Flash :: Problems Referencing Parent Class

Referencing A Parent Method From A SimpleButton Class
I'm new to AS3 (know AS2 fairly well), and am having trouble wrapping my head around OOP methods of doing things. I know it will keep things organized and more modular, so I'm trying to learn, but am having trouble...

Specifically, I've defined a method called showScreen within the document class (Main). I've also defined a NavButton class that's attached to a hand full of simple buttons objects. The only problem is that, when one of the buttons is clicked, I receive an error that the parent class's method (showScreen) isn't defined.

1061: Call to a possibly undefined method showScreen through a reference with static type flash.display:DisplayObjectContainer.

(It's worth noting that I'm still learning to read those fancy new errors, and that making things public / private / static have only confused me further as to their relevance to my problem.)

PHP Code:

// Main.as... abridged to save you time
package com.as3Adventures
{
    public class Main extends MovieClip
    {
        function Main()
        {
            // sets up the elements on the stage, etc
        }
        public function showScreen(which:String):void
        {
            // animates the old screen out and displays
            // another, based on the variable passed

            // this is the method I want to call
        }
    }
}

And

PHP Code:

// NavButton.as... also abridged
package com.as3Adventures
{
    public class NavButton extends SimpleButton
    {
        function NavButton()
        {
            // sets up the button...
            addEventListener (MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);

        }
        function clickHandler (e:MouseEvent):void
        {
            // does a little magic with the button, animating, etc... then...

            trace(parent);  // returns "[object Main]"
            parent.showScreen(this.name);  // <------------ Causes headaches
        }
    }
}

I suspect that making NavButton extend MovieClip rather than SimpleButton would fix this (am I wrong? I have no idea), but doing so breaks the functionality for the button that's already been written. And besides, this seems like a fairly common thing to do - calling a method from a button.

What am I doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated.

Referencing A Parent Method From A SimpleButton Class
I'm new to AS3 (know AS2 fairly well), and am having trouble wrapping my head around OOP methods of doing things. I know it will keep things organized and more modular, so I'm trying to learn, but am having trouble...

I've defined a method called showScreen within the document class (Main). I've also defined a NavButton class that's attached to a hand full of simplebutton objects. The only problem is that, when one of the buttons is clicked, I receive an error that the document class's method (showScreen) isn't defined. I suspect I'm just not referencing it correctly.

1061: Call to a possibly undefined method showScreen through a reference with static type flash.display:DisplayObjectContainer.

(It's worth noting that I'm still learning to read those fancy new errors, and that making things public / private / static have only confused me further as to their relevance to my problem.)

ActionScript Code:
Main.as... abridged to save you time
package com.as3Adventures
{
public class Main extends MovieClip
{
function Main()
{
// sets up the elements on the stage, etc
}
public function showScreen(which:String):void
{
// animates the old screen out and displays
// another, based on the variable passed

// this is the method I want to call
}
}
}

ActionScript Code:
// NavButton.as... also abridged
package com.as3Adventures
{
public class NavButton extends SimpleButton
{
function NavButton()
{
// sets up the button...
addEventListener (MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);

}
function clickHandler (e:MouseEvent):void
{
// does a little magic with the button, animating, etc... then...

trace(parent); // returns "[object Main]"
trace(parent.parent); // returns "[object Stage]"
parent.showScreen(this.name); // <------------ Causes headaches
}
}
}

I suspect that making NavButton extend MovieClip rather than SimpleButton would fix this (am I wrong? I have no idea), but doing so breaks the functionality for the button that's already been written. And besides, this seems like a fairly common thing to do - calling a method from a button. I also suspect that using parent may be attempting to run a method for a DisplayObject rather than the Class itself, but I'm not sure.

What am I doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated.

Referencing Parent Without Adding It To The Parent's DisplayObjectContainer
When using composition, how do I reference the parent object from the child without having added it to the parent's DisplayObjectContainter (addChild) first?

Example:

class A {
var b:B = new B();
}
NOTE: I didn't use addChild on purpose.

class B{
how do I reference A from here the way I would use 'super' to reference a superclass when using inheritance?
}

Referencing Variable In Parent .swf
I'm loading a .swf into a level (200) and I'm trying to set the value of a variable in the parent .swf from the loaded .swf.

I've tried:

parentvar = 21
/arentvar = 21
_root.parentvar = 21

Does anyone know how to do this?

I would really appreciate it.

Referencing A Parent Directory In AS
Hey everyone, I am writing a SWF that is a child of the master SWF, and is located in a folder called "nav" beneath the root directory. If I want to write a script in AS that will be able to access the folder "img" in the root directory, how do I "go up" one level in Actionscript?

Thanks ahead of time!

Parent Movie Clip Referencing
How do I reference two levels above a mc?
Is is _parent._parent ?

I have a mc with a mc inside that has a mc inside. The third mc I want to talk back to the first one.

Not working for me.

Problem With Referencing To Array In Parent
I have an array defined in the main timeline to store some values. At some point of time, I am dynamically adding a movieclip to stage using attachMovie and then using a movieClip.onEnterFrame event to set one of its values by referencing to one value from the main array.

