Flash :: Type Casting Problems

Type Casting To A Class Name
I'm trying to type cast an item in an array (inventoryList) to a Class, so I can addChild the movieClip to the stage. The items in the inventory 'carrotIcon and passportIcon' - I also have movieClips of the same name in the library with their own classes.

It works when I just change the line to 'addIconName = new carrotIcon()' for example. Maybe the answer is that I should use something else than 'Class' as the type cast. I've tried MovieClip to no avail.

var itemName:*;
var inventoryList:Array = new Array();
inventoryList.push("carrotIcon");
inventoryList.push("passportIcon");

for (var i:int = 0; i < (inventoryList.length); i++)
{
itemName = Class(inventoryList[i]); //this is the line I'm having problems.
addIconName = new itemName();
addChild(addIconName);
}

Thanks for looking!
Joe

Dynamic Type Casting - Is It Possible?
Is there a way to do something like the following...?

Code:
var myClass:String = "blah";
var inst = new[myClass]();
I've invented the above syntax--though I'd be delighted if it turned out to work! For clarity, I would hope for something like the above code to be synonymous with the following:

Code:
var inst:blah = new blah();
...So is it possible to dynamically specify a class name when creating a new instance?

Type Casting Classes
Alright let's say I have a MovieClip in the library with the linkage set to TestClass and I have this code...

var string1:String = "Test";
var string2:String = "Class";

var testClass:* = new Class([string1 + string2])();
this.addChild(testClass);

so testClass should be an instance of TestClass, this works for me sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.

Does any one have any advice as a better way to do this, and what this tecnique is called ( root["string" + "1"])?

Thanks for all you guy's help!

Type Casting And Equality
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert uk.co.andrewrea.brickwall::BrickWall@24b1191 to uk.co.andrewrea.brickwall.BrickWall.

Does anyone know why this would be. I create a variable of Type BrickWall and then assign it a variable of type BrickWall the event data of the loader i.e.

ActionScript Code:
wall = e.target.content.wall;

both wall and e.target.content.wall are of the same type of the same package, but seem to be handled as different types. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,

Andrew

How Strong Is Type Casting
I have a variable saved in the first frame of my fla file
var question:Number = 0;

I want to make it possible for sombody to jump around in the exersice so I built kind of a jumper and saved it in its own mc. In the mc I have a button called jump with the following code.

_root.question = q.text;

Now that question will work but when I tried to add one to my question variable it did something weird. Say I want to jump to question 2. When it tries to add one to my question variable I get 21. It seems that by saving q.text to my question variable, it gets recasted to a String. Has anybody else bumped into this problem.

Side note: I did fix this with parseInt. I am just curious why this happened in the first place, is type casting really not that strong?

Dynamic Type Casting - Is It Possible?
Is there a way to dynamically typecast a new instance? Maybe something like the following...?

Code:
var myClass:String = "blah";
var inst = new[myClass]();
I've invented the above syntax--though I'd be delighted if it turned out to work! For clarity, I would hope for something like the above code to be synonymous with the following:

Code:
var inst:blah = new blah();
...So is it possible to dynamically specify a class name when creating a new instance?

AS2 - Casting An Object To A Different Type
Hi all,
I'm trying to convert a String to Slide (mx.screens.Slide). Everytime I'm getting null.

ActionScript Code:
var slide = "slide_11"
_root.presentation.gotoSlide(slide);

I need to do this but it doesn't work. I have a string because slide_11 was in a xml file.

Any idea?

Help: Casting String Gotten From Xml To A Number Type
Hi all,

I have a major problem, I have parsed the data from an xml doc to global vars in flash and need to use a few of them as numbers for things the position of "nodes" on the screen. However I can not cast the data stored as a var to a number or int value.

For example in the code below when the set Node button is pressed it traces the "Node's" current X value, then the value in the global var gotten from the xml, which contains the x position of where to place the Node.

