Flash :: Flash MX, Symbols, Instance

Is It Not Possible To Assign Instance Names To Symbols Within Symbols In Flash CS3?
Detail question on nha khoa Adobe group

OK, so I have a player object. I created a symbol that is linked to the player. Inside the symbol I have 2 symbols. 1 is the sprite that displays the player, the other is a rectangle box that is used for collision detection.

I tried giving the collision box an instance name in the property editor so I could reference the collision box from code. The Player symbol is linked to a Player class I wrote earlier so it creates an instance of the Player class. The error I get is this:

ReferenceError: Error #1056: Cannot create property myCollBox on Player.

myCollBox was the instance name I gave that collision box symbol. I thought maybe I had to make the collision box also linked to a class to be exported for action script, but that didn't seem to help.

Instance Names For Graphic Symbols
with movie clips and button symbols in MX, the instance name text box shows up in the properties panel, but not for graphic symbols.

How do you assign an instance name to a graphic symbol? Or can you?

Dynamically Giving Mc Symbols Instance Names
I'm using the duplicateSymbol, function to duplicate symbols in a loop, I was wondering if there was a way to give each of these duplicated mc symbols a unique instance name or at least the textboxes within them. Basically within these duped symbols I have a dynamic textbox which acts as a label, each duped instance of the mc will have a different text box label and a button which needs to be passed a path variable to its onlick function. My understading of textboxes is that I have to declare the variable it should be recieving, and in the case of multiple textboxes this should be unique. So how do I give each of the duped mc symbols and their respective text boxes uniques instance / variable names?

Instance Names...changing...or Addressing Txt Field Instance Based On Instance Of Mc
i'm creating a mail form, that has a text effect which displays the type of info to be entered in each input box. To create this effect, i had to assign the variable name txt to the input boxes as well as the instance name txtBox. each of these text fields is contained within a movieclip, each with a unique instance name. what i need to do, is somehow assign a value/variable to each text field to pass to PHP to generate an email. I have always used components for contact forms so i'm not sure how to make the switch, AND.. the script i use for my contact form is an EXTERNAL AS file. (i use a customized version of a contact form from www.actionscript-toolbox.com [which apparently is no longer Flash related site])

ok.. this is hard to explain..... so bear with me....
If my original mail form component instance names were: tiName, tiEmail, tiSubject and taMsg (ti for textInput and ta for textArea)
and my current instance names for the mc's which CONTAIN the input boxes (with txtBox textfield instance inside them) are: name_txt, email_txt, subject_txt & comments_txt...

how would i pass/convert the users input text in each movieclip's txtBox, into the original instance name for my mail form so i can continue to use the form/PHP i have been using??

OR....

how do i take the values input by the user in each txtBox (i.e name_txt.txtBox.insertedTextFromUser or name_txt.txt, email_txt.txtBox.insertedTextFromUser or email_txt.txt) and send them to a new PHP script to send mail??

please keep in mind i am PHP retarded... hence why i re-use the same form over and over..

thanks in advance for any help. it's greatly appreciated...

if you're confused about my problem, please let me know... i'm having a difficult time explaining....

Editing Graphic Symbols By Copying And Pasting To Make Slightly Dif Symbols
Hi!

I am using flash to create moving people symbols. I created a "singular person" symbol and saved it, I then copyed a few to make a "bunch of people" symbol, when I go to edit these copyed and pasted symbols each saved symbol changes. Also I am saving them as graphic symbols at the moment.

thanks,

Helen

Overlapping Symbols Inside Symbols With An Alpha Tween
Hello,

In the attached example, Is it possible to prevent the purple overlap area from showing and just be red since red's on top? I have characters that use symbols for arms, legs, etc. and I want to fade them in and out sometimes. The problem is, the areas where the limbs overlap look weird so I have to resort to converting them to shapes on one keyframe. This seems limiting and annoying. I was wondering if there's a command, extension, or property to fix this. Thanks in advance.

Graphic Symbols And Movie Clip Symbols
what is the difference between creating a graphic symbol from an image with it's own timeline animation and creating a movie clip symbol from the same image that can be animated in the main timeline?

Or do I totally misunderstand the difference between the two?

Movie Symbols Vs Graphic Symbols
to movie or to graphics?

I remmember in flash 5 movie symbols compiled smaller than gaphic symbols. is that still the case in Flash MX?

Graphic Symbols Vs Movie Symbols
to graphic or to movie?

I remmember in flash 5 movie symbols used to compile smaller than graphic symbols...is that sitll the case in flash MX?