(Sorry if the following description sounds a bit confusing. I am attaching a part of the code below to help describe the situation) The problem is that it is not able to retrieve the value from the main array no matter what I try. I tried adding a "_root" befor the array name and the index array id but it did not work. Not only that but the trace shows that it is able to retrieve the index id as well as the full array but not any particular value from the array - as in, trace(arrayname) outputs all the values from that array but trace(arrayname[a][b][c]) gives an output 'undefined'.

I have managed to make it work by creating a temporary variable to store that particular value just before the onEnterFrame event kicks in, but I would love to know why it is not working the way I thought it should. Here is a part of the code. If someone needs more info about the code then please ask and I will give it in the next post (The full code is way too large to be posted here)

ActionScript Code:
//------In main timeline
var movesNum:Number = 0;
var movesArray:Array = new Array();
var capturesArray:Array = new Array();
var castleArray:Array = new Array();
castleArray[0] = new Array();
castleArray[1] = new Array();
capturesArray[0] = new Array();
capturesArray[1] = new Array();
capturesArray[2] = new Array();
movesArray[0] = new Array();
movesArray[1] = new Array();
movesArray[2] = new Array();
movesArray[3] = new Array();
movesArray[4] = new Array();
movesArray[5] = capturesArray;
movesArray[6] = castleArray;

this.attachMovie(movieName,movesArray[5][0][movesNum],movesArray[5][2][movesNum]);

var capPos:Number = movesArray[5][1][movesNum]; //<-- THIS WORKS

this[movesArray[5][0][movesNum]].onEnterFrame = function () {
// this.currPos = movesArray[5][1][movesNum];
// this.currPos = _root.movesArray[5][1][movesNum];
// this.currPos = _root.movesArray[5][1][_root.movesNum];
//NONE OF THE ABOVE WORK EVEN THOUGH "trace(movesNum)" and "trace(movesArray)" GIVE CORRECT OUTPUT. BUT "trace(movesArray[5][1][movesNum]) OUTPUTS "undefined"

this.currPos = capPos; //<--- THIS WORKS
delete this.onEnterFrame;
}

//-------Inside the movieclip attached----
var currPos:Number;

Can someone please help me understand what I am doing wrong with the referencing here.
Thanks a lot.

Referencing Parent Movie From Scrollpane
Hi, how would you go about making the parent movie do something if another movie was loaded into a scrollpane in the parent movie??

e.g.

##search.swf##

dynamic textbox called theText.

scrollpane with searchResults.swf loaded in

##searchResults.swf##

button
CODEon(press){
_parent.theText = "loading...";
}

XML: Referencing Subnodes Of A Different Parent Node For Next/back Btns?
Hey guys,

I apologize for the duplicate thread, but I think my thread title wasn't illuminating enough and my question to usage specific, so I got no responses.

I'm trying to find a way to reference a specific node in the xml and then navagate to the file/page referenced by the next node.

Right now, I'm using an "id" attributte in the page tag. It works ok for page-to-page navigation, but when I want multiple chapters, I'm stuck.

Currently, my XML is like this (minus the exterraneous metadata, etc.):

Code:
<chapter title="Chapter One Title">
<pg id="1.01">
<title>Page One</title>
<fileName>ch1_pg1.swf</fileName>
</pg>
<pg id="1.01">
<title>Page One</title>
<fileName>ch1_pg1.swf</fileName>
</pg>
</chapter>
<chapter title="Chapter Two Title">
<pg id="2.01">
<title>Page One</title>
<fileName>ch2_pg1.swf</fileName>
</pg>
<pg id="2.02">
<title>Page One</title>
<fileName>ch2_pg2.swf</fileName>
</pg>
</chapter>
The ID is "chapter.page," so ch1 page two will be 1.02, but chapter two pg 1 will be 2.01, etc.

Right now (as clunky and imperfect as it is) I'm putting the id of the current page in a variable, converting it to a number, adding .01 to it, and then converting back to a string. Again, this works fine for page-to-page navigation, but the issue is how do I sense that I'm at the end of a chapter? I need to know so I can go to the next chapter instead of the next page (pageID++).

My code is essentially:

ActionScript Code:
//currentPage stores the ID of the current page
if (currentPage == null)
{
loadPage(chapterList[0].pg[0].fileName, chapterList[0].pg[0].@id);
}
else
{
var nextPage = Number(currentPage) + .01

//pageLoaded tells me if a page has been loaded already.
if (pageLoaded = true)
{
page_mc.removeChild(pageLoader);
}
loadPage(chapterList.pg.(@id == String(nextPage)).fileName, String(nextPage));
}

//pageID is going to be sent to the currentPage variable
private function loadPage(pageToLoad, pageID):void
{
pageLoaded = false;
pageLoader = new Loader();
pageLoader.load(new URLRequest(pageToLoad));
page_mc.addChild(pageLoader);
currentPage = pageID;
pageLoaded = true;
}

I don't know if this is the best way to format the id tag, or how I should handle the back/next functions for the chapter. I am open to alternative suggestions. I know there is probobly a way to do this using arrays (since I'm using XML), but I find arrays very daunting when I'm not trying to create for loops.

