addCircle to existing movieclip, using name of clip from an array - actionscript-3

Question

I am currently building a project where I have a map with a number of ship and aircraft. What I am trying to achieve is to check the Line of Sight distance between them.
I have set up a LOS Calculator which checks the height of one platform and the height of a second platform then gives a response. That works fine.
I then wanted to addCircle based on the result from this calculator. So if the result was 10 it would draw a circle 10cm in radius. If the result was 100 then it would draw it at 100, you get the picture. This works.
My problem now is that I need to be able to click on one platform either before or after I have made the calculation and the .addCircle be added to that movieClip. I have set up an array to store the movieclips instance names and traced that. I have added a field on stage so that you can click on a platform and it will recognise the platform clicked. I am just lost as to how to get the circle into the movieClip that has been clicked.
I am very new to AS3 so this is starting todo my head in. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The code I have is attached below. I hope I have inserted this properly. Thanks again
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.display.MovieClip;
stage.focus=ht1;
// creation of array containing movieclips and code that adds the clicked movieclip to Array-platformClicked
var platformArray:Array = [arunta_mc, f15_mc];
var platformClicked = [];
var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
for(var i:int = 0; i < platformArray.length; i++) {
platformArray[i].buttonMode = true;
platformArray[i].addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, item_onClick);
}
function item_onClick(event:MouseEvent):void {
var selectedPlatformArray:Array = platformArray.filter(checkName);
selectedPlatform = selectedPlatformArray[0];
myText.text = event.currentTarget.name + " was clicked";
var platformClicked = String(event.currentTarget.name);
trace(platformClicked);
}
function checkName(item:MovieClip, index:int, array:Array):Boolean
{
return(item.name == platformClicked);
}
//setup of LOS Calculator code
var counter:Number=1;
operator_txt.text = "+";
ht1.restrict="-0123456789.";
ht2.restrict="-0123456789.";
var myresult:Number;
var test = [];
//start of code when equal button is pressed
equal_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, equalhandler);
var newCircle:Shape = new Shape();//defines circle to be drawn
function equalhandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
newCircle.graphics.lineStyle(1, 0x000000);
newCircle.graphics.beginFill(0x435632);
newCircle.alpha = .1;
//start of result code
result_txt.text = String(int((1.23*(Math.sqrt(Number(parseFloat(ht1.text)+parseFloat(ht2.text)+""))))));
var test = String(int((1.23*(Math.sqrt(Number(parseFloat(ht1.text)+parseFloat(ht2.text)+""))))));
trace(test);
//end of result code
newCircle.graphics.drawCircle(0,0,test);//add circle based on LOS calculation
newCircle.graphics.endFill();
//var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = selectedPlatformArray[0];
selectedPlatform.addChild(newCircle);//this is where I need to add newCircle to the movieClip that is clicked
trace(selectedPlatform);
//trace(platformClicked);
}
//start of code for the clear button
clear_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clearhandler);
function clearhandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
ht1.text=ht2.text=result_txt.text="";
removeChild(newCircle);
var test = [];
}

Answer 1

You can use the filter() method to check each item's name, like so:
var selectedPlatformArray:Array = platformArray.filter(checkName);
and somewhere in your code, define the checkName function
function checkName(item:MovieClip, index:int, array:Array):Boolean
{
return (item.name == platformClicked);
}
selectedPlatformArray will now contain all elements that return true for the checkName function, and as long as you don't have multiple MovieClips with the same name the array should only contain one element, which you can retrieve simply by accessing the first element of the array:
var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = selectedPlatformArray[0];
Alternatively, you can also use the getChildByName() function, like so:
var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = stage.getChildByName(platformClicked);
However this depends on where the objects are added to, and if they're not all in the same container (or not added at all), then this isn't the best option. It's a quick and simple solution for small projects though.
Anyway, whatever method you use you can then easily add the circle to it in your equalHandler function as usual:
selectedPlatform.addChild(newCircle);
I'd recommend checking out the documentation for both filter() and getChildByName(), to get a better understanding of how they work, since my examples only showed how you'd use them in this specific situation.
Complete code that you should have:
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.display.MovieClip;
stage.focus=ht1;
// creation of array containing movieclips and code that adds the clicked movieclip to Array-platformClicked
var platformArray:Array = [arunta_mc, f15_mc];
var platformClicked:String = "";
var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
for(var i:int = 0; i < platformArray.length; i++) {
platformArray[i].buttonMode = true;
platformArray[i].addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, item_onClick);
}
function item_onClick(event:MouseEvent):void {
var selectedPlatformArray:Array = platformArray.filter(checkName);
selectedPlatform = selectedPlatformArray[0];
myText.text = event.currentTarget.name + " was clicked";
platformClicked = String(event.currentTarget.name);
trace(platformClicked);
}
function checkName(item:MovieClip, index:int, array:Array):Boolean
{
return(item.name == platformClicked);
}
//setup of LOS Calculator code
var counter:Number=1;
operator_txt.text = "+";
ht1.restrict="-0123456789.";
ht2.restrict="-0123456789.";
var myresult:Number;
var test:String = "";
//start of code when equal button is pressed
equal_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, equalhandler);
var newCircle:Shape = new Shape();//defines circle to be drawn
function equalhandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
newCircle.graphics.lineStyle(1, 0x000000);
newCircle.graphics.beginFill(0x435632);
newCircle.alpha = .1;
//start of result code
result_txt.text = String(int((1.23*(Math.sqrt(Number(parseFloat(ht1.text)+parseFloat(ht2.text)+""))))));
test = String(int((1.23*(Math.sqrt(Number(parseFloat(ht1.text)+parseFloat(ht2.text)+""))))));
trace(test);
//end of result code
newCircle.graphics.drawCircle(0,0,test);//add circle based on LOS calculation
newCircle.graphics.endFill();
//var selectedPlatform:MovieClip = selectedPlatformArray[0];
selectedPlatform.addChild(newCircle);//this is where I need to add newCircle to the movieClip that is clicked
trace(selectedPlatform);
//trace(platformClicked);
}
//start of code for the clear button
clear_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clearhandler);
function clearhandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
ht1.text=ht2.text=result_txt.text="";
selectedPlatform.removeChild(newCircle);
test = "";
}