Listeners On Symbols With Symbols Inside Of Them?
I have a symbol (a) with a symbol (b) inside. I have a rollover listener on symbol (a) however, when I roll over symbol b inside of symbol a I loose my "MOUSE_OVER".

It is as if symbol b stops its parent from being considered "rolled over"

Am I building these wrong? or mis-understanding something?

I need it so that the rollover for symbol a works no matter what is inside it.

Thanks!

[F8] Symbols In Flash - Is It Possible.......?
to code 2 different fonts into 1 dynamic textbox?
I have a textbox which contains (say, Arial font) information and some sections that contain formulas with Pi and other Greek symbols...
Please Help... Very urgent!

Thank you

Beginner, Button._alpha = 100 And Identifying 'instance Of And Instance Name' Problem
1)
as Flash beginner
i'd like to have a button contain the feat. alpha = 30.
The following is for MC only:
onClipEvent (load) {
_alpha = 0;
}

What is the onClipEvent part for buttons.

2)
When to use 'instance of' and 'instance name'?, and how to identify them in an AS code such as:
_root.button._alpha = 100;

Flash Question With Symbols
Ok, I bet this is a pretty easy thing to do, but I'm still lost. I have some symbols that I am going to use as links on my site. What I'm wonderng is, how do I get it to do an action (Like change colors) when the mouse scrolls over it. I've seen this done in many sites but, I have no idea how to do I

Scaling Symbols In Flash 4.0
Hello,

I'm kind of new to flash, and here's the problem I'm having:

I have a symbol (a rectangle) that I have created in Flash (or Adobe Illustrator), and it has a white stroke, with no fill.

I create a new movie symbol, and use the rectangle symbol in the movie symbol as follows:
----------------------------------------------------
a). I create a keyframe in frame 1 and place the symbol in that keyframe.
b). I create a new keyframe in frame 15, with the same instance of the rectangle.
c). I vertically scale the rectangle symbol in frame 15.
d). I create a motion tween between frames 1 and 15.

The problem is this:
I DO NOT want to scale the line weight of this rectangle, and no matter what I do, it always seems to scale the line weight.

What in the world am I doing wrong?!?

thanks

Doug Dexter

Stylesheet For Flash Symbols
hi there,
i am working on a new site and would like to program it in such a way that i would be ablet to change the main colors of all the symbols easily by making changes to something like a stylesheet equivalent.
any ideas anyone?
thank you.

-jo

How To Block Flash Symbols?
Hi everyone, first of all, sorry my english, it´s not too good. I have a scene with 3 movie clips on it, each one in a layer. They move around the scene and i want to know how to block the other 2 mc while one is moving. Not only visible, i´ve done that, i want the mc are not able to click. Thanks.

Flash And Font Symbols ...
I have a flash movie with over 100 movie clips.

Each of these movie clips just contains some static text.

All of the text is the same font, which is called Pariya.

What is the best way to setup my flash movie (I may have to do some rework) so that I can change all of these symbols at once so they have a new font ?

Is this possible ?

I thought a year or so ago I read an article or saw a tutorial on how to do this but now I can't remember ?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I don't know if creating a new font symbol in my flash library will help me, because isn't that something to do with shared libraries and shared .swf files ?

Thanks.

Renaming Symbols In Flash
hi,

i have this problem of trying to rename many symbols and have to do it one by one (adding a common name like "1" or "2" to rename the symbols)

is there a way to rename the symbols all at once?

i very much in need of this help, will appreciate very much for any help rendered.

thanks.

[F8] Distorting Symbols In Flash?
Is there anyway to distort symbols and movies in Flash? I know you can skew them, but I need to distort them to look 3-D. Here's the animation that I'm having the issue with.

Animated Truck

Run your mouse across the truck and it rotates. The banners need to distort and rotate as the truck rotates.

I'm hoping there's a add-on or plug-in that I can purchase out there, as I'm pretty sure there's no way to accomplish this. Any help would be appreciated.

Math Symbols In Flash
Hi! I'm currently working on a project that will need to display square root symbols over dynamic text (ie. depending on the server, i may need to display the square root of 3, or 5, or 2938). i actually do not need to calculate it, only to display it. Is there a way for me to use math symbols like this, as well as the more common ones, say, pi, squared and cubed numbers in Flash?

thanks

Edited: 02/10/2007 at 11:51:56 AM by kynshny

Maximum Symbols In Flash
does anyone know if theres a maximum amount of symbols that can be created in a flash library file?
or is there no limitation to the number of symbols possible?