One final thing to note is that, since this is an e-learning course, I need to store my bookmarking as a varaible that I can store remotely as a single string and then call back and have flash interpret it to go to a specific page. (thus, the reason I'm using the id tags and storing them in currentPage).

help please?

-Fish

[Flash 8] Referencing Class Variables From OnEnterFrame Created Within Class
Hi,
It's been a while since my last post here, but I was hoping someone could help me with a problem I'm having. I want to reference and change a class variable from within an onEnterframe function defined within a class. I can actually do this right now, but I want to do it in a different way. Here's a code sample of what I am talking about:

Test.fla file:

Code:
var t:tester = new tester()

Working tester.as file:

Code:
class tester{
private var num:Number = 100;

function tester(){
var classObj:tester = this;
var mc:MovieClip = _root.createEmptyMovieClip("test",1);
mc.onEnterFrame = function(){
trace(classObj.num); //This traces 100 (CORRECT!!!)
}
}
}
This traces 100 to the output window, just like it should

Here is the way that I would like to do it, because I want to reuse my onEnterFrame Stuff:

Code:
class tester{
private var num:Number = 100;

function tester(){
var classObj:tester = this;
var mc:MovieClip = _root.createEmptyMovieClip("test",1);
mc.onEnterFrame = this.mcOnEnterFrame;
}

private function mcOnEnterFrame(){
trace(num) //this traces undefined (BAD!!!)
}
}

As you can see, the work around to reading the class variable in the onEnterFrame function is to create a reference to the class object, before defining that function, then using the reference you created to access the class variables.

I have tried various iterations to get the second example working, but have had no luck. Does anyone know a way to get the second method working, or am I stuck using the first method.

[F8] Referencing A Static Class Inside Another Class's Instance
I've got a movie loading into a framework.

This framework has 1 instance of the class main called main.

Inside this class, another class is used, but it is used directly, not as an instance. E.g.:
code:
import com.StaticClass;
class main {
private function UseStaticClass():void {
StaticClass.init();
}
}

From my movie, I can reference the main instance as _root.main. Can I reference StaticClass at all if there's no explicit instance created or it's not assigned to a public variable?

I can't modify main to include getter/setter methods, that's why I ask.

Thanks.

Static Class Variable Referencing Class Instance
I was given the task of writing a class that would send serial requests for xml data, the idea being that the requests could be added while previous requests were still in progress, but the class would queue them and wait for the reply of one request to come back before sending the next.

The way I did this was to create a class instance for each request, and the request itself would be stored in an instance variable, waiting to be sent. A static variable called queue (accessible to all instances) was then given a reference to the instance, and when this reference got to the top of the queue, queue would call the sendRequest() method on that instance.

The reason why I am using one instance per request is so that the replies can be retrieved via the instance, so keeping each request entirely discreet.

Everything works very nicely, but the problem is my IT manager looked at the code and told me that you cannot put a reference to a class instance in a class static variable... and for this reason he has informed my line manager that he has serious reservations about the code, and recommends that it is not incorporated it into the project. However, the code works very well on my local machine and on the testsite, and no-one has experienced any problems with it.

Can someone reassure me here... I can see absolutely nothing wrong with having a class static array hold references to each of the instantiated class instances. And the proof is in the pudding.. it works. Can anyone else see a problem here?

Child Class Trigger Event For Parent Class
is there a way for a parent class to listen to a variable in a subclass, and when it changes, run a function?

This seems like a pretty simple thing to do. I'm trying to keep my subclass independent of my main class, so i just have a variable that is set to false, and when its finished, it sets the variable to true.

The only thing i can think of is having an onEnterFrame that keeps checking the variable...but it seems like an event would be more efficient.

thanks!

How Can A Child Class Pass Values To A Parent Class?
How can a child class pass values to a parent class?

Thanks to joshchernoff I've learned how to send events to a parent class and that works great. However I can't figure out how to pass values thru an event. Can anyone enlighten me?

Call Function In Parent Class From Child Class
Right, so I have a main Document class called Bundl where I'm loading all my other classes (navigation, portfolio, ...). What I'm trying to accomplish is to call a function inside my main Bundl class from a click from the navigation class.

The situation in code:
The Bundl Class (located in the root folder)

Code:
package {
import be.bundl.Navigation;

public class Bundl extends Sprite {
//vars called here

public function Bundl() {
nav=new Navigation("xml/navigation.xml");
addChild(nav);
}
//some more irrelevant functions here

//the function I need to call from the Navigation Class
public function portfolioXML(newXML:String):void {
portfolio=new Portfolio(newXML);
contentContainer.addChild(portfolio);
}
}
}
The code from Navigation class (located in /be/bundl)

Code:
//inside the btnClick function
var test:Bundl = new Bundl();
test.portfolioXML(_someVar)
Which results in an :
Error: Error #2136: The SWF file file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/cerbellum/Projects/Bundl/site/FINAL/FULL.swf contains invalid data.at be.bundl::Navigation/btnClick()

I'm guessing this is due to the fact that I'm calling the parent class in a child or something like that, but how do I get this done otherwise? I must totally be overlooking something here.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

Extended Class Needs To Communicate With Parent Class - How?
Hi,

I am working with an extended class that has a text event handler in it, all of this works perfectly but I need to have communication with classes that extends this class. How is this done?