Next it creates a new var of Number Type and assigns it the Number value of the string in global var.

It then traces the new value of SNtopLeftX and sets the x pos of the Node's movie clip to the value of SNtopLeftX

However the Node doesn't move and this is the output I get from the traces

Start Node is at x = -734.5
nod_topLeftX is 16
TopLeftX = 16
SN TopLeftX = NaN

I do not understand why I am getting NaN when the string of nod_topLefX is 16, any ides?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attach Code

butNodeSet.onRelease = function() {

trace ("Start Node is at x = " + mcStartNode._x);
trace ("nod_topLeftX is " + nod_topLeftX);

var SNtopLeftX:Number = Number(nod_TopLeftX);
trace ("StartNode TopLeftX = " + SNtopLeftX);
mcStartNode._x = SNtopLeftX;
}

Help: Casting String Gotten From Xml To A Number Type
Hi all,

I have a major problem, I have parsed the data from an xml doc to global vars in flash and need to use a few of them as numbers for things the position of "nodes" on the screen. However I can not cast the data stored as a var to a number or int value.

For example in the code below when the set Node button is pressed it traces the "Node's" current X value, then the value in the global var gotten from the xml, which contains the x position of where to place the Node.

Next it creates a new var of Number Type and assigns it the Number value of the string in global var.

It then traces the new value of SNtopLeftX and sets the x pos of the Node's movie clip to the value of SNtopLeftX

However the Node doesn't move and this is the output I get from the traces

Start Node is at x = -734.5
nod_topLeftX is 16
TopLeftX = 16
SN TopLeftX = NaN

I do not understand why I am getting NaN when the string of nod_topLefX is 16, any ideas?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is my Code
butNodeSet.onRelease = function() {

trace ("Start Node is at x = " + mcStartNode._x);
trace ("nod_topLeftX is " + nod_topLeftX);

var SNtopLeftX:Number = Number(nod_TopLeftX);
trace ("StartNode TopLeftX = " + SNtopLeftX);
mcStartNode._x = SNtopLeftX;
}

Instantiation/Type Casting Problem With GetChildAt
Alrighty so I'm kinda new with actionscript 3.0 and have been having a problem with getChildAt. I'm working on creating a dynamic menu have have found that when I addChildAt using a for loop it adds all the childs properly however when I go to use getChildAt on the MovieClip that I have created using "var newMC:MovieClip = mc_container.getChildAt(x)" it returns a problem saying "Implicit coercion of a value with static type flash.display:DisplayObject to a possible unrelated type flash.display:MovieClip"
Anyways I'm trying to get it to work however I found a work around that I'm not sure why works where I just do "var newMC = mc_container.getChildAt(x)" and that will let me access all of the variables and stuff however when I do a trace on the newMC it says type undefined... Anyways some help would be awsome, and heres my code btw, should be pretty easy to read.

import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.Shape;

var news_content_num = 1;
var news_padding = 0;
var news_padding_distance = 10;

var news_ymin = 0;

var news_full_width = 289;
var news_full_height = 154;

var news_compact_height = 61;

var news_shading_xval = 290;
var news_shading_yval = 255;

var news_bordersize = 1;
var news_shading_offset = 1;

var news_content:MovieClip = new MovieClip();

function drawBorder():Shape {
var border:Shape = new Shape();
border.name = "border_"+[x];

//Add the Left Line and then Top Line
border.graphics.lineStyle(news_bordersize, 0xCCCCCC, 1);
border.graphics.moveTo(0, news_ymin + news_full_height);
border.graphics.lineTo(0, news_ymin);
border.graphics.lineTo(news_full_width, news_ymin);

//Add the Right Side Drop Shadow
border.graphics.lineStyle(news_bordersize, 0X999999);
border.graphics.moveTo(news_full_width+1, news_ymin+2);
border.graphics.lineTo(news_full_width+1, news_full_height+news_shading_offset);

