Load a MC on the main timeline from a MC. AS3

I have a movie clip (mc_menu) on that is on the main timeline.
This movie clip has buttons that I want to use to display other movie clips on the main (parent) timeline.

Start here:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ActionScript/3.0_ProgrammingAS3/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d118a9 b90204-7e4e.html

Similar Messages

Controlling a Movie Clip on the Main Timeline from a loaded SWF?

Is it possible to control a MovieClip on the main timelne from another loaded clip?
I see posts that control loaded clips, but most are all from the loader in the main timeline. I have a moviclip on the main timeline that I want to make visible or invisible depending on what keyframe is playing in another loaded swf.
If I try to call the movieClip from the loaded SWF I get "error #1119. Access of possibly undefined property...." because it doesn't exist in the loaded SWF, just the main timeline.
The old AS2 way just used "_root". Since "_root" doesn't exist any more, how do you control items on the main TimeLine from a loaded SWF?

I am not clear what you mean because you are saying you are trying to target a movieclip that does not exist where you are trying to target it.
Try using a trace to see what you are targeting when you you target the MovieClip(parent.parent)....
trace(MovieClip(parent.parent));
The other approach I mentioned earlier is the more OOP-correct approach if you would rather try that way. Here's a rough outline of it...
AS3 - Dispatch Event
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/470135?tstart=120
Example:
Add something to trigger the event in the child (your loaded swf):
dispatchEvent(new Event("eventTriggered")); (
if dispatchEvent problem, see: http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1899603#post1899603)
In your loading/parent swf, listen for the complete event on the Loader.contentLoaderInfo. In the complete event handler, add a listener for the event on the loaded swf.
// event handler triggered when external swf is loaded
function loaderCompleteHandler(event:Event) {
    MovieClip(event.currentTarget.content).addEventListener("eventTriggered", eventHandler);
function eventHandler(event:Event):void {
    trace("event dispatched in loaded swf");
   // this is where your main file can set the visible property of your movieclip

How do I set a variable on the main timeline from within a symbol?

Just getting started with Animate and coming to it from Flash, as may be apparent from my question. How do you set a variable to the main timeline from within a symbol?
I have 24 pairs of clickable elements, each in their own symbols, and all 24 of those symbols sit inside another symbol. I want all 24 to be able to set the same global variable when clicked. I can't find that this question is addressed anywhere, which makes me think I may be stuck in a Flash mindset and approaching the task in the wrong way. (There are however MANY discussions of how to address objects at different levels in the hierarchy. That's well covered.)
Relatedly, how do you access a function on the main timeline from within a symbol?
Adobe should consider putting together a support page (or pages) just for folks migrating form Flash. In the materials I've encountered so far there seems to be a studied effort to refrain from mentioning Flash in any way. I imagine there are a lot of people out there like me who have a deep background in Flash coding, but are just getting started with Animate. We don't need help with most of the basic concepts, but we may still have some pretty basic questions about how to accomplish some things in Animate because our Flash knowledge is getting in the way.

Hi Bill,
There are plenty of threads on here about scope, but here's one way to create a global variable:
// code on Stage.compositionReady
sym.myGlobalVar = 1;
Then, anywhere in your project, you can check/set that var like so:
sym.getComposition().getStage().myGlobalVar = 2;
And here's one way to create a global function:
// code on Stage.compositionReady
sym.myGlobalFunction = function(){
console.log('myGlobalFunction');
Then, anywhere in your project, you can call that function like so:
sym.getComposition().getStage().myGlobalFunction();

How do I recerence Movie Clips on the Main Timeline from inside a class?

