#2007: Parameter format must be non-null? - actionscript-3

Question

i have a problem with my as3 code,
i try to link a movie clip to different scene (quiz scene).
so,i have 2 quiz in total, first quiz is using external script (as)
And the second quiz have the same script like first quiz, but i placed the action script inside fla. and it had different xml.
but then this error message appeared:
TypeError: Error #2007: Parameter format must be non-null.
at flash.text::TextField/set defaultTextFormat()
at hiragana/createText()[E:\flash\!!!! FLASH JADI\PAK ASHAR FIX\hiragana.as:80]
at hiragana/kuisdua()[hiragana::frame209:48]
at hiragana/frame209()[hiragana::frame209:249]
this is the code:
// creates a text field
public function createText(text:String, tf:TextFormat, s:Sprite, x,y: Number, width:Number): TextField {
var tField:TextField = new TextField();
tField.x = x;
tField.y = y;
tField.width = width;
tField.defaultTextFormat = tf; //looks like this is the source of problem (-.-)
tField.selectable = false;
tField.multiline = true;
tField.wordWrap = true;
if (tf.align == "left") {
tField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
} else {
tField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.CENTER;
}
tField.text = text;
s.addChild(tField);
return tField;
}
and this is the ettire code
import flash.display.*;
import flash.text.*;
import flash.events.*;
import flash.net.URLLoader;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
///*public class*/ kuisduaa extends MovieClip {
// question data
/*private*/ var dataXML2:XML;
// text formats
/*private*/ var questionFormat2:TextFormat;
/*private*/ var answerFormat2:TextFormat;
/*private*/ var scoreFormat2:TextFormat;
// text fields
/*private*/ var messageField2:TextField;
/*private*/ var questionField2:TextField;
/*private*/ var scoreField2:TextField;
// sprites and objects
/*private*/ var gameSprite2:Sprite;
/*private*/ var questionSprite2:Sprite;
/*private*/ var answerSprites2:Sprite;
/*private*/ var gameButton2:GameButton;
// game state variables
/*private*/ var questionNum2:int;
/*private*/ var correctAnswer2:String;
/*private*/ var numQuestionsAsked2:int;
/*private*/ var numCorrect2:int;
/*private*/ var answers2:Array;
/*public*/ function kuisdua() {
// create game sprite
gameSprite2 = new Sprite();
addChild(gameSprite2);
// set text formats
questionFormat2 = new TextFormat("Arial",80,0xffffff,true,false,false,null,null,"center");
answerFormat2 = new TextFormat("Arial",50,0xffffff,true,false,false,null,null,"left");
scoreFormat2 = new TextFormat("Arial",30,0xffffff,true,false,false,null,null,"center");
// create score field and starting message text
scoreField2 = createText("",scoreFormat,gameSprite,-30,550,550);
messageField2 = createText("Loading Questions...",questionFormat,gameSprite,0,50,550);
// set up game state and load questions
questionNum2 = 0;
numQuestionsAsked2 = 0;
numCorrect2 = 0;
showGameScore2();
xmlImport2();
}
// start loading of questions
/*public*/ function xmlImport2() {
var xmlURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("kuis2.xml");
var xmlLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader(xmlURL);
xmlLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, xmlLoaded);
}
// questions loaded
/*public*/ function xmlLoaded2(event:Event) {
dataXML = XML(event.target.data);
gameSprite.removeChild(messageField);
messageField = createText("Tap Untuk Memulai",scoreFormat,gameSprite,-10,250,500);
showGameButton("mulai");
}
// creates a text field
/*public*/ function createText2(text:String, tf:TextFormat, s:Sprite, x,y: Number, width:Number): TextField {
var tField2:TextField = new TextField();
tField2.x = x;
tField2.y = y;
tField2.width = width;
tField2.defaultTextFormat = tf;
tField2.selectable = false;
tField2.multiline = true;
tField2.wordWrap = true;
if (tf.align == "left") {
tField2.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
} else {
tField2.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.CENTER;
}
tField2.text = text;
s.addChild(tField2);
return tField2;
}
// updates the score
/*public*/ function showGameScore2() {
scoreField2.text = "Soal: "+numQuestionsAsked2+" Benar: "+numCorrect2;
}
// ask player if they are ready for next question
/*public*/ function showGameButton2(buttonLabel:String) {
gameButton = new GameButton();
gameButton.label.text = buttonLabel;
gameButton.x = 240;
gameButton.y = 480;
gameSprite2.addChild(gameButton);
gameButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,pressedGameButton2);
}
// player is ready
/*public*/ function pressedGameButton2(event:MouseEvent) {
// clean up question
if (questionSprite2 != null) {
gameSprite2.removeChild(questionSprite2);
}
// remove button and message
gameSprite2.removeChild(gameButton);
gameSprite2.removeChild(messageField2);
// ask the next question
