AS3: how do i stop two of the same function from playing at once? - function

Question

i am using AS3 to create a function that will automatically play a movieclip all the way through and then remove it. my project is going to have a lot of animated cutscenes, so id like to be able to call this function, use the cutscene id like as a parameter, and then move on to the next. the problem is, im trying to use the function multiple times in a row to play clips sequentially, but they're all playing at the same time. is there a fix, or a better way to do this altogether?
playClip(new a_walk); //find a way to make these stop playing at the same time
playClip(new a_door);
//a_walk and a_door are the AS linkage class names for the movieclips im referring to
function playClip (clip:MovieClip):void {
addChildAt(clip, 0);
clip.mask = myMask;
clip.x=412.4;
clip.y=244.5;
clip.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, checkframes);
function checkframes(event:Event) {
if (clip.currentFrame == clip.totalFrames) {
//trace("wow! youre an idiot!");
if (clip.parent) {
clip.parent.removeChild(clip);
trace (100);
return;
}
}
}
}

Answer 1

Sounds like you want a mechanism to play a queue of MovieClips? If so, here is a way you can accomplish this:
//create an array with the clips you want to play (in order), in my example here, the items can be a MovieClip derived Class, or a MovieClip instance
var playQueue:Array = [a_walk, a_door];
//create a var to store the currently playing clip
var currentClip:MovieClip;
playNext(); //call this when you want the queue of clips to start playing
function playNext():void {
//if there was an item previously playing (currentClip has a value), stop it and remove it/dispose of it
if(currentClip){
currentClip.stop(); //stop it from playing
currentClip.addFrameScript(currentClip.totalFrames-1, null); //remove the frame script that was added
currentClip.parent.removeChild(currentClip); //remove it from the display
currentClip = null;
}
//check if there's anything left to play
if(playQueue.length < 1) return;
var nextItem:* = playQueue.shift(); //shift retrieves and removes the first item in the array;
if(nextItem is Class){
//if it's a class, instantiate it
currentClip = new nextItem();
}else{
currentClip = MovieClip(nextItem);
}
//initialize the movie clip
addChildAt(currentClip, 0);
currentClip.gotoAndPlay(1);
//this is just what you were doing before:
currentClip.mask = myMask;
currentClip.x=412.4;
currentClip.y=244.5;
//add a command on the last frame of the movie clip to play the next item in the queue
currentClip.addFrameScript(currentClip.totalFrames-1, playNext);
//addFrameScript is 0 based, so 0 would refer to the first frame. This is why we subtract 1 to get the last frame
}
I should note, that addFrameScript is an undocumented function. It serves as a nice shortcut so you don't have to have an ENTER_FRAME listener checking currentFrame vs. totalFrames. Being undocumented however, one can not count on it's continued existence in future versions of the Flash/AIR runtimes (though it's been around for a long long time)

Answer 2

note
This answer is a work in progress. I'm waiting on a response from the OP.
// playClip(new a_door); don't call this yet, or they will just both play.
var clipData:CustomClass = new CustomClass(); // add an instance of a custom class to hold the value of the movie
//clip being played (so that you can use this value later in the event handler.)
// it will also hold a value of the next clip
clipData._currentClip = a_walk;
clipData._nextClip = a_door;
playClip(new a_walk);
function playClip (clip:MovieClip):void {
addChildAt(clip, 0);
clip.mask = myMask;
clip.x=412.4;
clip.y=244.5;
clip.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, checkframes);
}
function checkframes(event:Event) {
if (clipData._currentClip.currentFrame == clipData._currentClip.totalFrames) {
//trace("wow! youre an idiot!");
if (clipData._currentClip.parent) {
playClip(clipData._nextClip);
clipData._currentClip.parent.removeChild(clipData._currentClip);
clipData._currentClip = clipData._nextClip; // moves the clips down
//clipData._nextClip = here we have
//a problem. Do these clips play in a set
//order, first to last? Or do the play out of
//order jumping back and forth? If so, how
//are you planning on controlling which clip
//plays next?
trace (100);
return;
}
}
}
I haven't checked this in Flash yet to see if it works, but I noticed that you are defining a function inside another function, which I don't think is good practice, so this might clean things up for you. Give it a try and let us know.
I'll try to fix my code above when I get a chance. In the meantime, you answered my question about playing the clips in order, so a simple solution would be to put all the clips in an array and then play them by playClip(clipArray[i]) and then when the clip ends and gets removed, do i++ and call the same function playClip(clipArray[i]) which will play the next clip in the array.