Example:
ContentView extends BasicContentView

How can BasicContentView trace a variable in ContentView? Can this be done?

In the BasicContentView I do a trace(parent) and it reads ContentView but If I try and read a variable in Content view I get this error:
1119: Access of possibly undefined property tempString through a reference with static type flash.displayisplayObjectContainer.

Thanks,
4dplane

Referencing An Mc Created In One Class From Another Class
Hello everybuddy,

Cracking site, I normally don't post but have read and learned much from here thanks to all the posters!

I'm struggling with AS3 at the moment, forcing myself to take an OO approach and slowly getting there... However I'm now stuck...

My project is a dynamically generated web page, getting pics and data from xml files.

I have a button class that creates buttons based on an xml file, this is in its own class file(buttons.as) which is called from my document class.

The document class also creates a bunch of thumbnails using (screen.as), the thumbnails are placed in an MC called thumbs (which created by the document class).

What I need now is a way of linking my button class to the thumbs MC, so that when I click a button my thumbs MC is tweened using my dotween function.

when I run my project i get an errror from my buttons.as --> 1120: Access of undefined property thumbs.

I guess what i'm asking is how to reference an MC created in one class, from another seperate class. I thought that by setting it to public this would be possible but its not working...

Here is my code:

Code:
//Document.as
package {
import flash.display.MovieClip;
public class Document extends MovieClip {
public var thumbs = new MovieClip;
public var butArr = new Array;
public var screen1:screen;
public var thumbArr = new Array;
public function Document() {
//add buttons
for (var i:uint = 0; i < 10; i++) {
button[i] = new buttons(i);
addChild(button[i]);
}

//add thumb container
this.addChild(thumbs);
//addthumbs
for (var i:uint = 0; i < 10; i++) {
var thumbleft:uint=140+i*320;
thumbArr[i] = new screen(thumbleft,275,i,320,240,"thumb");
thumbs.addChild(thumbArr[i]);
}

screen1 = new screen(140,35,1,640,240,"home");
addChild(screen1);
}
}
}

Code:
//buttons.as
package {
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.net.URLLoader;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.SimpleButton;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.text.*;
import flash.filters.GlowFilter;

import fl.transitions.Tween;
import fl.transitions.TweenEvent;
import fl.transitions.easing.*;
public class buttons extends MovieClip {
public var num:uint=1;
public var myXML:XML;
public var thisText =thisText;
public var thisID:uint = thisID;
public function buttons(thisID) {
this.num=thisID;
getXML();
}
public function getXML() {
var urXML:URLRequest;
var ulXML:URLLoader;
urXML=new URLRequest("buttons.xml");
ulXML = new URLLoader(urXML);
ulXML.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, xmlLoaded);
ulXML.load(urXML);
}
public function xmlLoaded(event:Event) {

myXML = XML(event.target.data);

var xmlID=thisID-1;
thisText=myXML.butTitle[this.num];

makeButton(thisText);
}
public function makeButton(thisText) {
var myTextField:TextField=new TextField;

// Here we add the new textfield instance to the stage with addchild()
addChild(myTextField);

// Here we define some properties for our text field, starting with giving it some text to contain.
// A width, x and y coordinates.
myTextField.text=thisText;
myTextField.width=120;
//myTextField.height=50;

myTextField.multiline = true;
myTextField.wordWrap = true;
myTextField.x=15;
myTextField.y=this.num*50+50;

// Here are some great properties to define, first one is to make sure the text is not selectable, then adding a border.
myTextField.selectable=false;
//myTextField.border=true;

// This last property for our textfield is to make it autosize with the text, aligning to the left.
//myTextField.autoSize=TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;

//This is the section for our text styling, first we create a TextFormat instance naming it myFormat
var myFormat:TextFormat=new TextFormat;

// Giving the format a hex decimal color code
myFormat.color=0xFFFFFF;

// Adding some bigger text size
myFormat.size=16;
myFormat.font="SkandiaDisplay";

// Last text style is to make it italic.
//myFormat.italic=true;

// Now the most important thing for the textformat, we need to add it to the myTextField with setTextFormat.
myTextField.setTextFormat(myFormat);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,changePage);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,mouseover);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,mouseout);
}
function mouseover(evt:MouseEvent):void {
var glow:GlowFilter = new GlowFilter(0xFFFFFF,0.5,5,5);
this.filters=[glow];
}
function mouseout(evt:MouseEvent):void {
this.filters=[];
}
function changePage(evt:MouseEvent):void {
var newPage:Number=evt.currentTarget.num;
trace(newPage);

//not working
//1120: Access of undefined property thumbs.
thumbs.dotween("x",700,460);
}

public function dotween(command,startVal, endVal) {
var myTween:Tween = new Tween(this,command, None.easeOut, 0, 1, 1, true);
}
}
}
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!

Parent Class Or Creator Class
Say I have 2 classes where one creates an instance of the other inside it. How does the created class reference the creator class? Do you use this._parent? Or is there a better/different way? I know about super() but I think this is only used if created class extends creator class and you want to call a parent class member.

