Understanding ActionScript 3

I have spent hours trying to understand ActionScript 3.0
I've watched tutorials from Lynda.com and did more research reading blogs and conversations. I've downloaded ActionScript Reference document which by the way wasn't easy to find and can't make heads or tails of it.
I hear terms like "functions" and "EventListeners". Everything is so complicated and though I'm sure there is a logic to it I'm still trying to get a feel for it.
I want to be able to reference a dictionary and a grammar document for ActionScript 3. In other words, I would like to have a document designed to define the components and help me to write appropriate statements. Adobe's help files are so frustrating to use and are structured like a maze.
More often than not I hit a wall and can't find a solution.
I was told about Adobe Air and I've since downloaded it. I understand that it can do things that Flash alone can't. All I've wanted to do with Actionscript and Flash was to create a menu / catalogue of my movies that could also play my movie files in Windows Media Player. Adobe Air is supposed to make that possible but I can't refer to anything that makes sense to make it happen. I've played around with ActionScript 3 mind you and have gotten around understanding the language by copying and pasting code snipets. I don't like doing it this way because I feel it's like speaking in a foreign tongue not knowing what I'm talking about. It's also very limiting... I don't even see why Adobe doesn't provide more help to it's customers.
I've noticed that CS5's Flash actually comes with some code samples... seems like a no brainer to me that this should have been developed further.
So my question is... how to understand ActionScript 3.0 - where to get definitions for the components and what are the rules or what is the structure of this language? I'm a graphic artist not a programmer but I can't get my projects off the ground until I master this stuff.
A little help please?

You're on the right track. Understand what a class is, a constructor, functions (private, public protected, static), event listeners, variables (private, public, protected, static) and how a for loop works and you can write a majority of applications.

Similar Messages

Actionscript and Action panel?

From what I understand, ActionScript (.as files) and Action Panel (F9 embedded in Flash) are completely different. If so, which one is better used for game programming and which one is more powerful? Can ActionScript do everything that the Actions Panel can do?
Thank you!

they're different but not completely different.
actionscript code can be placed in the action panel or it can be in stand-alone .as files. there's no difference in the code used in an .as file vs code in the action panel.
and i'm not sure powerful is the right word, but code in stand-alone .as files can do everything code in the action panel can do but not vice-versa: you can create classes in .as files and you can't do that in the action panel.

Actionscript 3 Transition

Hi,
I am intermediate to actionscripts 2.0, and since
actionscripts 3.0 is 360 degrees different,
I would request you for a few excellent book titles or
references to start understanding actionscripts 3.0 better.
Thank you.
uxk

first breez1 – in AS2 you are correct, that is how to
get properties of the Stage object. In AS3, it has changed.
Next for RGracia, here is a neat trick that will make your
code a bit easier to read and follow – at least it made
things easier for me. It is called the ternary operator and it
allows you to do a conditional and then assignments all in one
step. So you can do something like:
bg.width = (sw > sh) ? sw : sh * 1.33
That basically reads as, if sw is larger than sh assign the
value sw to bg.width otherwise assign sh times 1.33 to bg.width.
Basically if the part in parens is true then the value before the
colon is assigned and if the part in parens is not true then the
part after parens. Neat, huh?
Over all the basic set up here seems more or less correct.
I'm wondering if the problem comes from the tweens? I don't see
anyplace where you are stopping and deleting the old tweens.
Remember the RESIZE event happens a bunch of times when you resize
the window. Not just at the end of the movement – at least I
think that is what happens. So you might be assigning crazy
multiple tweens? Just a thought, you might just want to try it
without the tweens first to get it jumping to size, then try and
make the tweening work.
I don't think screen resolution is playing any part in the
the way the player detects the stage size. The stage size is the
size it is. I do remember when I was doing something like this
using AS2 and there was a bug with the way Firefox (or was it
Safari) sent the resizing events when I would change just the
height of the browser window. If I was just adjusting the height of
the window, no event was fired. As soon as a I adjusted the width,
BANG, they would both jump to the correct values. Perhaps that is
what you are experiencing?
Can you provide a link to the page?

Using the same actionscript on many items?