Scaling Symbols In Flash
I'm using Flash Pro 8 and I'm wanting to animate the scaling of a symbol from small to large within the movie. I created the graphic (logo) in Photoshop and imported the file as a .psd (transparent background) and it sits within the movie as a symbol. I'm wanting to do both a transparency and a scale to it. The transparency part is done but I can't seem to figure out how to animate the size of it.

Flash Symbols Removal
Hi all,

I've created a big flash animation, and I've got SO many symbols saved. I'm sure many of them are not being used in the document, and was wondering if there was a way to remove these unused symbols....or rather, how do I know which symbols are not being used, so I know to delete them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Art

Symbols Are Killing My Flash
I have a problem with a form that I've built.

I have an input text box with var = strAddress.

When a button is pressed, strAddress is uploaded into my database and then the scene is changed...

Code:
strqual = Random(1000000000);
loadVariablesNum("http://www4.yontrack.com/hospice/test.asp","0","POST");
gotoAndPlay("confirm","confirmthis");
In the new scene I use a loadVariables to get some info from the database.

Code:
loadVariables("http://www4.yontrack.com/hospice/get...s4.asp?theQual=" + strQual,"_root");
//loadVariables("http://www4.yontrack.com/hospice/getdetails4.asp?theQual=847823273","_root");
stop();
if (EOF=="true") {
gotoAndPlay("confirm","nextOne");
} else {gotoAndPlay("confirm","confirmThis");
}
My problem is if I put a ' in my address box eg O'Malley street. My loadvariables will not work. If there is no ' , then it works fine. I've tried to add...

[code]strAddress = strAddress.split("'").join("-");CODE]

but nothing seems to work.

Any advice?

Creating Flash Symbols
I am new to flash and am just trying to create a flash symbol? if somebody could point me in the right direstion that would be awesome..

Xml Symbols Not Displaying In Flash
I have a txt file which is displaying fine inside a flash file, however, the + and % symbols do not display - is there a way to show symbols like these inside the txt file? Also, the & sign does not display either. I have scoured the web but have had no luck getting these symbols to display. Anyone got a tip on how to fix this?

Flash Fading Symbols
Im using Macromedia Flash MX and trying to do some simple fading in/out of text that is a symbol. Now when I play it on my work area, the text fades in and out exactly the way I want, but for some reason when I go and test the movie the text simply disapears and reapears with no fading effect.

Access Property/function Of Instance From Inside Another Instance
Might be something really obvious, but I'm still trying to get my head round as3...

I need to call up a property and function of another instance of the same class, similar as in as2 (called from within "_root.instance_mc1"):

ActionScript Code:
_root.instance_mc2.someNumber = 0;
_root.instance_mc2.someFunction();

Now in AS3 I can access the object (extending sprite) itself (and inherited properties like x) by using:

ActionScript Code:
this.parent.getChildByName("row2").x

but if i try to access public variables/functions from that object (this.parent.getChildByName("row2").someNumber) I get Error 1119: Access of possibly undefined property someNumber through a reference with static type flash.displayisplayObject.

Anyone know how I can get this to work?

How Can I Get Flash To Reconize Text Symbols?
I have a scrolling text field that is loading a .txt file but it will not reconize the degree symbol, ® symbol, or the % symbol. I'm working on a Mac and build a flash projector that will be used on Macs and PC's. Can anyone help?

Thanks
Mike C.

<need Flash Wizz> Duplicating Symbols
Hi its in regard to duplicating symbols.

Ive duplicated a MC with a nested transparent symbol. I randomly generate this MC called "point" attaching other MC's to it which contain buttons which are suppoosed to nav off to different sections within a folio im making. The generated "point " MC's are bouncy and use a code which gives them a elatsic type effect on reaction to the mouse on enterClip(enterFrame) event. Ive got no idea how im going to work it so that when a user does click of one of the bouncy navigational buttons, it disables this enterClip(enterFrame) action, ie the menu is still until the newly oppened dialog is closed. PLease help

If this message doesnt make sense or ur not sure what im talking about let me know so that i can try and find somewhere to upload my fla so that u can take a look.

Cannot Get Maths Symbols Into Flash MX2004
I am developing a courseware using Flash MX (v6) for high school maths. I wanted to shift to Flash MX2004 (v7) but was stuck because I just couldn't copy and paste characters from Windows Character Map into Flash.
Apparently, the new spell check feature sort of disables "unrecognisable" characters - and that includes Maths symbols (using the font "Symbols") like multiplication and division.
Is there a way around it?

My Flash Mx Crashes When Using Library Symbols
hi there, something weird happened to my flash MX (well actually it only happened to a particular file).
everytime I try to bring a symbol from the library to the stage, the program freezes and theres a whole mess.
the library in this file has a LOT of symbols of every kind (like 800 symbols aprox.) maybe thats the reason but Im not sure.

please help
thanks

Flash Feature -> Exporting Symbols
Can I export symbols?