Hey everyone, this might be a stupid question but I thought
I'd ask cause it's making me nuts. I'm all of 2 days into AS3
(coming from not using Flash at all in YEARS) so feel free to
consider me ignorant. I do have plenty of application development
experience in other areas though.
I can't seem to create a class that can reference an instance
of a movie clip on my main timeline. I'd post code of what I've
tried but I've gone through so many desperate edits & wild
guesses that it was just garbled junk before I deleted it all.
Basically here's how I figured Flash could work, though maybe
it doesn't work this way at all.
I'm assuming that with AS 3 being so big on being a true
object oriented environment, I wouldn't need to mix my code and
interface together. Preferably I'd be using the Flash authoring
tools just to design my interface. Create a button... place it
somewhere... give it an instance name. Roughly the equivilant of
Apple's InterfaceBuilder for those of you that might be familiar
with Cocoa development. I can see maybe having to put a few lines
of ActionScript onto frame 1 (though really I'm hoping Flash would
have a better method of kicking off the application at this point
that using code tied to frames) to load my classes & such, but
after that I'd like all of my code to be held in external class
files.
So maybe I've got:
Interface.fla - My interface
Button_1
Button_2
TextField_1
Main.as - My main controller class using to handle all of my
applications behavior
SomeClass.as - Some helper Class
SomeOtherClass.as - Some helper Class
Main.as would have instructions in its initialization method
to go ahead & attach events to buttons & initialize
anything else that needs to happen when the application starts.
From there on it would all be objects communicating back &
forth. Button_1 would get clicked with would fire
Main.someMethod(). Main.someMethod() would then do it's thing and
set the value of TextField_1. All very clean & code is very
separated from interface.
Unfortunately I can't for the life of me figure out how AS3
classes reference each other like that. There doesn't seem to be
any kind of a global 'root' or '_root' I can use to locate any
movie clips on the stage. I've searched the help & the web for
any kind of simple tutorial but to no avail. My job has tasked me
with building a flash app for a project but I'd really rather not
have a tone of ActionScript just shoved into frame 1. That just
seems... ugh! (::shudder::)
Can someone maybe point me in the right direction here? I'm
really willing to do my homework but I can't seem to locate the
info I need to get started. Also, is there an ActionScript IRC
channel or something maybe?
Thanks,
Cliff

I worked with the problem last night and the solution I
started coming to involved creating my own custom document class
based off which extends MovieClip. My thought is that way I have
access to the initialization routine of the timeline itself and
that all of the elements on the main timeline should be
"properties" of my custom class.
Is this correct? Is there a down side to doing this & if
so what is it & why?
Also, just for my reference, the last time I did anything
with ActionScript I think I was using '_root' to target the main
timeline. WHat are the global variable names in AS 3? Is it just
'root' & 'stage' or 'Root' & 'Stage' or what?

Referencing the main timeline from elsewhere

From inside a movie clip (button) which is inside a display
object (buttonSet), I want to gotoAndPlay a specific frame on the
main timeline. I've tried stage.gotoAndPlay(thisFrame). I got
closer with gotoAndPlay(stage.thisFrame). I still have something
wrong.
I have about 15 frames on the main timeline. Each frame
contains a myriad of objects all doing different things. Most
importantly they transition from frame to frame based on the
current frame (last button clicked) and the next frame (the newly
clicked button).
Example: the last button that was clicked was button #4, the
button I have just clicked is button #2. Based on this knowledge, I
want the main timeline to gotoAndPlay frame #6.
Thanks for the aid. :)

the flash compiler (in strict mode) often has trouble
"remembering" the class-type of objects/variables. "typing" those
objects explicitly helps the compiler to overcome erroneous error
messages.

Toolkit for CreateJS: How to control the main timeline from outside the canvas.

Hey Everyone,
I'm currently trying to do something simple, but my animation breaks whenever I attempt to change my code. I have created a basic animation in Flash where an object moves from the left side of the canvas, to the right, and then loops from the last frame to the first frame. Nothing else. The animation is simply put on the main timeline. I exported the animation with Toolkit for CreateJS through Flash's extension and the animation runs as it should. I am trying to start and stop (restarting from the first frame) the animation with mouse over and mouse off events. I want the events to fire when moused over/off a div OUTSIDE the animation's canvas tag. Is this possible with CreateJS? I'm trying to figure out how to control the main timeline without being inside the canvas tag.
Example HTML:
http://www.thephotoncore.com/testing/example_test.html
Example Code:
<section id="container">
<canvas id="canvas" width="550" height="400" style="background-color:#cccccc"></canvas>
<section id="animation_control">
    <p>Roll over to start and stop animation.</p>
</section>
</section>
Thanks again for the help!
-DJ