I am a very very big noob when it comes to actionscript. I
have designed a few things adding behaviors to items and screens,
but just dont understand actionscript.
What I am wanting to do is use the same action script on many
items. I have many 'buttons' on a page that I want to all act the
same on rollOver and onPress, etc. Now I could just use a button
for this, but the problem is that I also want the items to be able
to be like a 'disjointed rollover'.
Is there a way to asign the same actionscipt to all the
movieclips so each object doesn't need to have multiple behaviors?
And I'm sorry to say this, you may need to explain a solution to me
in very simple terms.
Here are my files
swf -
btnTest.swf
fla -
btnTest.fla

Thank you for the reply.
I'm sure I am missing something basic, but that does not seem
to work for me here.
For instance, If I turn one of the 'buttons' on the right (in
my example file above) into a symbol with the actionscript attached
to it then I drag it onto the stage; everything works fine. However
if I then add behaviors to get the 'disjointed rollover' onto
another button that works, but the original button has lost it's
rollover effect.
Thanks for the help - anymore suggestions for me?

Swf not loading properly

I am importing swf files that were encoded in flash. The odd
thing is that they say they are shockwave flash movies...vey
confusing. when i import to captivate, check its properties, it
shows up as only having one frame. Of course nothing plays. Any
ideas as to what's happening? The swf plays on my Mac but not in
Windows.
One other thing: importing the flv files works fine, but
these are so much larger than swf files. I get concerned about
loading times.
Thanks for the help!!!

Hi Joe
You seem mystified that the word ShockWave would be used.
Why? That's what .SWF means, you know. ShockWave Flash. I believe
what evolved into generically "Flash", began as a product called
"ShockWave".
Did you use any ActionScript? If so, I just participated in
another thread where it turns out they were using ActionScript 3
and not 2. I believe Captivate only understands ActionScript 2.
As for .FLV files, these are normally left outside the
Captivate movie and loaded when needed by the Captivate slide they
are on. I suppose if they were overly large, there could be an
issue with load times.
Cheers... Rick

AS 3.0 Output Error for Start / Stop Buttons

In trying to understand ActionScript 3.0 mouse events, I have
followed the online video under Flash / ActionScript / Getting
Started wit ActionScript 3.0 presented by Justin Everett-Church. At
least I don't see any syntax errors.
I am not getting a Compiler error, but I get this warning in
the Output tab: WARNING: Actions on button or MovieClip instances
are not supported in ActionScript 3.0. All scripts on object
instances will be ignored.
I understand what it is telling me. Actions on button
instances are not support in AS 3.0. But then why does the video
tell me to name a button instance and then go on to refer to it in
the ActionScript?
The movie still works fine. I just get this Output warning.
Should I be concerned? I am using Flash CS3 Professional Version
9.0
Another peculiar thing is this. The code shown below DOES NOT
generate an Output error on one on my FLA files, but it DOES on
three others that have exactly the same button names and AS 3.0
code (shown below). I don't see any differences. I even copied and
pasted the code from the one that didn't produce the warning to the
others that did. Again, the movies seem to work fine, but I get the
Output warning.
Here is my ActionScript 3.0 code (I named the three button
instances: stopBtn, playBtn, restartBtn)
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
stopBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, stopDemo);
function stopDemo(event:MouseEvent):void {
this.stop();
playBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playDemo);
function playDemo(event:MouseEvent):void {
this.play();
restartBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,restartDemo);
function restartDemo(event:MouseEvent):void {
this.stop();
this.gotoAndPlay(1);

Are you extending the layer that has the function for the length of the timeline like I showed in the example file I made for you? I put the code for the other frames on a separate layer to make sure that the one being shared is not cut short.
I think I also already mentioned that you should go into the Flash Publish Settings and select the option to Permit Debugging so that the error message indicates which line of code is causing the problem.

