Flex/com/../styles/ StyleSkin.swf - 1,153,335 bytes after decompression
[Unload SWF] /Flex/com/marketlinx/mls/client/ui/styles/StyleSkin_Assets.swf
[Unload SWF] /Flex/com/marketlinx/mls/client/ui/styles/Common.swf
[Unload SWF] /Flex/com/marketlinx/mls/client/ui/styles/StyleSkin _Fonts.swf
How can avoid the files being GCed. is it because I re use a single Loader (loadStyleDeclaration) to load multiple files?

Both the copies go away.. and I don't load them twice , only once through a loop and when i debug and see the for loop below is executed only once... Am I not doing it the right way? . I am failry new to Flex and I couldn't find why Flex loads it twice
This is how try to load them in the application...
for (var index:uint = 0; index < styleSheetFiles.length; index++){
styleSheetsLoaded[index] =
false;
// Load the stylesheet files
var styleSheetFileFullPath:String = STYLESHEET_FILE_BASE_PATH + (styleSheetFiles[index] as String);eventDispatchers[index] = StyleManager.loadStyleDeclarations(styleSheetFileFullPath)
as IEventDispatcher;
trace("loading: index" + index + " file:" + styleSheetFileFullPath);
// It doesn't matter whether the result is complete or error
(eventDispatchers[index]
as IEventDispatcher).addEventListener(StyleEvent.COMPLETE, styleSheetFileLoaded);(eventDispatchers[index]
as IEventDispatcher).addEventListener(StyleEvent.ERROR, styleSheetFileFailed);}
In the complete event I try to trace that the particular file has been loaded to see whether it has been loaded... But i don''t see it there...

Load/ Unload external .swf

----------------------------------------
vita | web | design | illustration
"main" here
I try to have external .swf on this "main" part of my flash
design automatically using load actionscript.
I have 3 different sets of actionscripts for load/unload.
But, the problem is when I click vita or other menu on the
top after loading "main" external .swf, they are overlapped.
How can I unload the external .swf from the automatically
loaded .swf?
(As I know, there are mostly buttons to click on loading
external .swf. But for my design, I want it loads automatically.)
Thanks in advance for suggestions. Please let me know if my
description/question is not clear to answer.

Are you using AS2 or AS3. The approach is completely
different for both.

How do I script SWF files instead of JPG files in XML loader?

I have a SWF loader (greensock.com platform) and a thumbnail image scroll underneath it made of small image buttons. Each image button has a link which loads a new SWF file into the SWF loader above. Here is the code for each button which loads the bigger SWF file into the loader above:
Button3.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, Button3_PlayPopUp);
function Button3_PlayPopUp(event:MouseEvent): void {
    //setting the sourceVar
    sourceVar="3.swf";
    //making the SWFLoader load
    //as setting the soureVar after the SWFLoader is created won't do anything unlesss
    //I also re-create the SWFLoader with the new sourceVar when the button is clicked
    loader_howToLoader2.url = sourceVar;
    loader_howToLoader2.load(true);
Then I decided to load all button via XML loader. I followed the tutorial on XML loaders which deals with loading jpg images and assigning URL links to them in the following manner first in XML file:
<image src="appThmb_imgs/appThmb_imgs117x175/A-illuminatorUpLit_117x175.jpg" title="UpDownGlowingVase" url="http://www.888acolyte.com"/>
and then in AS3 like this:
var xmlLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
thisOne.link = imageList[item].attribute("url");
function clickScrollerItem(e:MouseEvent):void {
//trace("clicked item " + e.currentTarget.itemNum + " - visit url: " + e.currentTarget.link);
var urlRequest:URLRequest = new URLRequest(e.currentTarget.link);
try {
navigateToURL(urlRequest);
catch (e:Error) {
// handle error here
trace(e);
My question is: How do I apply the code to each individual small thumbnail button to load a bigger image into the SWF loader above? Do I have to add something to XML file or this way it will never work with jpg images? Can url in XML file set the source var (//setting the sourceVar), since they are all individual and then somehow apply the making SWL loader to load part (//making the SWFLoader load) as a standard somewhere in the AS3 code?

O.K. Here is my COMPLETE function.
xmlLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, LoadXML);
function LoadXML(e:Event):void {
    trace("xml load complete");
    xmlData = new XML(e.target.data);
    //trace(xmlData.image); //we'll see each image xml element listed in the output panel with this xmlList
    buildScroller(xmlData.image); //rather than trace the xmlList, we send it to our buildScroller function
//build scroller from xml
function buildScroller(imageList:XMLList):void{
    trace("build Scroller");
    //var scroller_x:int=0;
    for (var item:uint = 0; item<imageList.length();item++) {
        var thisOne:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
        //thisOne.img_width=imageList[item].attribute("width");
        //outline
        var blackBox:Sprite = new Sprite();
        blackBox.graphics.beginFill(0xFFFFFF);
        blackBox.graphics.drawRect(-1, -1, 86, 128);//-1,-1 places rectangle 1px left and up.86, 128 draws rectangle 1px wider on all sides of placed image dimenstions of 84x126
        thisOne.addChild(blackBox);
        //scroller_x += thisOne.img_width + 20;
        //var currentX = currentImageWidth+spaceBetween;//modified line to adjust variable thumb widths
        thisOne.x = (84 + padding) *item;//84 is the width of the loaded images and 15 (which was before paddign var) is the padding
        //thisOne.x = scroller_x;//modified line to adjust variable thumb widths
        thisOne.itemNum = item;
        thisOne.title = imageList[item].attribute("title");
        thisOne.link = imageList[item].attribute("url");
        thisOne.src = imageList[item].attribute("src");
        thisOne.alpha = 0;//makes all thumb images at alpha=0 before they are fully loaded
        //trace(thisOne.itemNum, thisOne.title, thisOne.link, thisOne.src);
        //Loading and Adding the Images
        //image container
        var thisThumb:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
        //add image
        var ldr:Loader = new Loader();
        //var url:String = imageList[item].attribute("src");
        var urlReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest(thisOne.src);
        trace("loading thumbnail "+item+" into Scroller: " + thisOne.src);//url
        ldr.load(urlReq);
        //assign event listeners for Loader
        ldr.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,completeHandler);//tells us when the loading is complete
        ldr.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, errorHandler);//tells us if there are any typo errors when the loading is complete
        thisThumb.addChild(ldr);
        thisOne.addChild(thisThumb);
        //create listeners for this thumb
        thisOne.buttonMode = true;//makes boxes act as buttons
        thisOne.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickScrollerItem);//makes boxes act as buttons
        thisOne.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, overScrollerItem);//traces the title when the mouse is over the bounding box in the Output Panel
        thisOne.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, outScrollerItem);//traces the title when the mouse is out the bounding box in the Output Panel
        //add item
        scroller.addChild(thisOne);
But I am not sure if I expressed myself clearly. All what you have indicated happens. Images are being loaded and url strings are working. I can not figure out how to tweek the code so instead of url specified in xml file I can load swf image into the SWF loader on the same screen?

How to unload/load swf

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for