Hi DjPhantasy5,
All movieclips on the stage are children of the stage,
So on the "mouseover" all movieclips on the stage could be stopped with stop and on the "mouseout" all children could be restarted with gotoAndPlay like this:
function Stop()
          if (stage && stage.children)
                    var i, l = stage.children.length;
                    for (i = 0; i < l; i++)
                              var child = stage.children[i];
                              if ("stop" in child)
                                        child.stop();
function Restart()
          if (stage && stage.children)
                    var i, l = stage.children.length;
                    for (i = 0; i < l; i++)
                              var child = stage.children[i];
                              if ("gotoAndPlay" in child)
                                        child.gotoAndPlay(0);
See http://www.liauw.nl/forums/adobe/djfantasy5/index.html
But it is also possible to expose "ball1", for example, by adding it to the document.
This can be done by adding code to "ball1" like so:
/* js
document.ball1 = this;
Then the stopping of the animation would look like:
function Stop()
     if ("ball1" in document)
          document.ball1.stop();
etc.
Have fun!
Ronald

How to control the main timeline from within a symbol?

I have a small world map as a symbol called "verden" and I want the user to click Europe, Asia, or Africa and jump to named labels in the main timeline.
http://www.dagbladet.no/grafikk/neshorn/neshorn.html
On the main timeline a have the label "intro" with a Stop action and the label "europa". At label "europa" I have a symbol also called "europa" which has a display of None at label "intro" and On at the label "europa".
The animation never goes to label "europa"
I have this code on europa in the symbol "verden" :
// insert code for mouse click here
sym.getComposition().getStage().getSymbol("europa").play("europa");
The files are on Dropbox here
Update, now it works:
sym.getComposition().getStage().play("europa");

Hi Bill,
There are plenty of threads on here about scope, but here's one way to create a global variable:
// code on Stage.compositionReady
sym.myGlobalVar = 1;
Then, anywhere in your project, you can check/set that var like so:
sym.getComposition().getStage().myGlobalVar = 2;
And here's one way to create a global function:
// code on Stage.compositionReady
sym.myGlobalFunction = function(){
console.log('myGlobalFunction');
Then, anywhere in your project, you can call that function like so:
sym.getComposition().getStage().myGlobalFunction();

Moving the play head in the main timeline from a button in a movie clip

I have a movie clip that loads and when it is done playing it has a close button that unloads the movie clip... I want to add code to this button that moves the play head to frame 20 of my main timline using actionScript 3.0

Tried that but dose not work think its because I am loading the movie this way...
Play button "playFinal"
function lastQuestion(event:MouseEvent):void{
     var Info:final1 = new(final1);
     this.stage.addChild(Info);
     Info.x=511
     Info.y=340; }
So I tried using the Name "Info"
//example......    MovieClip(Info.root).gotoAndStop(20);
And I tried the name of the clip in the library "final1"
//example......    MovieClip(final1.root).gotoAndStop(20);
Is it because im loading it with actions script instead of having it on the timeline?

Controlling main timeline from loaded movie

I have loaded an external movie onto the main movie in a
movie clip called "mainholder" - In the main timeline on the main
movie there is a "stop" command on frame 1. From the loaded movie,
I want to control the main timeline and tell it to go to frame 2.
Can someone tell me the actionscripting to do this, I have tried
several commands and getting frustrated. ;-)
Thanks

movies are loaded into levels. The main movie is always
considered level0 a.k.a _root in the AS. When you load a movie into
another, the main movie is also considered the parent of that
loaded movie a.k.a. this._parent in AS where this refers to the
loaded movie. If you want something in the loaded movie to control
the main timeline you could call it like this...
_root.gotoAndStop(2); or _root.gotoAndPlay(2); depending on
what you want.
but because of the parent/child relationship, it can also be
done like this....
this._parent.gotoAndStop(2); or this._parent.gotoAndPlay(2)
Although the first method is less to remember, the second
method proves the most friendly and re-usable. Let me explain...
Say that you did something like this....
[MAIN MOVIE]
[LOADED MOVIE]
{Loaded Movie with buttons to control LOADED MOVIE}
Your main movie loads a movie and when this loaded movie
reaches it's 10th frame, it loads another movie where the buttons
reside for controlling that clip. If you used _root in the button
movie, it would cause the main movie (_root) to be called and not
the LOADED MOVIE as you had intended during its design prior to
trying to make this new main movie (and it would work as intended
if you opened the LOADED MOVIE's fla file and exported). If you use
this._parent in the button movie, it will always make it's calls to
the LOADED MOVIE's timeline and not the main clips timeline.
Sorry if this confuses you but it's important to
understand.