Code:

class creator {
var c:created = new created()
}

class created {
//How do I reference any creating class from here?
}

Probelms Referencing A Class
Basically I have a class which extends EventDispatcher (DropDownMenu) and creates instances of another class(MenuButton) dynamically the first class is a menu the second the menu buttons for that menu.

It was all working fine until I make and instance of the dropdown menu which then makes instances of buttons and although the classpath is correct it will not make an instance of the button

this["menuMC"+i] = new MenuButton(dropMenu_mc, p_obj.eventName, 1, 1, p_obj.txt, "VP-100-256-639", "icon_mc", p_obj.iconType, 10, yPos);

unless I first declare this["menuMC"+0] = new MenuButton(); explictily in DropDownMenu constructor which defeats the dynamicnesss of it as I dont want to predeclare the vars because I dont know how many buttons there are going to be.

Has anyone experienced anything like this - its like the class has no scope in the parent class unless it is first declared in constructor - any help would be appreciated.

AS2 Class Object Referencing
Okay, so I have an object which is derived from mty DrawGrid3d class which works lovely. The draw3d class extends the movie clip class and has a constructor methos which believe it or not builds a 3d grid. Now I cant seem to be able to refer to the objects properties in any way. for example the code below traces out 'undefined'.
Any ideas?
Cheers

Code:
my_grid3d=new DrawGrid3D(_root,130,100,16,16,12,18,176,5.9,0xC5D7FE,0xFFFFFF)

trace("GRID IS:"+my_grid3d._x)

Referencing Stage From Class
Hello,
I am trying to make my first as3 class based game and so i was wondering if i could get some help. although the game wont have fancy graphics, i just would like to understand the way it works...currently, i am at a point where im getting :

1067: Implicit coercion of a value of type flash.display:Stage to an unrelated type Stage.
in my main file robot.fla, im using

var robo:robot=new robot(stage);
//var starenemy:enemy1=new enemy1(this.stage);
addChild(robo);

inside that robot.as
....
public class robot extends Sprite {
import flash.display.Stage;
private var _stage:Stage;
....
public function robot(stageRef:Stage):void {
_stage = stageRef;
...
}
amongst other things and i cant reference anything from the stage.

I think im going nuts trying to figure out how to correctly reference things to the stage. so can you take a look and guide me and tell me how i can proceed?
Attached is the zip file

Referencing Class Methods.
Hi,

I am have a class which I am instantiating in the first frame of a movie.
The class has a method called statecheck which I would like to access from a movie clip symbol.
I can reference the method easily from the first frame. what is the correct way of referencing it from the movieclip?

import Tpanel

var public panel:Tpanel = new Tpanel;

panel.statecheck(this); // works

the same line of code in the movieclip symbol does not.

also

_root.panel.statecheck(this); // does not work in as3

Cheers

Matt

Help Referencing A Visual MC From Another Class
I have a fla file with visual content onstage. This Fla also has a document class assigned called Home(extends Movieclip.) One of the visual assets onstage is a movieclip called mcHome that the Home class controls successfully.

I’ve got another class, Photos(extends Sprite) that I have imported(from another package) and it also successfully does what it’s suppose to. However, when I add code to Photos to refer to mcHome, the onstage movieclip, I get an

1120 access of undefined property mcHome error

What is necessary to make Photos understand what mcHome is?
Thanks

Referencing A Subclip From Within A Class File
Say I have the following movieClip Structure

myMovieClip
myMovieClip.subMovieClip

I want to make a Class file for myMovieClip

I would like this Class to reference and adjust the subMovieClip._y using commands from the class file.

I keep getting errors when trying to do this. Is this a matter of syntax or is there no way to reference another movieClip from a class file?

Thanks

Referencing Class Variable From Inside Self
I have a class in an external .as called CustomGroup, and it will take in and process a number of objects which I want to name.

Code:
var myGroup:CustomGroup = new CustomGroup();
var otherGroup:CustomGroup = new CustomGroup();

myGroup.storeMarkers(someArray);
otherGroup.storeMarkers(otherArray);
I would like for each marker in someArray to be indexed with the instance name of the class object (i.e. "myGroup001", "myGroup002", "myGroup003") and ("otherGroup001", "otherGroup002", "otherGroup003")... but I cannot figure out how to target the class variable name from inside itself.

Help?

Dynamic Class Referencing Question
Quick question, I'm sure this is a stupid syntax problem...

Code:
fighter1_mc.aiPattern="SwoopDown";
fighterPattern = new classes.ai_routines[fighter1_mc.aiPattern](this, 20, 1, 5, 5);
fighterPattern = new classes.ai_routines.SwoopDown(this, 20, 1, 5, 5);
The second one creates the object as it is supposed to, but the first one does not. What is the correct way to dynamically reference the object?

Thanks in Advance

Referencing Stage.stageWidth From A Class
I created a custom class in a .as file. I then linked this custom class with a symbol from the library in my .fla file. However, I can't reference stage.stageWidth in my custom class file. I get a null object error.

