Symbol not swapping!

Question

This is driving my crazy. I've been swapping symbols in Flash
for months and all of a sudden it STOPS WORKING! Let's review: To
swap a symbol, all you have to do is highlight the symbol on stage,
click "Swap" in the Properties palette and select a new symbol from
the library. Simple, right? Well, when I select a new symbol from
the library, nothing happens! The swap action is registered in the
History palette, but no visible change has been made on the stage.
Better yet, I tried an alternate solution by deleting the old
symbol and dragging the new symbol on the stage from the librabry.
But what appears on stage is still the OLD symbol! What the hell's
going on?

Answer 1

in some cases it can drive you nuts (as it did to you) if you
dont know the what and why of the sync
option.
Sync is a feature that is available when a motion tween is
applied -
click on the keyframe with the motion tween and look at the
bottom of
the properties Panel. You'll see Sync with a checkbox next to
it. If
this box is selected, then the symbol in the first keyframe
will be
forced to all subsequent keyframes there after. it literally
keeps a
single instance in sync with the timeline in the motion
tween.
Deselect the Sync option and you can literally have 2
different symbols motion tweened - yes it is
true - as often as we have been told
only 1 symbol per tween, you can literally have "symbol A" in
frame 1 of
a motion tween and then swap in a new symbol in the 2nd
keyframe of the
motion tween if Sync is NOT selected.
your problem was merely that Sync was selected which prevents
you from
swapping in a new symbol on that layer/tween.
Here's where Flash makes the Sync feature even more
mysterious: If you
apply a motion tween by selected the tween from the drop doan
menu in
the Properties Panel, then Sync is UNCHECKED. If you like to
right-click
between keyframes on the layer and select Apply Motion Tween
from the
popup context menu, then Sync will be CHECKED. This is what I
consider a
huge incosistency with Flash. If you are not aware of it (and
there's nothing in the help docs to
support this inconsistency) then you'll end up pulling your
hair out trying to find out why swapping
stopped working :p
on the flip side, Sync is great for when you want/need to
change the symbol throughout an entire
tween and all keyframes - if sync is selected, just swap out
the symbol in the first keyframe and
all subsequent keyframes will reflect the change.
-c
Glitcher2000 wrote:
> Ah, cheers Georgenes. That solved it. What exactly does
the Snyc option do? I don't seem to notice its effect besides
prohibiting swapping.