Question about scrolling and Movie Clips Loaded from the Library

I hope I am posting this in the right forum.
Ok, I'm using actionscript 2.0, and I am trying to make a scrolling image gallery. I have a movie clip with three layers. the first contains a movie clip used as a scroll bar. The second is a mask used to hide the overflow content, and the third contains movie clip thumbnails. when I click one of the thumbnails, it loads a symbol containing a larger version of the picture over top of the thumbnails on the same layer. My problem is, the large image is added at the very top of the movie clip, even when it is scrolled out of sight. I want it to appear in sight, so the user doesn't have to scroll all the way back up to the top to see it. This is annoying and confusing. Is there a way to do this?
Here is the code I used to create the scroll effect (there is actually a whole lot more to the code but it is very long, so I am not adding it now. I will if it is needed though)
(Oh, and there is no text involved in this. I just got this code off a tutorial and I haven't changed the variable names yet)
    var scrollUpper:Number = 58;
    var scrollLower:Number = 309;
    var textLower:Number = 60;
    var textUpper:Number = -179;
    var scrollRange:Number = scrollLower - scrollUpper;
    var textRange:Number = textLower - textUpper;
    var startY:Number = imagesHolder_mc.thumbs_mc._y;
    function scroll(){
       var moved:Number = imagesHolder_mc.scroller_mc._y - scrollUpper;
       var pctMoved:Number = moved/scrollRange;
       var textMove:Number = pctMoved*textRange;
       imagesHolder_mc.thumbs_mc._y = textLower - textMove;
    imagesHolder_mc.scroller_mc.onPress = function(){
       this.startDrag(false,this._x,scrollUpper,this._x,scrollLower);
       this.onMouseMove = scroll;
    imagesHolder_mc.scroller_mc.onRelease = scroller_mc.onReleaseOutside = function(){
       this.stopDrag();
       this.onMouseMove = null}

Thanks for your reply. I'll try to explain it better. I have a long, vertically scrolling movie clip. This movie clip contains lots of thumbnails. When I click a thumbnail, the full sized image is loaded from the library and displayed within the same movie clip. when I click the full size movie clip, it disappears again, and I can click another thumbnail to display another full size image. So I'm not just adding more and more stuff to the gallery if that's what you were thinking. I'm just clicking thumbnails to display the full size image so I can look at it, closing it, and moving on.
But the full sized image is fixed at the very top of the scrolling movie clip, so if I click a thumbnail at the very bottom, I have to scroll all the way back up to the top to see the full size image. I just want the full size image to appear on screen no matter how far down I have scrolled to click a thumbnail.
I made my basic gallery useing this tutorial:
http://flashexplained.com/actionscript/making-the-ultimate-dynamic-image-gallery-in-flash- 8/
if you want to take a look at that, to get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Now I'm just trying to add some scrolling functionality, which wasn't included, but I don't really understand actionscript well enough to do this easily on my own.
Sorry for the long reply. I hope this is clearer.

Help with Loadmovie

Hi!
First, I would like you to forgive me for my poor English and
thank the ones that will take time to understand my questions.
I´m having a hard time to build a data base for a tire
company Web site, but it's almost done. I'll do my best to explain
my problem to you, and than I'll post the code...
I have one SWF file with 10 targets named "alvo1",
“alvo2”, “alvo3”, etc and several check
boxes divided by groups.
The first group has 4 check boxes named "economico”,
“conforto”, “desportivo” and
“ultra-desportivo” dividing the tires by their type
(sport, confort, etc).
The second group has 10 check boxes named
“bridgestone”, “continental”,
“dunlop”, “firestone”,
“goodyear”, “mabor”,
“michelin”, “pirelli”,
“uniroyal”, and “yokohama” dividing the
tyres by their brand.
The third group has 13 check boxes named “l”,
“m”, “n”, “p”, “q”,
“r”, “s”, “t”, “h”,
“v”, “w”, “y” and
“zr” dividing the tires by their speed performance.
The fourth and last group has 3 radio buttons named
“sim”, “nao” and “sim2” (Yes,
No, and Yes2) to include (or not) the tire results that have the
"Run Flat Tire" technology.
With A LOT of Kglad's help I've got a code that works the way
I wanted. The code assumes that if no check box of a group is
selected, all check boxes are selected, so all results are listed.
Now comes the problem...
I don't have files (results) for all possible combinations,
so, for example, if I selected the check boxes that would load the
files “economico_bridgestone_m_sim.swf”,
“conforto_bridgestone_r_sim.swf” and
“desportivo_bridgestone_t_sim.swf”, but if the second
file does not exist, the space destined to the target "alvo2" will
be empty and the blank space between the targets "alvo1" and
"alvo3" will be huge.
So, I would like to know how can I add a code that says that
if the file that is supposed to be loaded in the target doesn't
exist, load the next file that exists in that same target.