if (questionNum >= dataXML.child("*").length()) {
gotoAndStop(6);
} else {
askQuestion2();
}
}
// set up the question
/*public*/ function askQuestion2() {
// prepare new question sprite
questionSprite2 = new Sprite();
gameSprite2.addChild(questionSprite2);
// create text field for question
var question2:String = dataXML.item[questionNum].question2;
if (dataXML.item[questionNum].question.#type == "text") {
questionField2 = createText(question2,questionFormat2,questionSprite2,50,150,300);
} else {
var questionLoader2:Loader = new Loader();
var questionRequest2:URLRequest = new URLRequest("triviaimages/"+question2);
questionLoader2.load(questionRequest2);
questionLoader2.y = 150;
questionLoader2.x = 180;
questionSprite2.addChild(questionLoader2);
}
// create sprite for answers, get correct answer and shuffle all
correctAnswer2 = dataXML.item[questionNum2].answers.answer[0];
answers2 = shuffleAnswers(dataXML.item[questionNum2].answers);
// put each answer into a new sprite with a icon
answerSprites2 = new Sprite();
var xpos:int = 0;
var ypos:int = 0;
for(var i:int=0;i<answers2.length;i++) {
var answerSprite2:Sprite = new Sprite();
if (answers2[i].type == "text") {
var answerField2:TextField = createText(answers2[i].value,answerFormat2,answerSprite2,30,-35,200);
} else {
var answerLoader2:Loader = new Loader();
var answerRequest2:URLRequest = new URLRequest("triviaimages/"+answers2[i].value);
answerLoader2.load(answerRequest2);
answerLoader2.y = -22;
answerLoader2.x = 25;
answerSprite2.addChild(answerLoader2);
}
var letter:String = String.fromCharCode(65+i); // A-D
var circle:Circle = new Circle(); // from Library
circle.letter.text = letter;
circle.answer = answers[i].value;
answerSprite2.x = 100+xpos*250;
answerSprite2.y = 350+ypos*100;
xpos++
if (xpos > 1) {
xpos = 0;
ypos += 1;
}
answerSprite2.addChild(circle);
answerSprite2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,clickAnswer); // make it a button
// set a larger click area
answerSprite2.graphics.beginFill(0x000000,0);
answerSprite2.graphics.drawRect(-50, 0, 200, 80);
answerSprites2.addChild(answerSprite2);
}
questionSprite2.addChild(answerSprites2);
}
// take all the answers and shuffle them into an array
/*public*/ function shuffleAnswers2(answers:XMLList) {
var shuffledAnswers2:Array = new Array();
while (answers2.child("*").length() > 0) {
var r:int = Math.floor(Math.random()*answers.child("*").length());
shuffledAnswers2.push({type: answers2.answer[r].#type, value: answers2.answer[r]});
delete answers2.answer[r];
}
return shuffledAnswers2;
}
// player selects an answer
/*public*/ function clickAnswer2(event:MouseEvent) {
// get selected answer text, and compare
var selectedAnswer2 = event.currentTarget.getChildAt(1).answer;
if (selectedAnswer2 == correctAnswer2) {
numCorrect++;
messageField2 = createText("Hai, kamu benar ! ",scoreFormat2,gameSprite2,-30,280,550);
} else {
messageField2 = createText("Iie, Jawabanmu Salah, yang benar adalah:",scoreFormat2,gameSprite2,53,280,370);
}
finishQuestion();
}
/*public*/ function finishQuestion2() {
// remove all but the correct answer
for(var i:int=0;i<4;i++) {
answerSprites2.getChildAt(i).removeEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,clickAnswer);
if (answers2[i].value != correctAnswer2) {
answerSprites2.getChildAt(i).visible = false;
} else {
answerSprites2.getChildAt(i).x = 200;
answerSprites2.getChildAt(i).y = 400;
}
}
// next question
questionNum2++;
numQuestionsAsked2++;
showGameScore2();
showGameButton2("Lanjutkan");
}
// clean up sprites
/*public*/ function CleanUp2() {
removeChild(gameSprite);
gameSprite2 = null;
questionSprite2 = null;
answerSprites2 = null;
dataXML2 = null;
}
the first quiz played perfectly with that code,
and i have no clue why this error appeared,
i'm beginner in as3 so i'm still lack in many ways,
can anyone help me,?
i really apreciate it.. :)

Answer 1

Are you sure that you're parsing a non-null TextFormat instance as the second argument of createText()?
The error means that you're supplying a null value for tf:TextFormat.

Answer 2

Unless I am missing something, your issue is here:
messageField2 = createText("Loading Questions...",questionFormat,gameSprite,0,50,550);
&
messageField = createText("Tap Untuk Memulai",scoreFormat,gameSprite,-10,250,500);
I see questionFormat2 and scoreFormat2 are instantiated, but I never see a questionFormat or scoreFormat. Your error says that the defaultTextFormat (or TextFormat supplied using setTextFormat(), for future reference), cannot be null. Null means that the object has not been instantiated/created yet. questionFormat and scoreFormat are never instantiated. Hell, their variables do not even exist. If you were using a proper development IDE (FlashBuilder, FlashDevelop, etc), you'd never be able to compile this code.
Switch those two lines to use the correct formats and you should be fine.