AS3 - How do you call previous currentTarget from within a different event? - actionscript-3

I have a dropdown menu that lets you select an item to be placed on the stage. The item is drag and droppable so I use event.currentTarget.startDrag(); to start the drag. Ok, everything works fine so far.
However, I also need to be able to rotate the item while it is being dragged (using the spacebar).
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, myKeyDown);
function myKeyDown(e:KeyboardEvent):void{
if (e.keyCode == Keyboard.SPACE){
rotate++;
if (rotate == 5){
rotate = 1;
}
WHATGOESHERE?.gotoAndStop(rotate);
}
If I hardcode in an instance name of an object everything works fine - so the rotate function is working properly. The problem is, how can I reference event.currentTarget from the startDrag function while inside of the keyDown event?
My first thought was to set event.currentTarget to a variable and then calling the variable from within the keyDown event. However, targetHold = event.currentTarget; does not seem to record the instance name of the object being clicked...
public var targetHold:Object = new Object;
function ClickToDrag(event:MouseEvent):void {
event.currentTarget.startDrag();
targetHold = event.currentTarget;
trace ("targetHold " + targetHold);
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, myKeyDown);
function myKeyDown(e:KeyboardEvent):void{
if (e.keyCode == Keyboard.SPACE){
rotate++;
if (rotate == 5){
rotate = 1;
}
targetHold.gotoAndStop(rotate); //does not work
}
}
function ReleaseToDrop(event:MouseEvent):void {
event.currentTarget.stopDrag();
}

As you click the object, it should have focus. If you register the listener for the KeyboardEvent on the object and not on the stage, it will be .currentTarget.
Here's an example of what I have in mind. Right after starting the drag, add the listener to the same object instead of the stage.
event.currentTarget.startDrag();
event.currentTarget.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, myKeyDown);
The proper way of doing this would be to define all the functionality in a class. Within a self contained class, you would not need any .currentTarget.

Here is how I would do this: (well, actually I'd follow #null's advice and encapsulate it in a sub class that all your dragable objects would extend, but that is a little broad so this will do)
public var targetHold:MovieClip; //don't make a new object, just create the empty var
public function YourConstructor(){
//your other constructor code
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, myKeyDown); //don't add the listener in the click function
}
private function clickToDrag(event:MouseEvent):void {
if(targetHold) ReleaseToDrop(null); //safeguard in case flash lost the focus during the mouse up
targetHold = event.currentTarget as MovieClip; //assign the current target. Might as well cast it as MovieClip and get code completion benefits
targetHold.startDrag();
trace ("targetHold " + targetHold);
}
private function myKeyDown(e:KeyboardEvent):void{
//check if target hold exists
if (targetHold != null && e.keyCode == Keyboard.SPACE){
rotate++;
if (rotate == 5){
rotate = 1;
}
targetHold.gotoAndStop(rotate);
}
}
private function ReleaseToDrop(event:MouseEvent):void {
if(targetHold) targetHold.stopDrag();
targetHold = null;
}

Related

Flash CS4 How do you set variable to the Object Dragging Collison?