quote:
Originally posted by:
kglad
what purpose does it serve to use that code instead of the
code in your first message?
Why are you always so difficult? :-)
You know that it's hard for me to fully understand the code
and detect the errors. A friend of mine is trying to help me with
the code, but he's also learning. We are in that early stage where
we can read and understand ActionScript, but we are still unable to
write the code correctly.
I think the last part of this second code I posted is
"supposed" to validate the existence of the swf that will be loaded
into the target. The problem is that I don't know where the errors
begin.
When I select the check boxes that will load a swf that
exists, the Flash output panel says that it was unable to load the
movie "undifined_undifined_undifined_undifined.swf". When the swf
doesn't exist the output panel says it was unable to load the
correct file that was selected.
Please help me with this. My vacations starts as soon as I
get this ready. So, you can see how important your help is to me.
:-)

Datagrid questions

I have a datagrid whereI would like to select multiple rows
and then copy the rows into another object, manipulate them and the
shove them into antother data grid. The business process is to take
a shipment with a single start and end point (a single leg, or
route, if you will) and then introduce a hub into the route, thus
breaking a single-route into a two-leg-route, a two-leg-route into
a three-leg-route, and so on...
I found a method listed as:
copySelectedItems(useDataField:Boolean = true):Array which the help
says "Makes a copy of the selected items in the order they were
selected.", and it belongs to a ListBase which is a parent class.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but in Java I wouldn't have a problem
accessing a protected member of a parent class. That doesn't seem
to work in this case. I have tried to use the method like this:
private function setSelection(event:Event):void {
var list:Array =
event.currentTarget.copySelecteditems(true);
var list2:Array = list;
The exception is this:
ReferenceError: Error #1069: Property copySelecteditems not
found on mx.controls.DataGrid and there is no default value.
at
Pooling/setSelection()[F:\Eclipse6Workspaces\Services\Pooling\src\Pooling.mxml:27]
at
Pooling/__shipGrid_itemClick()[F:\Eclipse6Workspaces\Services\Pooling\src\Pooling.mxml:49 ]
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
at
mx.core::UIComponent/dispatchEvent()[E:\dev\flex_3_beta2\sdk\frameworks\projects\framewor k\src\mx\core\UIComponent.as:8915]
at
mx.controls.listClasses::ListBase/mouseClickHandler()[E:\dev\flex_3_beta2\sdk\frameworks\ projects\framework\src\mx\controls\listClasses\ListBase.as:8661]
I'm not sure what is the root of this issue, or if it's just
a matter of me not understanding actionScript. I can make the
process work by iterating through the selected items, and that's
not too bad, but it would be great if I could make the shortcut
method work.
I appreciate everyone's help, thanks...

Okay, I'll answer my own question. The selectedItems property
of the dataGrid returns an array.
var list:Array = event.currentTarget.selectedItems;
...does exactly what I need.
I don't feel too smart after this one!
Cheers,

How to prevent swf files being downloaded

People,
I'm a teacher and I have some animations made in flash language (swf). I would like to publish these animations on my web site so my students could see, but I wonder if there is any way to prevent these animations being downloaded.
Example: when I see an animation published on my web site, this animation is stored in Internet Temporary Files and I can save this animation anywhere. How can I prevent an animation is stored in the temporary folder? In other words, this animation can only be seen if the user is logged on the site.
Urgent!!!
Thanks.
Alyson