Control main timeline from loaded swf.

Hi,
I'm using a textfield for debug information.
I'm loading an swf on the main timeline and I'm showing the status in the debug textfield.
function swfLoaderCompleteHandler(event:Event)
Debug.text += "Swf loaded.";
That works.
But,
I'm loading a png file in the loaded swf. , I'm trying to show the status of the png file as I showed the status of the swf.
function pngLoaderCompleteHandler(event:Event)
MovieClip(parent).Debug.text += "Png loaded.";
I can't control the main swf from inside the loaded swf. Even gotoAndStop or calling a function doesn't work.
Do I need to add something when I load the swf, saying it's a MovieClip or something?
Here's a fla too. http://flashfocus.nl/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9885&d=1282509233

Thank you! you're brilliant!
For people with the same problem:
If you use CS5 and you have a TLF text on the stage, it doesnt work... I think it's a bug. But when I converted my TLF textfield to classic and everything works fine!

Going Back to the main frame, from inside a movie clip time line.

In flash CS5 I want to go back to the main time line, from inside a movie clip button, so when i click the the movie clip it goes to another frame on the main time line..
Can anyone help me?
Thanks
Daniel Derrick

your can use _root to reference the main timeline from anywhere though that can lead to problems if your swf is loaded by another swf. because of that eventuality, it would be better to use a relative path back to the main timeline.
so, from a movieclip's timeline (when the movieclip is on the main timeline), you can use _parent to reference the main timeline.
but even better would be to use no code on that movieclip's timeline and keep all your code on one timeline (the main one).

How to remove a function on the main timeline within a movie clip

How do you remove a function that is coded on a frame in the main timeline from within a movie clip? I tried this, but no dice:
infoGraphicDisparity.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fl_ClickToGoToScene);
function fl_ClickToGoToScene(event:MouseEvent):void
parent.removeEventListener (Event.ENTER_FRAME, parent["enterFrameHandler"]);
MovieClip(this.root).gotoAndPlay("disparity");
this is the event I am trying to remove:
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, enterFrameHandler);
any help would be appreciated as always.
Thanks!

from any frame (that executes after enterFrameHandler is defined) in any display object in the display list
stage.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, MovieClip(root).enterFrameHandler);

Accessing the main timeline

Hello,
I have multiple instances of a movieclip (a1) within the main timeline. These instances move around via tweening within the main timeline. The instances also appear (are added) and disappear (are removed) while the main timeline is playing.
Within the movieclip is this actionscript:
(code)
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, ef);
function ef(evt:Event):void
     trace(MovieClip(parent).currentFrame);
(end code)
As soon as an instance disappears... I get this typeError:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at test13_fla::a1_1/ef()
The question then is - How can I access the main timeline from each instance (even when it is not currently on stage)? Is this possible? Any suggestions on how I can keep all of my code within the movieclip?
Thanks in advance!
-Jake

Throughout the timeline the instances are in a motiontween followed by a blank keyframe.
To remove the event listener when it does dissappear I could do a addEventListener(Event.Removed, removeEventListenerFn);.... but I need a way to keep it.
In my real project, each instance draws itself via drawRect and then put into a sprite and added to the main timeline. Then within the event function (where it traces the maintimelines current frame) I need all of the sprites to be removed when the main timeline gets to a certain frame#. I know... confusing...
I just need to find a way to access the main timeline while the instance is removed from the stage.
If, for example, I did this...
(code)
addEventListener(Event.REMOVED, ef);
var ccc:Number = 1;
function ef(evt:Event):void
     trace("First Removed: " + MovieClip(root).currentFrame);
     addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, eg);
function eg(evt:Event):void
     if(ccc < 10)
          trace("I am now removed");
     ccc++;
(end code)
... I do not get any errors and I would get this in the output window:
First Removed: 59
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed
I am now removed

How do you reference the main timeline of swf1 from swf2 when swf2 is loaded into swf1?