I am doing a game for my computer science class and I am working on inventory, dragging an item into it. I do not know how to set the item as whatever the user clicked to drag.
At the moment I hard coded it to the item they are dragging, but in the future I want more items, so a variable set to the item they are dragging would make it work perfectly, but I don't know what it's called to do that.
Here is my code for inventory item dragging
function dragItem (event:MouseEvent):void
{
knife_loot.startDrag();
}
function dropItem (event:MouseEvent):void
{
knife_loot.stopDrag();
if ((knife_loot.hitTestObject(inv_game)) && (inv_game.visible == true))
{
trace("Item dropped in inventory")
trace("")
knife_loot.x = 80
knife_loot.y = 120
}
}
// end of dragging and dropping items
You can start with:
// List the items you want to drag.
var aList:Array = [knife_loot, spoon_loot, fork_loot];
// InteractiveObject is superclass for SimpleButton, Sprite and MovieClip.
// If you're sure what they all are then just use their class instead.
for each (var anItem:InteractiveObject in aList)
{
// Subscribe them all for dragging.
anItem.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, onDrag);
}
public var draggedItem:InteractiveObject;
function onDrag(e:MouseEvent):void
{
// Use e.currentTarget because original MouseEvent e.target
// could be something from deep inside of top object e.currentTarget.
draggedItem = e.currentTarget as InteractiveObject;
draggedItem.startDrag();
// Let's hook drop events.
stage.addEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, onDrop);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onDrop);
}
function onDrop(e:Event):void
{
// Unhook drop events.
stage.removeEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, onDrop);
stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onDrop);
// Drop the item.
draggedItem.stopDrag();
if ((draggedItem.hitTestObject(inv_game)) && (inv_game.visible == true))
{
trace("Item", draggedItem.name, "was dropped to inventory.");
trace("");
draggedItem.x = 80;
draggedItem.y = 120;
}
// Forget the item.
draggedItem = null;
}

Flash Senocular Transform Tool - controls are not showing on the tool

I am having trouble with the controls showing up for my transform tool. When I click my image I get the bounding box (to scale or rotate the image), but when I hover over the corner I do not get the cursor to transform it.
I am using these files:
TransformTool.as
TransformToolControl.as
TransformToolCursor.as
This is my code to call the transform tool:
var tool:TransformTool = new TransformTool();
addChild(tool);
And this later on to make the tool show up when the image is clicked and make the tool disappear when the stage is clicked:
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
function select(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, deselect);
}
function deselect(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = null;
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
}
My image selection for the bounding box to appear and disappear work perfectly. All my code works as expected.... except the actual controls on the bounding box. Please help!
Edit
The concept is the user can click an image from a menu and drag a new instance of that image to the stage. Then the user can click the new instance and should be able to rotate or scale it. Then they can click off the image to make the bounding box disappear. (They can add as many images to the stage that they want).
Here is some code that shows the basic click, create new instance, and drag process I have implemented.
//sb1 is the menu area that contains a group of images
//hill is one of the images the user can add to the stage
sb1.hill.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, createCopy);
var i:int=0;
var tmpImage:Sprite; //to store which image is being dragged currently
function createCopy(e:MouseEvent):void {
tmpImage = new Hill_mc();
tmpImage.name = "hillChild"+(i++); //increment every copy
container.addChild(tmpImage);
tmpImage.x = mouseX-470;
tmpImage.y = mouseY-270;
tmpImage.startDrag();
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, onDown); //add the mouse down to this new object
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onUp); //since the mouse is currently down, we need to listen for mouse up to tell the current copy to stop dragging
}
//this will be called when click a copy
function onDown(e:MouseEvent):void {
tmpImage = Sprite(e.currentTarget); //get a reference to the one that was clicked, so we know which object to stop dragging on the global mouse up.
container.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onUp); //listen for the mouse up
tmpImage.startDrag();
}
function onUp(e:MouseEvent):void {
container.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,onUp);
if (tmpImage.hitTestObject(thesubmenu1)) {
container.removeChild(tmpImage);
}
else {
tmpImage.stopDrag();
}
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
}
function select(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, deselect);
}
function deselect(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = null;
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
}
EDIT
I found this code and placed it in my TransformTool.as. I feel like it's so close and that there must be something called incorrectly because I get an error for a null object reference:
public function select(event:Event):void {
// the selected object will either be the
// event target or current target. The current
// target is checked first followed by target.
// The parent of the target must match the
// parent of the tool to be selected this way.
if (event.currentTarget != this
&& event.currentTarget.parent == parent){
setTarget(event.currentTarget as DisplayObject, event);
}else if (event.target != this
&& event.target.parent == parent){
setTarget(event.target as DisplayObject, event);
}
}
/**
* Helper selection handler for deselecting target objects. Set this
* handler as the listener for an event that would cause the
* deselection of a target object.
* It is not required that you use this event handler. It is only a
* helper function that can optionally be used to help ease
* development.
*/
public function deselect(event:Event):void {
if (_target != null && event.eventPhase == EventPhase.AT_TARGET){
setTarget(null, null);
}
}
You give too little information to determine what exactly is wrong.
However, there is a very good sample code that does exactly what you want here :
http://www.senocular.com/demo/TransformToolAS3/TransformTool.html
(Click on the link at the bottom of the image.)
I am sure that you are going to make it with this.
EDIT :
Try to use the built-in handlers. I would do something like this :
Instead of this :
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
function select(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, deselect);
}
function deselect(e:MouseEvent):void {
tool.target = null;
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
}
Do this :
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, tool.select);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, tool.deselect);
EDIT :
If you do not have the handlers, I am not sure :) but I would recommand removing event listeners in each method as they might be interfering with each other.
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
function select(e:MouseEvent):void {
tmpImage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
tool.target = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, deselect);
}
function deselect(e:MouseEvent):void {
stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, deselect);
tool.target = null;
tmpImage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, select);
}