I am using:
Macromedia Flash MX 2004
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004
Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004

Right now I am trying to export my "very nice, wanna be tables" from Flash
They are from my menu system that I am using on my website, however since I cannot load a Swf/Fla into Fireworks for simple graphic editing I copy and paste from Flash MX to Fireworks MX. When I do this the image becomes discolored and border lines are much bigger. Even with Png, Jpeg, Gif... tried it.

Simple: I have boxs with borders, like tables with a bg color and table border color. These are odd sizes, when I copy from flash to fireworks colors fade or become brighter. Table border becomes larger and darker.

I attached some pictures:
first one Flash
second Fireworks
third Flash/Fireworks Overlay

Thoughts?

[Flash 8] Hiding/showing Symbols
OK, I have a button in my flash animation and I want to display a Graphic-type symbol that's in my library, and this is my code for it:

Code:
on(release){
visible = getProperty(home_content,_visible);

if (visible=true) {
setProperty(home_content,_visible,false);
}
else {
setProperty(home_content,_visible,true);
setProperty(home_content,_x,240.4);
setProperty(home_content,_y,218.5);
}
}
Basically this is a toggle button that hides/shows the symbol inside my Flash movie. But, this button seems to do nothing when i go to test my movie. Is there something missing? Thanks!

-Ken C.

Tweens As Graphic Symbols In Flash CS3
I am teaching a basic Flash CS3 course at a college in Ohio. I am having something weird happening with some of my students' projects that I can't explain.

For five of my students every time they apply a simple motion tween to a graphic symbol, Flash CS3 automatically saves the tween as a new graphic symbol in the library panel (naming it "tween 1", "tween 2", etc.).

Since they are just learning the program this has understandably confused these five students on how tweening and the library panel works. Other students are doing exact or similar tweens and they are not having this problem. I have worked with Flash for years and have never had this happen to me.

Would anyone know how I can correct this? Is this something that I can change in the preferences?

Effects On Text And Symbols In Flash
Hi all, Newbie question here:

Should I do all my effects in Photoshop & then import images & text layers, or is there a way to add effects in Flash? Also, what's the best format to import? and can photographic images be imported w/out too much loss of clarity?

thanks
ag

Symbols Overlap - Flash Chokes
Hi
For the past weeks i`ve been working on some animations in flash. After i was done with the first one i realised that for some reason the final swf file (about 200kb) was choking when it got to the the part where an object faded out while other object was changing both alpha and position on the layer above. Again .. when it got to that part it was like slowmotion. I didnt give it much thought because i was using the school's computers and i thought its video ram related or something like that.
Today i was animating some rain drops to where they fell and produce waves wich eventualy changed alpha to 0. After randomly placing about 10 drops in a 5 sec animation i noticed it started choking again. It was choking when two symbols that fade out overlap.
Any suggestions?
Thanks guys!

p.s. I'm 100% positive it's not my computer because i rendered a houdini 3d animation in parallel with the swf and the 3d animation was pristine while the swf choked like i had 10Megs of ram.

Graphic Symbols In Flash MX2004
Hi, I'm quite new to Flash. I've been working through some tutorials and am almost finished, but I'm wondering if Flash MX2004 has some kind of glitch,or whether it is me, or my desktop and laptop (I have the software downloaded on two computers). I'm using Windows XP if that has any relevance.

My problem is this: I cannot seem to make graphic symbols. I can make motion clips with no trouble, but my graphic symbols don't show in the library. I see the icon for them, but when i click on a graphic symbol nothing appears in the preview. I'm also rarely able to move the icon into the stage. I either get a message saying that I can not load a graphic symbol on itself, or if the graphic symbol does move into the stage, I cannot see anything. I just get this little circle, but the graphic symbol is invisible.
I do get all the Bitmap images that make up the graphic symbol. These appear in the library, and I also seem to get a gif image of the graphic symbol, but that is it.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem is, because I keep fiddling with trying to create a graphic symbol, and it really seems so basic, but for some odd reason I end up with nothing.

Substituting Symbols At Runtime In Flash CS3
Can symbols be substituted at run time in a similar way that dynamic text can be altered by flash coding at run time? What I am aiming at is the program decides what to present to the user using just one bit of timeline and one set of frames (which would incorporate motion tweening and I guess some action script). So the program might show a lion chasing a dog, or a dog chasing a cat, or a cat chasing a rat... without all these having to be explicitly individually created on the stage.