//Add the Bottom Side Drop Shadow
border.graphics.lineTo(2, news_full_height+news_shading_offset);
//this.addChild(border);

//Add the Right Side Border
border.graphics.lineStyle(news_bordersize, 0X000000);
border.graphics.moveTo(news_full_width,news_ymin);
border.graphics.lineTo(news_full_width, news_full_height);
//this.addChild(border);

//Add The Bottom Side Border
border.graphics.lineTo(0, news_full_height);

return border;
}

function drawNews_fullSize(x:Number) {
var mc = new MovieClip();
mc.name = "news_"+[x];
mc.y = news_padding;
mc.addChild(drawBorder());
news_content.addChildAt(mc, x);
}

function set_padding()
{
news_padding = news_padding + news_full_height + news_padding_distance;
}

for(x = 0; x < 4; x++){
drawNews_fullSize(x);
set_padding();
}

this.addChild(news_content);

//What I want it to run as...
//var news:MovieClip = news_content.getChildAt(0);
//What currently works...
//var news = news_content.getChildAt(0);

Fancy Box Type Moving Graphic Type Cool Efect But Im To Dumb Type Thingy
i am tring to make a box thinky simaler to the one on www.starvingeyes.com but cant even work out how to start it. is there anyone who can point me in the right direction or to a tutorial ?

the box has a graphic inside a grided box the sections of the graphic fade in and out as the mouse goes over them and displays random sections when the user is not moving the mouse over the box

i did find java tutorials for this effect but would much preffer it to come from flash as java is a bugger to get working on some machines

Any way thanks in advance for any help

Steven Green one_mad_punk@yahoo.co.uk

AS3: Casting
What is the difference between the following two statements?

ActionScript Code:
oBj1 = XML(oBj2);

and

ActionScript Code:
oBj1 = oBj2 as XML;

TIA, Eugene

Casting
Hi. Why does the attached lines return true, all three of them?

I understand the first returning true, I could even understand the second (strictly from the documentation it's ok to return true, but I think the "as" word is misleading), but I definitely don't understand why the third one is true.

Could some one explain me the exact semantics of those thing?

Thanks,
FaQ

Attach Code

var a:Sprite = new Sprite();

trace(a is Sprite, " = a is Sprite");
trace((a as DisplayObject) is Sprite, " = (a as DisplayObject) is Sprite");
trace(DisplayObject(a) is Sprite, " = DisplayObject(a) is Sprite");

Web Casting And Forums?
Hi folks, I need a pointer in the right direction here!
I have to setup a live webcam and a stills webcam on 10min refresh, aslo I need to make a forum page all in flash mx2004, can anyone point me in the direction of some good tutorials that I can just dive into?

Any help greatly appriciated.

Cheers.

Casting To Integer - What's Going On?
Look at this piece of code:

---------------------
alint = "0060";
trace (int(alint));
---------------------

this gives the value 48.

-48!?!? Where does that come from?

Help appreciated!

Casting An Array To An Int
I have this trace statement that reads out a array of an sql database-
trace(re.result._items[row][name]);

It prints this

2
8 *
3
1
5 *
2
0
5 *
1

I am trying to pull out the numbers with a * and make them seperate int's. Whats the best way to do this? Thanks in advance!

Casting To Integer?
Hi,

I am new to actionscript .
How do I cut off the decimal part of a Number to get only an integer.

I want to display % complete of an upload, and I want for example
75.43% to read 75%

So there is no integer type in ActionScript 2? only Number?
Is there some way to cast the darn thing ?
Or how do i do it?

-thanks

Instanceof And Casting; Anyone?
I'm setting up a nice event-handling class for taking care of the WebServiceConnector. I'm trying to do a clean cast of the result object, so I can get it back into type safety before handing it off to whatever class asked for it.

