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.

Similar Messages

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();

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 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?

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();

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

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?

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);

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).

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 to call a function in a class from the main timeline?

Hey Guys
I have a project in Flash with four external AS files, which are linked to items in the library using AS linkage.
What I want to do is call a function in one of these files from the main timeline, how would I go about doing this? I'm not currently using a document class, most of the code is in Frame 1 of the main timeline.
Thanks

// change type to the class name from the instance
ClassNameHere(this.getChildByName('instance_name')).SomeFunction();

Passing a variable from a movie clip to the main timeline

Hi,
I'm having trouble passing a variable from a movie clip in my
flash file to the main timeline.
I have a movieclip with the instance name IntroNav which
contains several buttons. Clicking a button sets the variable
"page" to a specific name, i.e. page = "home"
However, outside of the movie clip, on the main timeline I am
unable to call this variable, and "page" seems to have no value.
Can anyone tell me why this is and how to solve it?
Thanks

Umm, yes ... declare your variables correctly.
var page:String = new String(); //proper complete
var page:String; //strict typing
var page:String = "home"; //stirct typing with value
declaration
Do not declare the variable in your buttons, you would have
to do so in every button and be constantly resetting the value.
Declare it on the main timeline at the lowest level. You do not
need to use it as a _global, you just need to resolve your path
issues. You can 'set' the variable value from a button, without any
problem, but you have to call to the variable correctly.
You do not 'name' a variable as "_root.page" , the '_root'
refers to the lowest level of the SWF or the main timeline, as does
a call to ' _level0' (that's a zero). If the variable is declared
on the main timeline, and you're calling from the MC/button or
anywhere you can refer to the variable by calling to it by
the proper path of '_root.page'
To set the variable from any of your button/MC instances
call:
_root.page = "value"; OR _level0.page = "value";
But you must have the varibale declared on the main timeline,
and only once and the playhead should be stopped or it will reset
the value to the default upon looping.

Manage the mc timeline from the main

Hi guys,
I need to use gotoAndPlay with a timeline situated within a MC. So, how can I identify this timeline from the main one?
P.S. could anyone advise me a good As 3.0 manual?

Assign an instance name to the mc via the properties panel. Let's say you name it "mc"... then to command that timeline from the main timeline you would use: mc.gotoAndPlay(?);

Control a mc timeline from the main timeline

Hi there,
On my main timeline, I load a mc from the library with:
text_content.attachMovie("text_content", "text_content", 10);
There is a marker inside this mc called "news". I need a script in the main timeline that will gotoandStop "news" within the "text_content" mc.
I have tried, amongst others unsuccesfully:
text_content.gotoAndStop("news", 10);
_level10.gotoAndStop("news");
Can anyone tell me how to fix this?
Many thanks

Hi, thanks for your help. To describe the scenario a bit better...
I have an empty mc on the stage called "text_content_mc".
On the first frame of the main timeline, I load a library mc 'text_content' (identifier name: text_content) into "text_content_mc" using:
text_content_mc.attachMovie("text_content", "text_content", 10);
From the main timeline, I have attempted to navigate to marker "news" within the library mc, now inside "text_content_mc" using:
text_content_mc.text_content.gotoAndStop("news");
It is not working. What I am doing wrong?
Hope this makes sense. Thanks.

Referencing the main timeline from elsewhere

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for