on this link          http://kb2.adobe.com/community/publishing/918/cpsid_91887.html
I found this script, but I can not use it can anyone help me
// create a variable to reference swf1's main timeline
var swf1Main_mc:MovieClip; // this assumes that swf1 is a movieclip.
// create your listener to ensure this loaded swf has been added to the display list and can therefore obtain a
// reference to its main timeline (which is always the main timeline of the loading swf).
this.addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, initF);
function initF(e:Event):void{
    swf1Main_mc = MovieClip(this.root);

You don't make it clear what event finish is for. But let's assume that your MC is being loaded from the clip that you're referring to as root. In the main Document Class of that swf, you'd have
protected var customSwf:CustomSwf;//customSwf is the Class that defines your functionInSwf1protected function someFunction():void {
     var loader:Loader = new loader();
     loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE onLoaderLoaded);
     //rest of your loader loading code here
protected function onLoaderLoaded(e:Event):void {
      //add to display list (you already know how to do, so I'm not writing the code)
     EventDispatcher(e.target).removeEventListener(Event.Complete, onLoaderLoaded);
     //if you had a legitimate need for path (which you don't) in mcExternal, you'd set it like this:
     this.mcExternal.path = LoaderInfo(e.target).content as MovieClip;
      //this is what you actually need to care about to do this correctly
      customSwf = LoaderInfo(e.target).content as CustomSwf;
Now, the Class that you apply to the library symbol you're using for mcExternal should have code similar to this:
protected function fEvent(e:Event):void {
     dispatchEvent(new Event('giveYourEventADescriptiveNameBasedOnWhatYoureReallyDoingHere', true));
back in your main document Class:
//should probably call from the constructor or somewhere early in the process
protected function init():void {
     //use your real event name--your code isn't expressive enough I could guess a good name
     addEventListener('giveYourEventADescriptiveNameBasedOnWhatYoureReallyDoingHere', onEventHappened);
protected function onEventHappened(e:Event):void {
     customSwf.customFunctioninSwf1();
     customSwf.changeVisualState();//let custom swf change alpha and change the frame #
To the untrained I, this looks like about the same amount of code and slightly more trouble, but changing the design like this will make it much more tolerant of the changes that nearly all clients will want after you've built version 1. mcExternal's code doesn't have to change at all if swf1 changes, and your root Class already knows abotu swf1 anyway, since it's doing the loading, so having it work with it a little more doesn't hurt.
Moving the change of visual state into your custom swf means that changes in that swf won't affect your main document Class, though you will probably have to recompile the main document unless you go to using an Interface (a topic for another day).

How can I reference the main timeline on a swf once it was loaded into another?

I have an swf with some custon animation functions using actionscript 3. I'm refering to the main timeline with Movieclip(root) and it works just fine.
However, this swf is going to be loaded inside another (a custom player), and when that happends, everything stops working.
I think it's because the Movieclip(root) is now referencing to the loader swf and not the loaded anymore, but I just can't find any information on how to fix that.

This is basically what I´m doing here:
I'm placing this code on frame 1, and calling the function textAnimate() whenever I need to insert some text.
// This is a variable I created for tracking the timeline
var base:MovieClip = MovieClip(root);
function textAnimate(movieName:String, espera:Number):void {
          //var espera:Number = 1; //Waiting time
          var objeto:MovieClip = base[movieName]; //Variable to select the object
          var posFinal:Number = objeto.x; // Object position
          var posEnter:String = "-160"; // Animation start (relative)
          var posExit:String = "+160"; // Animation end (relative)
          // enter animation
          TweenMax.from(objeto, 1, {x:posEnter, alpha:0, blurFilter:{blurX:40}, ease:Back.easeOut});
          //call exitAnimation() after X seconds
          TweenMax.delayedCall(espera,exitAnimation);
          //exit animation
          function exitAnimation() {
                    TweenMax.to(objeto, 1, {x:posExit, alpha:0, blurFilter:{blurX:40}, ease:Back.easeIn});
The swf works fine, but once it´s loaded into the player, nothing works anymore. Unfortunately, I don't have the code for the player, and can't change anything about it... :/

Load a MC on the main timeline from a MC. AS3

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