This (and variations thereof) is what I've been trying for a while now:

Code:
private function resultListener(res:Object)
{
if(res.target.results instanceof Boolean)
{
var return:Boolean = Boolean(res.target.results);
}
else if(res.target.results instanceof String)
{
var return:String = String(res.target.results);
}
else if(res.target.results instanceof Number)
{
var return:Number = Number(res.target.results);
}
else if(res.target.results instanceof Array)
{
var return:Array = Array(res.target.results);
}
else if(res.target.results instanceof Object) //(should) always true
{
var return:Object = Object(res.target.results);
}
}
None of these if-clauses are ever true. I would suspect - at the very least - that "instanceof Object" would be a catch-all, but it isn't. So... what type is results?

Do you have any idea as to how I can create this function - casting the result to a known AS-type?

Casting To Boolean From XML
How would you get Flash to recognise a value passed via XML as a boolean true/false...

Ive tried casting it to force it to be Boolean, which I think ive done correctly as:

ActionScript Code:
var run:Boolean = Boolean(xmlData.run.text())

Ive also tried removing the .text() however it always goes true, anyone know what i'm doing wrong...?

XML Node And Casting To Int
Just came across a strange behaviour in my Flex app when casting a xml node value to int.

Code:

//The attibute is set to '2'

var selectedCodeId:int = int(selectedFilterTreeNode.@codeId); //gave 2

var selectedCodeId:int = selectedFilterTreeNode.@codeId as int; //gave 0
Anyone seen this before?

SharedObject Casting
I'm storing a custom class object in a local SharedObject file, and then later trying to retrieve it. When I try to retrieve it, I get the following error:"Type Coercion failed: cannot convert Object@10547d59 to AS3.accounting.UserAccount."
The "@10547d59" changes every time obviously since it is just a temporary type name.

The 'basic' code to save the object is this:

ActionScript Code:
public function createUser(name:String, password:String):Boolean{
var users:Object = userAccounts.data.users;
if(!users) users = new Object();
if(users[name]) return false;

user = new UserAccount(name, password);
users[name] = user;
userAccounts.setProperty("users", users);
userAccounts.flush();
return true;
}

The 'basic' code to load the object is this:

ActionScript Code:
public function findUser(name:String, password:String):Boolean{
var users = userAccounts.data.users;
if(!users || !users[name]) return false;
user = users[name];

return true;
}

The object being sent-to the file is of type UserAccount, and the data retrieved is attempting to be placed in a UserAccount object, but the retrieved data doesn't seem to remember what type it was, and since Object is higher in the inheritance hierarchy it won't naturally convert it for me.

If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them. Otherwise, when I figure out the best solution I'll post it below.

Casting Types
How to I cast a String to an int in flash AS3

FLVMovie Casting
Hi there...

I'm new to the hole AS3 stuff... so sorry if the question is kind of silly.

For the Question:
I created my own FLVMovie Class:

Code:
package {

import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import fl.video.FLVPlayback;

public class FLVMovie extends FLVPlayback{

public function FLVMovie(){
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,clickHandler);
}

public function clickHandler(btn){
trace('movie click');
this.stop();
}
}
}
No for the question itself.... I have a existing FLVPlayback on the Stage... is there a way to convert / cast it into a FLVMovie so it has the Click event handler?

thx...

Casting MC To FLVPlayback
I need to create a FLVPlayback component dynamically, but it seems I can't cast the MovieClip returned by attachMovie to FLVPlayback class, it always return null. If I create a new document, it works well. I think this problem happen when I tell Flash to export classes at frame 2, but my component is being attached at frame 3. Is there a way to export classes for frame 2 and still being able to cast the Component?

Casting Error In CS 3
Hi guys,

I maintain an API for which have a huge chunk of its code loaded dynamically from the server. This is all fine and dandy until I try to parse costume class instances back and forward between the current file and the loaded remote API file.

Basically I get a cast error as below:
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert Nonoba.api.net::Connection@408e47e1 to Nonoba.api.net.Connection.

