Error when overriding constructor of extended class - actionscript-3

Question

I found a quite strange problem while making two classes in AS3. Let's call them ParentClass and ChildClass. In order to make both of them you need a Sprite object, then the ParentClass makes it visible in the stage. ChildClass inherits the ParentClass, too.
ParentClass.as:
package myStudio.basic {
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.Sprite;
public dynamic class ParentClass extends MovieClip {
public function ParentClass(mc:Sprite=null) {
addChild(mc);
}
}
}
ChildClass.as:
package myStudio.containers {
import myStudio.basic.ParentClass;
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.Sprite;
public class ChildClass extends ParentClass {
public function ChildClass(mc:Sprite=null) {
addChild(mc);
}
}
}
Then, I write this code on Frame 1, Layer Actions of the FLA file:
var mc:MovieClip = new childMC;
var vig:ChildClass = new ChildClass(mc);
addChild(vig);
However, I got run-time error #2007:
TypeError: Error #2007: The value of the parameter child must not be null.
at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer/addChild()
at myStudio.basic::ParentClass()
at myStudio.containers::ChildClass()
at myStudioComicAnimator_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()
I tried overriding the ChildClass constructor function, but it still doesn't work.
So here's my question: Is there another workaround to solve this problem?

Answer 1

The reason for that is that you are not calling super. You can check what's happening in the error stack (down to top):
you instantiate ChildClass, and you pass the previously created childMC to the constructor
ChildClass extends ParentClass, so when instantiated it always calls the constructor
the constructor of ParentClass tries to add something as a child
The problem is that you cannot add null as a child. But because the constructor is called internally, there is no param that is being passed to it. so mc variable is always null. But as we said - null cannot be added.
Use the super by yourself:
public function ChildClass(mc:Sprite=null) {
super(mc);
}
This way the ParentClass will get reference to the mc object and will be able to add it.
Another option is not to use addChild in the ParentClass, but only in ChildClass. Then it doesn't matter if you pass anything to super, or even if you are calling super at all.
Edit: I forgot to say that this is not a bug, but a standard behavior and works exactly like it should work. The reason for this is that each class can have a whole different override of the constructor. It can take more or less parameters, so the chain for calling parent's constructor is your job to handle.