Is it possible to add texture (image fill) to a line drawn with graphics.lineTo()?

Question

I am trying to draw a  line from x1, y1 to x2,y2 and i want it to be a line that repeats a pattern from an image. All I can see is that you can only draw lines and change their color or thickness but I would like it to repeat an image. Is that possible or do i have to use a really long and thin rectangle with a bitmap fill?
The problem is I am making a game where the user will be able to actually draw the line so i have to make it be created dynamically.
The game fantastic contraption (www.fantasticcontraption.com) has in the game a feature where you draw lines of any length and position that are filed with a picture.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!!

Answer 1

I just threw together a quick proof of concept for the last technique I described...using some similar to the branch image from that earlier link. The swf is attached. Just click around the stage.
I didn't get too sophisticated here.... so no mouse dragging of the circles  etc although that would be easy to add in.
Once its drawn via the drawing API its basically just the native renderer that get's sluggish with the animation updates if you add too much. All the bitmapdata transformations are being done at the native level for the updates, but it can get quite cumbersome/cpu intensive if you put too much on stage. I suspect it might be faster under these conditions if the drawn content was vector data, because you can loop through thousands of drawing commands very quickly.
BranchBitmap is a library bitmap set to export on frame 1 with BranchBitmap as the class name.
The code for this is :
var segments:Sprite=new Sprite()
addChild(segments)
var connectors:Sprite = new Sprite();
addChild(connectors);
var points:Array=[];
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickhandler)
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,frameupdater);
function clickhandler(e:MouseEvent):void{
    points.push(new Point(e.stageX,e.stageY));
    connectors.graphics.beginFill(0xff0000,.8);
    connectors.graphics.drawCircle(e.stageX,e.stageY,15);
    drawNewSegment()
var lastPoint:Point;
var scrollwidth:uint=2;
var branchBitmapData:BitmapData = new BranchBitmap(247,52);
var scrollpixels:BitmapData = new BitmapData(scrollwidth,branchBitmapData.height)
function frameupdater(e:Event):void{
    branchBitmapData.lock();
    var rect:Rectangle = branchBitmapData.rect;
    rect.x=branchBitmapData.width-scrollwidth;
    rect.width=scrollwidth;
    scrollpixels.copyPixels(branchBitmapData,rect,new Point(0,0))
    branchBitmapData.scroll(1,0)
    branchBitmapData.copyPixels(scrollpixels,scrollpixels.rect,new Point(0,0))
    branchBitmapData.unlock();
function drawNewSegment():void{
    if (points.length>1){
        if (!lastPoint) lastPoint= points[0];
        var latestPoint:Point = points[points.length-1];
        var diff:Point = latestPoint.subtract(lastPoint);
        var angle:Number = Math.atan2(diff.y,diff.x);
        var baseRectangle:Rectangle = new Rectangle (lastPoint.x, lastPoint.y-branchBitmapData.height/2,Point.distance(lastPoint,latestPoint),branchBitmapData.height);
        var drawingPoints:Array=[];
        var drawingMatrix:Matrix = new Matrix();
        var bitmapMatrix:Matrix=new Matrix();
        bitmapMatrix.translate(0,-branchBitmapData.height/2)
        drawingMatrix.translate(-lastPoint.x,-lastPoint.y);
        drawingMatrix.rotate(angle);
        bitmapMatrix.rotate(angle);
        drawingMatrix.translate(lastPoint.x,lastPoint.y);
        bitmapMatrix.translate(lastPoint.x,lastPoint.y);
        //DEBUG: segments.graphics.lineStyle(0,0,1);
        segments.graphics.beginBitmapFill(branchBitmapData,bitmapMatrix,true,true)
        var p:Point = drawingMatrix.transformPoint(baseRectangle.topLeft);
        var sp:Point =p;
        segments.graphics.moveTo(p.x,p.y);
        p=drawingMatrix.transformPoint(new Point(baseRectangle.bottomRight.x,baseRectangle.y));
        segments.graphics.lineTo(p.x,p.y);
        p=drawingMatrix.transformPoint(baseRectangle.bottomRight);
        segments.graphics.lineTo(p.x,p.y);
        p=drawingMatrix.transformPoint(new Point(baseRectangle.x,baseRectangle.bottomRight.y));
        segments.graphics.lineTo(p.x,p.y);
        segments.graphics.lineTo(sp.x,sp.y);
        lastPoint= latestPoint