My initial ida for a solution was to simply just accept :* and do
var conn:Connection = parsedObject as Connection
but this results in a null value

Any ideas?

Casting Woes
Imagine a quick scenario;

_thumbs is a Sprite, inside it is a custom class called "thumb1" (extends MovieClip) and inside that is a sprite called "nail". Nail is a libraryitem. Nail has a child called blocker (that's in the library item already).

Now, this works fine;

ActionScript Code:
var t = _thumbs.getChildByName("thumb"+i);var sx = t.getChildByName("nail");TweenMax.to(sx.blocker,1,{yada});

Wheras this works fine, I can't for my life figure out how to cast these variables. If I try making them DisplayObjects or Sprites or MovieClips or whatnot it all throws error with either implicit coercion or reference to a undefined method getChildByName

Grateful for any insight.

Casting Vs. Converting
hey, thought it might be useful to some to see these tests i ran:

ActionScript Code:
private function testTypeConversions () :void {
var i:int = 10;
trace("int as String:"+(i as String)); //null
trace("String(int):"+String(i)); //"10"
trace("int.toString():"+i.toString()); //"10"
var num:Number = 0.5;
trace("Number as String:"+(num as String)); //null
trace("String(Number):"+String(num));    //"0.5"
trace("Number.toString():"+num.toString()); //"0.5
var str:String = "2.3";
trace("String as int:"+(str as int));    //null
trace("int(String):"+int(str));   //2
trace("parseInt(String):"+parseInt(str)); //2
trace("String as Number:"+(str as Number)); //null
trace("Number(String):"+Number(str));    //2.3
}

the moral of the story here is that AS2-style casting:

ActionScript Code:
Type(value)

can actually convert primitives to a different datatype, while AS3-style casting:

ActionScript Code:
value as Type

will not convert (and will return null if the cast is invalid).

while it may be tempting, then, to just stick with AS2-style casting, i'm pretty sure it's preferable to use AS3-style casting and conversion functions like toString, parseInt, and parseFloat. that's more in keeping with other OO languages.

also, as a side note, the AS3 language reference actually refers to AS2 casting functions as conversion functions. that's what they do...don't (do what i did and) confuse them with casting via 'as'!

Implicit Coercion Of A Value Of Type String To An Unrelated Type Function
Hi there

Why I can't use an "eval" function (i am not sure this is the right terminology) inside addEventListener (I put in yellow) ?

for (i=1;i<10;i++) {
var constructFunction1:String;
var constructFunction2:String;
constructFunction1="choix3"+i+"Handler";
constructFunction2="choix3"+i+"HandlerClick";
MovieClip(this["choix"+i]).addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,constructFunction);

Then error in the compiler:

1067: Implicit coercion of a value of type String to an unrelated type Function.

Pixel/Bitmap Vs True Type/Open Type Fonts
I'm new to flash and I've been getting conflicting advice on which type of fonts to use. I've done several searches in the forms and I'm still just as puzzled so I've decided to start my own discussion on the subject. So here we go:
1) Are Pixel and bitmap fonts the same type of font?
2) Which is better to use True Type or Pixel (bitmap) fonts and where and/or why

Please help this newbie to flash and jump in with your opinion, experiences, etc.

Thanks

Casting A String To An Object
I'm having trouble passing an object parameter using a string concatenation in a for loop...

in the for loop, I duplicate movieClips, copying a movie called "glass" and try to register it's speeds with the register() function below.

for (i = 1; i <= numObjects; i++) {
duplicateMovieClip(glass,"glass" + i, i);
register("glass" + i,20,20,20);
}

function register(object, xspeed, yspeed, rspeed) {
objects.push(object);
object._xspeed = xspeed * (2 * Math.random() - 1);
object._yspeed = yspeed * (2 * Math.random() - 1);
object._rspeed = rspeed * (2 * Math.random() - 1);
}

unfortunately, when passing tmp as "glass" + i, register thinks its a string, not an object. The object appear on stage, but doesn't move. If I hard code register() passing in as register(glass2,20,20,20) it does move.