I think that's what I want. I found a site that has exactly what I need. It
is done this way too?
Plese take a look at http://www.edumedia-sciences.com/en/a559-scintigraphy
<http://www.edumedia-sciences.com/>
Thanks
2009/11/16 moccamaximum <[email protected]>
You could implement a kind of time-barrier, like in the trial versions you
download from softwarecompanys.
For the most users, that are not understanding actionscript and know how to
read the code, even if they decompile it, that would prevent the swf being
played after a certain date that you would have to implement in your code.
In AS2 the code would be like this:
>
var now:Date = new Date(); //reads the user system date
var release:Date = new Date(2009, 11, 16); //here goes the date, when you
want to have the program deactivated
>
if(now <= release){
playSwf(); // here goes your normal code
>
else{
doNothing();
>
Like the most TimeBarriers this could be easily circumvented if the user
sets back his system date, so do not give a message like "You trial period
has expired"
>

Directory List from XML

I would outsource this section of a Flash site to someone who
understands
actionscript and xml.
The section that needs to be created is a project title
directory.
The project title list or directory:
1. needs to be created from an existing XML file.
2. be displayed in Flash as 3 columns with a scroll when
necessary. Each
column lists all Proj_title's for that Category.
3. Clicking on a Proj_title from the list would open up that
project in the
existing allprojects.fla.
The All Projects page is already done and pulls its data from
the same XML
file.
It displays scrolling images of products. When an image is
clicked, a
detailed section opens with other images and text all coming
from the same
xml file. This section is completed. Now with a Directory
List, the same
happens when clicking on a Proj_title from the list.
The directory list is what needs to be done.
The XML file contains: Image, Category, Proj_title,
Thumbnail, Summary,
Description, Picture1, Pic1Desc, Picture2, Pic2Desc,
Picture3, Pic3Desc,
Use, Builder, Builder etc.....
The XML file used for the directory is the same used for the
rest of this
allprojects.fla..
Please find link to see the xml file:
www.filecondo.com/allimages.xml
If you are interested in this freelance job please respond to
this post.
Thank you

The IsGetDevice operation will get you all the devices including their extension numbers from a CME. You need to set up the router XML interface on the router as per this document: http://cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucme/srnd/design/guide/managcme.html#wp1076023
then follow the appropriate developer guide which you can get here: http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/dev_support/access_level/product_support (under voice gateway applications)
You'll also find searching this forum for the topic useful as there are a few things the developer guide fails to mention (specifially that you need to urlencode the message before sending).

Question about scrolling through clip images

This may be an iMovie and iDVD question, or more of an iMovie.
In the scene menu, when I'm making menu buttons and want to use a clip 'photo' rather than a motion clip, I know I uncheck the movie box, and move the cursor to get the picture. That said, it seems there are at least several seconds between these clips, and I can never stop on or find the exact image I want for the chapter. This seems to be the case in iMovie, too, when I'm bookmarking chapters.
Is there a way to fine-tune the scroll so I can see move seens rather than having the gaps? I've looked all over the place for a way to do this, so sorry if it is something obvious that I missed.
This is a great forum, and a huge help for a very recent PC to Mac convert.

Thanks for your reply. I'll try to explain it better. I have a long, vertically scrolling movie clip. This movie clip contains lots of thumbnails. When I click a thumbnail, the full sized image is loaded from the library and displayed within the same movie clip. when I click the full size movie clip, it disappears again, and I can click another thumbnail to display another full size image. So I'm not just adding more and more stuff to the gallery if that's what you were thinking. I'm just clicking thumbnails to display the full size image so I can look at it, closing it, and moving on.
But the full sized image is fixed at the very top of the scrolling movie clip, so if I click a thumbnail at the very bottom, I have to scroll all the way back up to the top to see the full size image. I just want the full size image to appear on screen no matter how far down I have scrolled to click a thumbnail.
I made my basic gallery useing this tutorial:
http://flashexplained.com/actionscript/making-the-ultimate-dynamic-image-gallery-in-flash- 8/
if you want to take a look at that, to get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Now I'm just trying to add some scrolling functionality, which wasn't included, but I don't really understand actionscript well enough to do this easily on my own.
Sorry for the long reply. I hope this is clearer.

How do I start/stop a slide's animation?

One slide of a slideshow I'm making I want the animation to end after it's completed without looping. I can do this by adding the stop(); command into the last frame of that slide, but if I return to that slide, it will remain in the end position instead of replaying. Is there anything I can do about this?