I think this happens because the custom class file is associated with a symbol on the stage and not the stage itself. For example, if I set the fla file's Document Class to the name of my custom class I can reference stage.stageWidth in the custom class. But I don't do this because I am creating multiple instances of the symbol on the stage. In order to do that properly i found I have to set the class in the properties panel of the symbol to the underlying class which then defines how each symbol behaves.

Under this type of linkage, is there a way to reference the stage width from the class?

I've tried root.stage.stageWidth and parent.stage.stageWidth to no avail. I also made sure to import flash.display.* in my custom class.

Below is the code for my .fla file and my .as file. In the .as file you'll see the line "x = Math.random() * stage.stageWidth;". This is the line giving me problems. I could hard code it, as I do for the y variable on the next line, but I'd prefer not to in order to keep the code flexible.

I also attached the files in a zip.

Any help would be appreciated.

ActionScript Code:
//.fla code

var i:int;

for(i=0; i < 100; i++){
var myBall:flaBall = new flaBall();
addChild(myBall);
}

//.as code

package {

import flash.display.*;
import flash.events.Event;

public class Ball extends MovieClip{

var dx:Number;
var dy:Number;

public function Ball(){
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame2);
reset();
}

private function reset(){
x = Math.random() * stage.stageWidth;
y = Math.random() * 400;
dx = Math.random() * 20 - 10;
dy = Math.random() * 20 - 10;
}

private function onEnterFrame2(event:Event):void{
move();
checkBounds();
}

private function move(){
x += dx;
y += dy;
}

private function checkBounds(){
if (x > 550 || x < 0){
dx *= -1;
}
if (y > 400 || y < 0){
dy *= -1;
}
}
}
}

Referencing A Instance Inside A Class
Hi --

I am working on converting a movie clip to a Class so that I can more easily
reuse it in later projects.

I have pretty succesfully converted my AS code from my include file to a
Class file. However, I have two objects on the stage, topBG and botBG and
whenever I reference these items inside my code, such as botBG._y I get an
error at compile time saying "There is no property with the name 'botBG'"
How can I set it so these assets can be referred to inside my code?

The code worked fine when it was just a movie.. Also, this is ActionScript
2.0.

Thanks

Rich

Referencing Stage From External Class
I have an external class file that extends the MovieClip class and is linked to a movieClip on the main stage. I need it to be able to access properties of other movieclips on the main stage. How could I do this. Here is what my base movieclip class that I want to access the stage with looks like. Remember, it is linked to a movieclip on the stage, if that matters...
Obviously there is more code in the class, but I removed it for the sake of simplicity.

Attach Code

package{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.DisplayObject;
import Math;

public class Test extends MovieClip{

public function Test(){ //Constructor

}
}
}

Referencing Stage.stageWidth From A Class
I created a custom class in a .as file. I then linked this custom class with an symbol from the library in my .fla file. However, I can't reference stage.stageWidth in my custom class file. I get a null object error.

I think this happens because the custom class file is associated with a symbol on the stage and not the stage itself. For example, if I set the fla file's Document Class to the name of my custom class I can reference stage.stageWidth in the custom class. But I don't do this because I am creating multiple instances of the symbol on the stage. In order to do that properly i found I have to set the class in the properties panel of the symbol to the underlying class which then defines how each symbol behaves.

Under this type of linkage, is there a way to reference the stage width from the class?

I've tried root.stage.stageWidth and parent.stage.stageWidth to no avail. I also made sure to import flash.display.* in my custom class.

Any help would be appreciated.

Referencing An Object Inside A Class
and I'm trying to add an event listener and a function to the class, but I keep getting errors of undefined,
I tried just about everthing to be able to refference obj0 can anyone please help?

objGroup.obj0.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClick)
private function onClick (event:MouseEvent):void{

trace ("Click");

}

any help or advice will be greatly appreciated sincerely newwave
---------------this is my complete code - above code-------------feel free to use as you wish----------------------

Attach Code

package {
import flash.display.SimpleButton;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.display.StageAlign;
import flash.display.StageScaleMode;
import flash.events.Event;
import org.papervision3d.core.proto.MaterialObject3D;
import org.papervision3d.lights.PointLight3D;
import org.papervision3d.materials.shadematerials.FlatShadeMaterial;
import org.papervision3d.objects.DisplayObject3D;
import org.papervision3d.objects.primitives.Sphere;
import org.papervision3d.view.BasicView;

public class pv3dMyRotation2 extends BasicView {

private static const ORBITAL_RADIUS:Number = 300;
private var angle:Number = 0;
private var obj0:Sphere;
private var obj1:Sphere;
private var obj2:Sphere;
private var obj3:Sphere;
private var obj4:Sphere;
private var obj5:Sphere;
private var obj6:Sphere;
private var obj7:Sphere;
private var objGroup:DisplayObject3D;

public function pv3dMyRotation2() {
super(0, 0, true, false);
stage.align = StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
init3D();
createScene();
startRendering();
}

private function init3D():void {

camera.x = -200;
camera.y = 0;
camera.z = 0;
}

private function createScene():void {

var light:PointLight3D = new PointLight3D(true);
light.x = 400;
light.y = 1000;
light.z = -400;