How do I cast the string I pass in as an object?

Casting (like In Java?) Or Help In This Thing
hi guys,

how do you cast, like you do in Java?

string = (String)(skaljeasjkle)
..
or, you can just help me to do this

you see, i have a class Q. i named my instances of these q0, q1, q2 to qn.
in this class Q, i have vars question, a0, a1, a2, a3.

i want flash to read the Q (q0, q1, q2, qn) depending on the counter at a moment in time. for example...

var temp = (Q)(q + "" + counter);
//so i can access the qn's vars..
trace(qcounter.a1);

i THINK you can do something like that in Java but even there i'm already rusty.

if i don't use this method, i'll have a HUGE if statement.. or switch. and of course, i wouldnt want to do that.

Casting A String Into A Function
Hi,

I would like to convert a String to a function:

Code:
public function Init(command:String)
{
//i need to call the handleHowTo() function from here base on the command String
}

public function handleHowTo()
{
trace("yes");
}

Init("handleHowTo");

How can I convert the command:String to a function to call the function handleHowTo() ? is there a way to cast a String into a Function ???

Thanks ;)

Help Casting A String To A Number
I've got a String value I'm trying to pass into a beginFill() function, but it's not happy with a String and gives me this error: "1067: Implicit coercion of a value of type String to an unrelated type uint. I've tried casting using "hexString as Number" but that turns my pretty "0xFFFFFF" into something like 106425. Any suggestions on how to give beginFill a value that's originally a String?

ActionScript Code:
private function createBG(hexString:String):void
{
// this doesn't work - it turns my "0xFFFFFF" format into a numeral
//var bgColor:Number = hexString as Number;

var bg:Shape = new Shape();

// pre-defined colored bg, starting at point 0, 0
bg.graphics.beginFill(bgColor);
bg.graphics.moveTo(0, 0);
bg.graphics.lineTo(stage.width, 0);
bg.graphics.lineTo(stage.width, stage.height);
bg.graphics.lineTo(0, stage.height);
bg.graphics.lineTo(0, 0);
addChild(bg);
}

Casting Loader.content
Hi,

I am trying to dynamically load swf-files. They extend a class TestClass. However, using Loader, flash always considers loader.content as MovieClip, leading to the methods and properties defined in TestClass not being available.

Casting does not seem to work.

Am I taking the wrong approach?

Cheers,
jt

Casting / Concating XML Nodes
Hi,

I am having trouble getting Flash to recognize an XML path if it is cast from strings originally.

Doesn't work:
var nNode:XMLList = input.item[2].project.material;
var target:XMLList = XMLList(nNode+".page");
trace(target is XMLList); // true
trace(target);// input.item[2].project.material.page

Works:
var nNode:XMLList = input.item[2].project.material.page;
var target:XMLList = XMLList(nNode);
trace(target is XMLList); // true
trace(target);// outputs the contents of the XML node (the desired result)

Is there a way to concat an XML name together without using a string or cast the entire name differently so that the node is read properly by Flash?

Thanks in advance,

Bobby

AS3 Calculating And Number Casting
Hi everyone...

Since my project's code majority is some math routine, i have to kno the exact actionscript flow of makin calculations.

My usual formulas are mixes of ints and Number.

I've made severl tests like this:

Code:
var a:int = 2;
var b:int = 3;
var c:int = a/b;
trace(c);

// 0

Code:
var a:int = 2;
var b:int = 3;
var c:Number = a/b;
trace(c);

// 0.6666667

Code:
var a:int = 2;
var b:int = 3;
var c:int = Math.ceil(a/b);
trace(c);

// 1
So once after that I've made some conclusions, that first calculation is made in floats (Numbers), after that it's casted to the type (int or Number) which is requerd by the left hand operator, or function arguments place.