How to register hitTest only if Mouse Down is true?

I was wondering on how to register a Hittest between two Movie Clips only if the MOUSE_DOWN event is equal to true.
So I have a Movie Clip called playerHook that acts as the Mouse and whenever that movie clip comes in contact with another movie clip called octopusBoss and Clicks on it I want it to register a hittest and subtract a point from its health.
Here is what I have so far but not sure what to do next:
In my main constructor function:
playerHook.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, playerHookMove);
playerHook.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, onMDown);
playerHook.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onMUp);
Then I have two booleas set up in the two functions onMDown and onMUp:
private function onMDown(e:MouseEvent):void
{
mouseIsDown = true;
}
private function onMUp(e:MouseEvent):void
{
mouseIsUp = false;
}
Then I have this function which is currently in my gameloop that I would want to happen only if the user clicks on the OctopusBoss:
private function checkPlayerHitOctopusBoss():void
{
if (playerHook.hitTestObject(octopusBoss))
{
trace("Hit Octopus");
octopusBossHealth --;
}else
if (octopusBossHealth <= 0)
{
octopusBoss.destroyOctopusBoss();
}
}
But I am having trouble passing the mouse booleans to the if statement. I know I am missing something crucial!
First you need some name to your octopusBoss like so:
octopusBoss.name = "octopusBoss";
Modify your onMDown function like so:
private function onMDown(e:MouseEvent):void
{
if(e.target.name == "octopusBoss") //Check if octopusBoss is under mouse
mouseIsDown = true;
}
And your checkPlayerHitOctopusBoss function like so:
private function checkPlayerHitOctopusBoss():void
{
if (playerHook.hitTestObject(octopusBoss) && mouseIsDown) // check mouse down
{
trace("Hit Octopus");
octopusBossHealth --;
}else
if (octopusBossHealth <= 0)
{
octopusBoss.destroyOctopusBoss();
}
}
UPDATE:
If it's ok to add MouseEvents directly to octopusBoss like so:
octopusBoss.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, onMDown);
octopusBoss.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, onMUp);
Then, you can also use e.currentTarget.name.

AS3 Stop Dragging all items

I have a function that recognizes the ESC key being pressed. At which point, I want to stop dragging all items.
I"ve tried this.stopDrag() but it wont override the MOUSE_DOWN event.
It there a way to force it to "drop" the item being dragged?
Thanks
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, escapeKeyDown);
function escapeKeyDown(event : KeyboardEvent):void {
if (event.keyCode == 27) {
trace("ESC");
this.stopDrag();
}
}
Make a global array of all your dragging DisplayObjects:
static var CURRENT_DRAGGING_ITEMS:Array = [];
Then whenever you call startDrag on anything, add it to the array.
function onMouseDown(event:MouseEvent):void
{
event.target.startDrag();
CURRENT_DRAGGING_ITEMS.push(event.target);
}
Then when you hit ESC, just loop through the array, calling stopDrag on all items, and removing them from the array.
function escapeKeyDown(event:KeyboardEvent):void
{
event.target.stopDrag();
var targetIndex:uint = CURRENT_DRAGGING_ITEMS.indexOf(event.target);
CURRENT_DRAGGING_ITEMS.splice(targetIndex, 1);
}
Make sure you also remove the dragging item from the array when you call stopDrag on it from anywhere else.