var M1:MaterialObject3D = new FlatShadeMaterial(light, 0xFF0000, 0xFFCC99);

for(var i=0; i<8; i++) {
this['obj'+i] = new Sphere(M1, 50, 10, 10);
this['obj'+i].x = ORBITAL_RADIUS * Math.cos(angle);
this['obj'+i].z = ORBITAL_RADIUS * Math.sin(angle);
angle += (360 / 8) * Math.PI / 180;
}

objGroup = new DisplayObject3D();
objGroup.addChild(obj0);
objGroup.addChild(obj1);
objGroup.addChild(obj2);
objGroup.addChild(obj3);
objGroup.addChild(obj4);
objGroup.addChild(obj5);
objGroup.addChild(obj6);
objGroup.addChild(obj7);

scene.addChild(objGroup);
scene.addChild(light);

}

override protected function onRenderTick(event:Event=null):void {
objGroup.yaw(1);
super.onRenderTick(event);
}
}
}

Edited: 02/01/2009 at 08:58:22 PM by newwaveboats

Referencing Timeline Variables From A Class
Yet another question..How do I referece, within a class function, variables residing in the timeline that is invoking the class? (Very beginner here!)

So far I've had to send the timeline variables from the timeline to the class's function as parameters, which works, but there's so many. And I know I can just make these variables reside in _root and reference them this way, but that is not smart.

Does it have to do with _parent at all? Tried using it but failed..

Thanks.

Parent Class
If you have a swf A and it loads Swf B as a child, how would swf B access a public function defined in Swf A?

Example SWF A Doc Class:

ActionScript Code:
package {

import flash.events.*;
import flash.display.*;
import flash.net.*;
import flash.events.*;

public class Common extends MovieClip {

public function Common() {

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, myTrace);

}

public function myTrace(event:MouseEvent):void {

trace("Clickity Click Click");

}
}
}

How would i access myTrace in SWF B ?

Get Parent In A Class
Ok I have a class. I instantiate it like so:

ActionScript Code:
import com.ronnieswietek.news.NewsV1;
var news:NewsV1 = new NewsV1("news.xml");
addChild(news);

Their is a movie clip on the stage called scrollbox that I need access to in the NewsV1 class. How can I access that movieclip in my class? The only way I've been able to do it is if I replace:

ActionScript Code:
var news:NewsV1 = new NewsV1("news.xml");
//with
var news:NewsV1 = new NewsV1("news.xml",this);

and then in the class do this.scrollbox

Is their another way to do it or no ?

Parent AS2 Class?
Firstly, sorry I have not been around answering questions as usual... but I have been quite busy with work.

OK, so I have a quick question related to classes.

I have written a class, a type of photo gallery but that doesnt really matter.
So just imagine I have a external .as class file.
and then in frame 1 of my main timeline I have this

Code:
var myGallery = new PhotoGallery('gallery.xml');
Now, my class doesnt extend MovieClip, do I do make heavy use of existing items on the stage and in the library.

How would I address the main timeline from within my class? (without using an absolute path like _root or _level0)
right now I changed my code so it passes in a reference to the current timeline, like so

Code:
var myGallery = new PhotoGallery('gallery.xml', this);
But it seems there must be a more elegant way to target the parent timeline of a class. Similar to _parent in MovieClip....

Any brilliant ideas?

Thanks

Referencing A Movie Clip From A Class .as File
Okay, so I'm making a game. I've made various class files for various elements on the screen and used linkage to make the movie clips on screen members of my custom classes (by right clicking on the movie clip in the library and selecting linkage, etc). But I'm having an issue...
I can't reference child movie clips. So say I have a movie clip called "sea", and within it I have one called "fish" (instance name, of course). I use linkage to make "sea" a member of my custom "SeaClass" class. However if I try to do something like this.fish.gotoAndStop(5); I get an error saying that there is no property "fish". I understand that it's looking for a "fish" function instead of the "fish" subclip, but is there any way to make it reference the subclip?
This is a big issue because I'm having to use a lot of onClipEvent(enterFrame) variable checks for my subclips and whatnot to make them execute something instead of being able to put the command straight in a function and its really bogging down code.
I hope this makes sense... thanks in advance for the help!

Referencing The Root Timeline Within Using _root In A Class
I have a class that I wrote and I need to reference the root timline but I can't use _root to do that because my movie will be loaded into another movie. Is there another way to reference root?... maybe a _global variable? If so, how would I set up that global variable on the root timline and then use it in the class?

Thanks.

Referencing Dynamically Created Instances Of Class
I've looked up several links but can't figure out why I can't access my dynamically created instances of class in as3... my code is...

Code:
var textPara:textPara1 = new textPara1();

content.addChild(textPara)
textPara.name = "bab"

var maxIndex:Number = content.numChildren - 1;
content.setChildIndex(content.bab as MovieClip, maxIndex);
content.bab.y = 50;
content.bab.x = 500
;

It adds an instance of the "textPara1" class (which I've put in the variable placeholder "textPara") to the display list of the "content" movieclip...

but despite assigning the new instance the name "bab", I can't seem to be able to access it (i.e. when i want to set the x and y position).

