Setting the frame of an object based on collisions

Question

I'm almost done with a project I've been working on for a while and need help with the Actionscript.  I first got help here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/4706107#4706107 ; basically what I set up was that an object would change its frame based on what other objects it was colliding with.  I'm working with hundreds of objects that will change based on their position onscreen so it's necessary to set up a script to do this automatically.  I don't know Actionscript at all, but I got a lot of help and we finally came up with this code:
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, checkForHit);
var objects:Array = new Array(obj, obj2);
function checkForHit():void {
     for(var i=0; i<objects.length; i++){
          for(var n=1; n<22; n++){
               if(objects[i].hitTestObject(this["invisibleObj"+String(n)]){
                     objects[i].gotoAndStop(n);
                     break;
The problem I'm running into now is that if an object specified in "new Array" isn't onscreen, none of the rest of the objects respond to the code.  Is there a way to make this code work regardless of whether all objects specified are onscreen or not?  Also, would there be a way to set the new Array objects to something like "obj*" so I didn't have to actually type in every single one of the hundreds of objects I'll be placing onscreen?
Thanks so much for the help!  I'm really stuck without it.

Answer 1

If you place all the objects in a container they will still be able to be hitTested with objects outside of the container.  If the objects are all passing by, then having them in the container might ease your burden since you could nove the container rather than each individual object.
To make the container just create an empty movieclip (or Sprite) symbol and place it on the stage at 0,0.  Open it up for editing and plant your 'object's as needed inside of it -  no names needed unless you have other need for them.  Then when you want to do your hitTesting you loop thru the children of the container.  Here's how the code changes if you do that and assign a name to that container of "objectContainer" (name it as you please)...
function checkForHit():void {
     for(var i=0; i<objectContainer.numChildren; i++){
        var obj:MovieClip = MovieClip(objectContainer.getChildAt(i));
          for(var n=1; n<22; n++){
               if(obj.hitTestObject(this["invisibleObj"+String(n)]){
                     obj.gotoAndStop(n);
                     break;