How to delay when my actionscript 3 code runs? - actionscript-3

Question

I am creating a drag and drop game that I followed through a Lynda tut. I kept getting an error for my game that I created because I noticed (after weeks of reviewing the code and having other people look at it to figure out what was wrong) that the tutorial that I followed did everything on frame one but I was making my game start at frame 3. So if I start my game at frame 1, it works perfectly and I wont get these errors:
This occurs when I test the movie, once I click continue I am able to see the movie -
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at simpleSpring()[simpleSpring.as:21]
And this occurs when I drag my object -
TypeError: Error #2007: Parameter hitTestObject must be non-null.
at flash.display::DisplayObject/_hitTest()
at flash.display::DisplayObject/hitTestObject()
at DragDrop/drop()[DragDrop.as:33]
Since I know these errors won't appear unless I begin the game at frame 1, I want to know what code I can place so that I can begin the game at frames that are past the first frame.
The following is the code for DragDrop.as
package
{
import flash.display.*;
import flash.events.*;
public class DragDrop extends Sprite
{
var origX:Number;
var origY:Number;
var target:DisplayObject;
public function DragDrop()
{
// constructor code
origX = x;
origY = y;
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, drag);
buttonMode = true;
}
function drag(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, drop);
startDrag();
parent.addChild(this);
}
function drop(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, drop);
stopDrag();
if(hitTestObject(target))
{
visible = false;
target.alpha = 1;
Object(parent).match();
}
x = origX;
y = origY;
}
}
}
And here is the simpleSpring.as
package
{
import flash.display.*;
import flash.events.*;
public class simpleSpring extends MovieClip
{
var dragdrops:Array;
public function simpleSpring()
{
// constructor code
dragdrops = [ladyone,ladytwo,ladythree,ladyfour,ladyfive,ladysix];
var currentObject:DragDrop;
for(var i:uint = 0; i < dragdrops.length; i++)
{
currentObject = dragdrops[i];
currentObject.target = getChildByName(currentObject.name + "_target");
}
}
public function match():void
{
}
}
}
I tried adding the code to a actions layer in the game document but that also does not seem to work correctly.

Answer 1

I am such a newbie when it comes to publishing things. I noticed I can add multiple swf files when I publish for android. This solves my issue of not being able to code at the beginning frame. If I have this game in a separate flash file saved in the same folder with the title movie calling to it with actionscript, the code will work and I am able to publish the whole thing as one file. Thanks again for those that tried to help me figure this out!