I thought it might have something to do with using array [i.e. square brackets] syntax, but already tried that to no avail.

My other thought was maybe I have to write in some sort of code that makes sure the instance has loaded to the stage/display list first and then write and function which references only after that has happened... but I could be talking nonsense!

Please please help. Any thoughts/links very very appreciated.
Cheers.

Referencing Buttons From Class That Extends Movieclip
I'm attaching actionscript classes to my movie clips by extending the MovieClip class and specifying the AS 2.0 class in the linkage properties in the library – with the intention of having basically no code in the FLA.

This works fine and I can respond to events and reference objects contained within that movie clip by declaring a variable with the same name as the object's instance name in the class.

PROBLEM is that the object has to be present on the first frame of the MC, or the class just doesn't know about its existence. I have a short animation on the timeline, and then the btnOK button appears for the first time a few frames later. Problem is that I can't setup any sort of event handler or listener, because when the class is initialised on the first frame it doesn't seem to know about the button.

So in the below code... if the btnOK is on the first frame of the timeline, it traces, otherwise btnOK is undefined.

Code:
class myMC extends MovieClip {

var btnOK:Button;

function myMC() {
btnOK.onPress = function() { trace("clicked") };
}
}
Yeah sure I could place the button on the first frame and show/hide it as needed but that wouldn't be ideal and would make me want to vomit.

By the way, I'm talking about normal everyday button symbols, not the Button component.

Any ideas?

Cheers.

Referencing Main Document Class From A Loaded Swf
Hi,
I'm loading a game swf into what is essentially a shell swf, I'd like game.swf to call a function (myFunction) in the document class of shell.swf.

At the moment I am trying to use the stage within game.swf property as a reference for shell.swf (which extends from movieclip) and then calling stage.myFunction but because the property I want to call is a custom property, it throws an error at compile time saying that the method does not exist.

Any ideas? Is it possible to do this without including the definition for the shell document class in my game.swf? Is it possible to do this without storing a reference to the shell.swf document class - i.e. being able to create the reference from within the game.swf at any desired point.

Cheers
JMC
www.funsneaks.com

Referencing Other Object Classes In A Class Definition
Here's want I want to do.
I have a ball class and paddle class. I want to put a hitTestObject statement in the ball class that references the paddle class. I need the ball class to perform the same function whenever it hits an instance of the paddle class.
Can I achieve this affect with just these two classes, or do I need to write a third class to handle collisions between the two classes?

Why doesn't this work?
ball class:

ActionScript Code:
package
{
import paddle
import flash.display.MovieClip
import flash.events.Event
public class ball extends MovieClip
{
public var xmov:Number = 5
public var ymov:Number = 5
public function ball():void
{
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, enterframe)
}
public function enterframe(event:Event):void
{
if(this.hitTestObject(paddle))
{
ymov *= -1
}
}
}
}

Referencing Text Field Within Custom Class
I have set up two classes, one is the DocumentClass and it imports a custom class i have made called XMLLoader. The problem is I want to change the value of a dynamic text field on the stage with the instance name xml_txt from within the XMLLoader class...

Code:
package classes
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import classes.XMLLoader;

public class DocumentClass extends MovieClip
{
public function DocumentClass():void
{
var xml:XMLLoader = new XMLLoader();
}
}
}

Code:
package classes
{
import flash.events.*;
import flash.net.URLLoader;
import flash.net.URLRequest;

public class XMLLoader
{
var req:URLRequest = new URLRequest("myXML.xml");
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();

public function XMLLoader():void
{
loader.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, loadProgress);
loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, loadComplete);
loader.load(req);
}

private function loadProgress(event:ProgressEvent):void
{
var percent:Number = ( 100 / event.bytesTotal ) * event.bytesLoaded;
trace(Math.round(percent));
}

private function loadComplete(event:Event):void
{
var newLoader:URLLoader = URLLoader(event.target);
trace(newLoader.data);
}
}
}

Packaging And Cyclic Class Referencing Problems
Anyone know of a good source that shows a good solution to these errors:?

"The class <classname> could not be loaded...",
"The class <classname> conflicts with the previously loaded class <classname>..."

I'm having a heck of a time trying to implement some design patterns, like Observer and MVC, inside packages...these patterns include some cyclic class referencing.

Thanks ahead of time,
Mike
Frustrated Flash Developer

Referencing A Class Intance At Root Level
I created a class to do different unit conversions and Its called

Convert.as

Now I have a main movie that is loading different SWF's into the stage depending on what section im in. Is there any way to create one instance of the class in the _root level and be able to access it from ALL the loaded SWF's? Ive experimented but I cannot get it to work. It seems like I have to instantiate the class in each FLA file. I don't like this because Ive got about 10 external SWF files that are using this class and if I change it I have to re publish all of those files. If I can somehow reference the class in the _root level then I would only have to publish it once. Please help...

And I have tried this...

var _root.myClass:Convert = new Convert();

but it wont work. Ive even tried this...
var myClass:Convert = new Convert();
_root.myClass2 = myClass

hoping that I could reference it but it wont work. So im at a loss...

I guess what im looking for is a Global Class that I can access ANYWHERE