Am I right? Can anyone get me some accurate scheme of how those calculating things are performed? Or link? Thank you!

Casting Data Types From XML To AS 3.0
Hey guys,

I was just wondering if it's possible to cast standard AS 3.0 data types other than Number, int, uint and String from XML. I experimented with this:

ActionScript Code:
var xml:XML = <root_node>
<number_node>12.9876</number_node>
<int_node>321654</int_node>
<string_node>this is a string</string_node>
<boolean_node>false</boolean_node>
</root_node>;

var number_node:Number = xml.number_node;
var int_node:int = xml.int_node;
var string_node:String = xml.string_node;
var boolean_node:Boolean = xml.boolean_node;

trace(number_node); // returns 12.9876
trace(int_node); // returns 321654
trace(int_node * number_node); // returns 4177513.4904
trace(string_node); // returns this is a string
trace(boolean_node); // returns true (AS 3.0 default)

If it's only numbers and strings, would it be possible to use remoting and and something like AMFPHP, WebOrb, Zend Framework, etc. with MySQL to store other datatypes? Is there an easy solution?

Number Casting Problem
Hi there,

I'm trying to add two numbers. One is a variable I keep on the server, the other is one I get from a client..
Seeing as the calls from the client are all casted to strings (I think so at least). Is there any way I can cast them to a number in my server so I can add them instead of concatinating them as string...
plan is to make 5+5=10 instead of 55 ;-)

Thanks in advance

Bart

Casting String To Uint
Hello,

Does anyone know how to cast a string into a uint?

I have tried some along the lines of the following:

var myStr:String = "0x000000";
var myUint:uint;

myUint = uint(myStr);

But i keep getting an error stating that there is a mismatch in variable types or i get a value of '65280' when I trace myUint. I understand that uint is a positive integer but i need to accept a string for the colour value and need to convert it to a string for use.

Any suggestions and correct answers are welcome. I will post or indicate the working solution once this problem has been solved.

Thanks in advance to everyone,

Lee

Edited: 11/26/2008 at 03:42:18 AM by leej_w

Flex/AS3 Casting Question
I am having a hard time coming from another programming mentality here. I am trying to reference an object using a variable passed to a handler. the string as it seems (datatype) is correct, but I cant figure out how to define it as an object reference.

The problem here is, event.item.@data when outputed as a string is "networkPanel" which i want. But I need to somehow, and i dont know the command to do so... but if it existed

thisIsaObject(event.item.@data).visible = whatever;

Code:
private var menubarXML:XMLList =
<>
<menuitem label="Applications" data="top">
<menuitem label="Network Status" data="networkPanel"/>
</menuitem>
</>;
// Event handler to initialize the MenuBar control.
private function initCollections():void {
menuBarCollection = new XMLListCollection(menubarXML);
}
// Event handler for the MenuBar control's itemClick event.
private function menuHandler(event:MenuEvent):void{
//If i change event.item.@data to networkPanel - this works.
if (event.item.@data == true)
{
event.item.@data.visible = false;
}
else
{
event.item.@data.visible = true;
}
}

Draggable MC, Class & Casting
Let’s say I wish to drag a panel but only from a strip at the top. I put a MovieClip named mcBar inside a MovieClip named mcPanel.
When I code frame one in the timeline it works.

ActionScript Code:
mcPanel.mcBar.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, downHandle); mcPanel.mcBar.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, upHandle); function downHandle(evtObj:MouseEvent):void{ this.startDrag(); } function upHandle(evtObj:MouseEvent):void{ this.stopDrag(); }

What’s confusing is that it works. Why is the whole thing dragging? I’m assuming it’s event propagation? mcBar’s mouse down is “bubbling” to mcPanel… Even though this is exactly what I want – Don’t completely understand it.

Now, further complication is when I move the code to a class.