One not-very-elegant solution that occurs to me, could be to have multiple sets of layers showing each of these, occupying the same bit of timeline, and to dynamically set alpha to zero for unwanted symbols. But I think there must be more elegant solutions. And my solution might mean multiple editing changes were needed if I wanted to change the start position of the tween, for instance. And the code would be 'majorly' revisited to add new animal choices.

Any suggestions? (I should be able to understand most explanations - I am an experienced procedural languages programmer, but I am new to Flash - I've been learning to use it for less than a month.) If the answer is Actionscript 3 code, then a quick mini-example of the type of instructions would be great!

Tweens As Graphic Symbols In Flash CS3
Greetings,

I am teaching a basic Flash CS3 course at a college in Ohio. I am having something weird happening with some of my students' projects that I can't explain.

For five of my students every time they apply a simple motion tween to a graphic symbol, Flash CS3 automatically saves the tween as a new graphic symbol in the library panel (naming it "tween 1", "tween 2", etc.).

Since they are just learning the program this has understandably confused these five students on how tweening and the library panel works. Other students are doing exact or similar tweens and they are not having this problem. I have worked with Flash for years and have never had this happen to me.

Would anyone know how I can correct this? Is this something that I can change in the preferences?

Thanks for your help!

Flash Hangs Because Of Too Many Nested Symbols
I am trying to create an Flash application where areas expand when the user pushes a button which pushes the rest of the GUI down as it expands. To accomplish this, I have every line of the GUI (it is a chart-looking interface) nested in the symbol above it, creating nested movieclip, inside of nested movieclip, etc. This way when the user clicks to expand the section to view more details, it will move down all the symbols. Eventually this causes my Mac g5 to hang indefinitely when trying to put the last groups together.

Do you think it is the many nested symbols that are causing this? They go as far as 9 deep sometimes. My 400KB fla file will end up taking 1 GB of memory and spiking the CPU at 100%, and, of course, is not responding.

[Flash 8] Dynamically Create Symbols
Hi all, i know i tend to ask a lot of question which probably frustrate half of you by now but here goes. How do you dynamically create a symbol, say one that i've created and I want to add a function so that at runtime you can click a button and it allows you to create a new instance of the symbol whether it's a movieclip of something to the main timeline? I ask this cus i need a way of allowing a user to add more texboxes, i could use createClassObject i know but i've created a moveclip with the texbox and a faded background behind it as i don't want to have a solid white background behind it.

Does Flash MX Allow Actions On Buttons Containing Movie Symbols?
Hi - I am trying to make a flash movie consisting of 5 circles, spinning in a circle round the screen, which can be clicked on to load another scene in that movie (a "circle menu"). In order to make these circle buttons move around the screen in a circle shape, I put a "circle animation" movie symbol into each of the buttons, to make them move around the screen, so in other words -

Scene 5 - circle_button_1 - movie_clip_of_rotating_circle

The movie clip is contained in the "up" frame of the circle buttons.

Anyway, my point is that when I went to assign actions (goto) to each of the circle buttons, none of them would respond. Does Flash MX not allow actions to be set on buttons that contain movie symbols? How else could I make rotating buttons? Is there some kind of actionscript that could be written to bypass this fault in Flash?

Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Does Flash Have To Load Graphic Symbols Every Time They Are Used?
Hey all I was working on a project this weekend and the people that I'm working for prefer to work with animated graphic symbols rather than Movie clips.

Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? does the computer have to load each one seperately?

Copy Graphic Symbols From Flash To Work On In PS
hi-

I would like to copy some graphic symbols and buttons I made in my flash movie into photoshop so I can work on them and add to a HTML page. Is there anyway to do this?

Thanks
Katin

Flash 5 Edit Center Of Multiple Symbols
In Flash 5 I'm trying to edit the center of multiple symbols on different layers (i.e. upper leg, lower leg, foot) so they can all move as one and still move individully (like a bending leg and foot in a walk cycle for example).

I use Modify>Transform>Edit Center to change the center of a single symbol, but when multiple symbols are selected and I use Modify>Transform>Edit Center, the Edit Center option is greyed out.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Loading Url-encoded Special Symbols Into Flash
Hi, I've got a problem loading special symbols from a text file into an embedded flash textfield. I particularly want to load ” and “ but when i use the correct url encodes - %93 and %94 - it doesn't work. The text simply displays a gap. The & encode works ok so why shouldn't these others? Are only the basic special characters recognized or something?

Flash MX, Symbols, Instance

I create the Car symbol in the library OK. Then I drag this onto the new scene 3 times, creating three instances of the car. However, instead of being individual instances any change made to one of the three cars is made to all of them, as well as to the picture in the library!