Click event outside MovieClip in AS3

Is there any way to detect if the user click outside a MovieClip?
For instance, I need to detect it to close a previously opened menu (like Menu bar style: File, Edition, Tools, Help, etc).
How can I detect this kind of event? Thanks!
Add a listener to stage and check if stage is the target of the event.
Example of code here:
http://wonderfl.net/c/eFao
package
{
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
public class FlashTest extends Sprite
{
private var _menu : Sprite;
public function FlashTest()
{
_menu = new Sprite();
_menu.x = 100;
_menu.y = 100;
_menu.alpha = 0.5;
with(_menu.graphics)
{
beginFill(0xFF0000, 1);
drawRect(0, 0, 300, 300);
endFill();
}
addChild(_menu);
_menu.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClickHandler);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClickHandler);
}
private function onClickHandler(event : MouseEvent) : void
{
switch(event.target)
{
case _menu:
_menu.alpha = 0.5;
break;
case stage:
_menu.alpha = 1;
break;
}
}
}
}
You can add a listener to the click event of the root element:
MovieClip(root).addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickObject);
then in the function clickObject, you can check to see what you are clicking.
function clickObject(e:Event):void
{
var hoverArray:Array = MovieClip(root).getObjectsUnderPoint(new Point(stage.mouseX, stage.mouseY));
var hoverOverObject:* = hoverArray[hoverArray.length - 1];
}
hoverOverObject references the element that you are clicking on. Often this will be the shape within the movie clip, so you'll need to look at it's parent then compare it to your movie clip. If the click wasn't on the drop down movie clip, trigger the close.
var container:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
var mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
with(mc.graphics){
beginFill(0xff0000,1);
drawCircle(0,0,30);
endFill();
}
mc.name = "my_mc";
container.addChild(mc);
addChild(container);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, action);
function action (e:MouseEvent):void
{
if(e.target.name != "my_mc"){
if(container.numChildren != 0)
{
container.removeChild(container.getChildByName("my_mc"));
}
}
}
Use capture phase:
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, button_mouseClickHandler);
button.stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, stage_mouseClickHandler, true);
//...
private function button_mouseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
{
trace("Button CLICK");
}
private function stage_mouseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
{
if (event.target == button)
return;
trace("Button CLICK_OUTSIDE");
}
Note that using stopPropagation() is good for one object, but failed for several. This approach works good for me.
Use a stage and a sprite (menu) click listener with the sprite listener executing first and apply the stopPropagation() method to the click handler of the sprite. Like this:
menu.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, handleMenuClick);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, handleStageClick);
private function handleMenuClick(e:MouseEvent):void{
// stop the event from propagating up to the stage
// so handleStageClick is never executed.
e.stopPropagation();
// note that stopPropagation() still allows the event
// to propagate to all children so if there are children
// within the menu overlay that need to respond to click
// events that still works.
}
private function handleStageClick(e:MouseEvent):void{
// put hide or destroy code here
}
The idea is that a mouse click anywhere creates a single MouseEvent.CLICK event that bubbles from the stage, down through all children to the target, then back up through the parents of the target to the stage. Here we interrupt this cycle when the target is the menu overlay by not allowing the event to propagate back up to the parent stage, ensuring that the handleStageClick() method is never invoked. The nice thing about this approach is that it is completely general. The stage can have many children underneath the overlay and the overlay can have its own children that can respond to clicks and it all works.