ActionScript Code:
package{ //imports import flash.display.MovieClip; import flash.events.MouseEvent; public class DraggableClip extends MovieClip{ //constructor public function DraggableClip(){ this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, downHandler); this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, upHandler); } //methods function downHandle(evtObj:MouseEvent):void{ parent.startDrag(); } function upHandle(evtObj:MouseEvent):void{ parent.stopDrag(); } }}

Now, if I assign mcBar via Linkage to DraggableClip.as, only the bar drags. This is the behavior I would have expected when I initially coded the timeline. However, I really do want the entire panel to drag so how do I target it?

As the target for the drag methods:

this refers to the instance of the class(mcBar only) , parent throws a 1061: Call to a possibly undefined method startDrag through a reference with static type flash.displayisplayObjectContainer. error.

I found a drag MC sample from Jen deHaan that had: var thisMC:MovieClip = event.currentTarget as MovieClip;

I barely understand that this is a Casting Operation...Is this what I'm missing?

In Summary:What do I need to do to get mcBar inside mcPanel to drag both mcBar and mcPanel from code in a class?
Also if my issue is with casting, why?
In my deHaan sample, why legacy as operator vs type(expression)?
Thanks for any/all insight.

Casting Embedded Objects
im trying to import a symbol from my external swf and then cast it as a custom object, but failing miserably!!

heres where i started, successfully instancing the asset as a sprite

ActionScript Code:
[Embed (source = “../fla/library.swf”, symbol = “customCursor”)]
private var cursorSprite:Class;

var customCursor:Sprite = new cursorSprite();
addChild(customCursor);

but now i want to cast customCursor, so tried:

ActionScript Code:
import CustomCursor;

[Embed (source = “../fla/library.swf”, symbol = “customCursor”)]
private var cursorSprite:Class;

var customCursor:CustomCursor = new cursorSprite() as CustomCursor;
addChild(customCursor);

and various variations on the above, all of which failed. any tips would be much appreciated.

Simple (I Hope) Casting Question
I'm processing some XML, which is working fine except for the fact that some of the parameters are attributes, which in essence, makes them strings by default. The parameters, though, are typed as a uint(s) because they are numeric.

How can you cast a string value to a number (uint) value. I've tried the generic method for casting uint(stringName) and Number(stringName), but that doesn't work.

Any suggestions ? Thanks in advance.

Accessing Parent Properties / Casting
Hi

I have a problem with accessing the properties of a parent movieclip in AS3

I have 2 movieclips on my scene: clip1 and clip2

I have some actionscript inside clip2 that I would like to use to access some properties of clip1

So I tried this code:
Code:
trace((this.parent.parent as MovieClip).clip1.y);

but I get the following error:
Access of possibly undefined property some through a reference with static type flash.displayisplayObjectContainer.

It seems to me the path I use to get the properties of clip1 is correct, isn't it?

Thanks in advance for your help

Casting A Base Or Inherited Class?
Howdy Folks,

I have a number of movieclips on stage. Each of these movieclips has their base class assigned to a generic Character class which gets populated with specific data for each character via an xml file.

When the time comes to generate the next screen i would like to cast the chosen movieclips base Character class back into another Character class but am not exactly sure how that would be done.

So in the interim I have a function that creates a new Character object and walks through properties of the chosen movieclip and assigns them...

Is it possible to cast a base class of a movieclip back into another class without inheriting all the movieclip properties that I don't need?

many thanks,

frank grimes

Accessing Parent Properties / Casting
Hi

I have a problem with accessing the properties of a parent movieclip in AS3

I have 2 movieclips on my scene: clip1 and clip2

I have some actionscript inside clip2 that I would like to use to access some properties of clip1

So I tried this code:
Code:
trace((this.parent.parent as MovieClip).clip1.y);
but I get the following error:
Access of possibly undefined property some through a reference with static type flash.displayisplayObjectContainer.

It seems to me the path I use to get the properties of clip1 is correct, isn't it?

Thanks in advance for your help