When I start up Flash, there's a box immediately to the left of the workspace. It doesn't actually have a title, but has a + and - at the top. Inside the box, there's a thumbnail with the word "presentaion" next to it. I right click on that, hit "Insert Screen", and a box appears under it branched out with the basic name of 'slide#'. These slides are what I'm making my slideshow across.
The buttons in my slideshow advance to the next slide, seemingly the exact same function as the left/right arrow keys. I didn't actually code it myself since I don't understand Actionscript too well yet, I used the Behaviors window and selected Screen > 'Go to Next Slide' (or Prev Slide). The code that it generated for the Next Slide Button is:
on (release) {
      // GoTo Next Screen behavior
      var screen = null;
      var target = this;
      while((screen == null) && (target != undefined) && (target != null))
        if(target instanceof mx.screens.Screen)
          screen = target;
        else
          target = target._parent;
      if(screen instanceof mx.screens.Slide)
        screen.rootSlide.currentSlide.gotoNextSlide();
      // End GoTo Next Screen behavior

Browser "back" button won't work when linked from Catalyst graphic

I am using Flash Catalyst in (CS5 Design Premium) because I am much more a print than web designer so bear with me.
I created a .swf file in FC, and placed it at the top of a "router index" page. I linked 10 "buttons" in the .swf, each to a different anchor on the "router index" page. Clicking on each "button" jumps to the correct anchor, so far so good.
The problem is, when I hit the browser "BACK BUTTON" in IE only (Safari and Firefox work fine), it does not jump back to the top of the "router index" page. It jumps back to a previously opened page (homepage or another page), instead of back to the FC .swf graphic on the "router index".
FC apparently only allows linking to "absolute" URL's, not "relative" URL's, (so my links to the anchors are "absolute"). I don't know if this is the source of the problem with IE. I have always linked to anchors previously in Dreamweaver using "relative" URL's, and have never encountered this problem.
I looked over the files that FC creates and cannot find one that I understand, or shows an editable file path that I can change.
I hope i don't have to buy Flash Builder. Right now I have Design Premium. And... I don't understand Actionscript.

Hi azaral
Take a look at Project > Quiz Manager... > Quiz
Settings tab. My guess is that you have DE-selected the "Allow
backward movement" check box.
Cheers... Rick

Will Flash Catalyst give me a jump start on a phone ap?

I want to create two applications for different media formats for an idea I am developing in Illustrator CS5.
One for the web or desktop. The other for a phone.
I have taken a Lynda.com course on how to develop with Flash Catalyst CS5.
I have also taken courses on ActionScript 3.0 but I'm still learning.
Would the actionscript generated by Flash Catalyst CS5 be adequate for me to test in Adobe Device Central CS5 on various phone types?
Would I have to do a ton of work re-working the code in Flash Builder 4 to fix it so that it works on a phone?
If so, are there any resources that would help me navigate the CS5 software to do this?
I am in the research planning phase right now.
However, I want to get my ducks in a row in the area of cell phone applications.
I am currently learning Actionscript 3.0. Essential Training and taking Flash Mobile Essential Training with Arthur Phillips on Lynda.com.
I hope to move on to Actionscript 3.0 Beyond the basics soon, however, I have to admit, understanding Actionscript isn't an easy transition.
I like designing better.
Thanks,
2LL4me

Hero (mobile development capabilities for the Flex framework) is in beta on Adobe labs. You'll need to be comfortable working with Flex libraries in Flash Builder. Flash Catalyst does create an .fxp file that can then be imported into Flex builder. Though, before venturing further I would do some more reading on the pros and cons of the different players, authoring environments, supported devices and available markets. Here are some resources.
Flash Player Lite (Flash Professional and Device Central for authoring)
Flash Player 10.1 (Flash Professional and Flash Builder for authoring)
Hero on Labs - http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/mobile/index.html
Hero FAQs - http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/mobile/faq.html
Open Screen Project - http://www.openscreenproject.org/
Hope this helps.
Tanya

Understanding ActionScript 3

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