I'm working on an assignment due at midnight tomorrow and I'm about to rip my hair out. I am fairly new to ActionScript and Flash Builder so this might be an easy problem to solve. I think I know what it is but I do not know for sure...
I'm developing a weather application. I designed the GUI in Flash CS5. The interface has 2 frames. The first frame is the menu which has a zipcode input and a button instance called "submit". On the second frame, it has another button instance called "change" which takes you back to the first frame, menu.
In Flash Builder 4, I wrote a class to extend that GUI called Application. When Main.as instantiates it, the constructor function runs. However, this was my first problem.
public class Application extends InputBase {
public function Application() {
super();
// Y U NO WORK???
this.gotoAndStop(1);
this.change.tfLabel.text = "Change";
}
}
When I ran debug it tossed a #1009 error saying it could not access the property or method of undefined object. It is defined on frame 2 in Flash CS5. I think this is the problem... Isn't ActionScript a frame based programming language? Like, you cannot access code from frame 2 on frame 1? But, I'm confused by this because I'm not coding on the timeline?
Anyway, I thought of a solution. It kinda works but its ugly.
public class Application extends InputBase {
public function Application() {
super();
// Y U NO WORK???
this.gotoAndStop(1); // when app is first ran, it will stop on the first frame which is the menu frame
setButton(this.submit, "Submit", 1);
setInput(this.tfZipCode);
}
private function submitZip(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.nextFrame();
setButton(this.change, "Change", 2);
}
private function menu(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.prevFrame();
setButton(this.submit, "Submit", 1); // if I comment this out, the submit button will return to the default text label and it forgets it event.
}
private function setButton(button:ButtonBase, string:String="", action:uint=0):void {
button.buttonMode = true;
button.mouseChildren = false;
button.tfLabel.selectable = false;
button.tfLabel.text = string;
switch (action) {
case 1:
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, submitZip);
break;
case 2:
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, menu);
break;
default:
trace("Action code was invalid or not specified.");
}
}
}
Its not my cup of tea to run the set button function every time one of the button instances are clicked. Is this caused by frames or something else I maybe looking over?
I believe you have two keyframes & both have an instance of the button component called button.
If you are working on the timeline try putting the button in a separate layer, with only one key frame.
Something like the following:
Ensures that you are referencing the same button every time & not spawning new ones on each frame.
Related
My goal is:
define a subClass of Sprite called Ship
use an event at runtime to call a function within this new class
It seems that I've figured out how to create my Ship class using a package in a linked .as file. But I can't seem to access the function within that class. Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong?
var ShipMc:Ship = new Ship();
addChild(ShipMc);// This successfully adds an instance, so I know the class is working.
addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ShipMc.addShip);//But this doesn't seem to run the function
This code works fine for instantiating a Sprite, but the code in the Ship.as file, specifically the function, is not working. No runtime errors, but nothing traced to the output window, either.
package
{
import flash.display.Sprite
public class Ship extends Sprite
{
public function addShip():void
{
trace("running addShip function")
}
}
}
The last time a coded anything in flash it was AS2!
I'll just mention that I've tried using addShip():void and just addShip(). Same response with both. It should be with :void, right? Anyway, the fact that neither one throws, tells me that this section of code isn't even getting read, I think.
Any help is much appreciated! Pulling my hair out.
Your code is not working because it contains some problems, so let's see that.
You should know that you are attaching the MouseEvent.CLICK event listener to the main timeline which didn't contain any clickable object yet now (it's empty), so let's start by adding something to your Ship class to avoid that :
public class Ship extends Sprite
{
// the constructor of your class, called when you instantiate this class
public function Ship()
{
// this code will draw an orange square 100*100px at (0, 0)
graphics.beginFill(0xff9900);
graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 100, 100);
graphics.endFill();
}
public function addShip():void
{
trace("addShip function run");
}
}
N.B: You can attach the MouseEvent.CLICK event listener to the stage, which will work even if you have nothing in the stage.
Now, if you test your app, you'll get an clickable orange square at the top left corner of your stage, but the compiler will fire an error (ArgumentError) because it's waiting for a listener function (the Ship.addShip() function here) which accept an MouseEvent object.
So to avoid that error, your Ship.addShip() function can be like this for example :
public function addShip(e:MouseEvent):void
{
trace("addShip function run");
}
Then your code should work.
You can also simplify things by using another listener function in your main code which can call the Ship.addShip() function, like this for example :
var ShipMc:Ship = new Ship();
addChild(ShipMc);
addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onMouseClick);
function onMouseClick(e:MouseEvent): void
{
ShipMc.addShip();
}
For more about all that, you can take a look on AS3 fundamentals where you can find all what you need to know about AS3.
Hope that can help.
I started using as3 a while ago, and mostly used starling instead of native flash objects. Today I decided to give a try to raw flash, and created a simple button:
private var _button: SimpleButton;
public function Main()
{
if (stage) init();
else addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init);
}
private function init(e:Event = null):void
{
removeEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init);
// entry point
_button = new SimpleButton(new BUTTON); //BUTTON is an embedded bitmap
addChild(_button);
_button.useHandCursor = true;
_button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, OnClick);
}
private function OnClick(e:MouseEvent):void
{
trace("clicked");
}
This would definely work in starling, but I found that the click event won't dispatch to the button for some reason. Neither is hand cursor shown on mouse over. I tried mouse over, mouse up and other mouse events, but none of them work. I checked that the button is correctly added to stage. Also, when I add a mouse click event listener to the stage itself, clicks register normally. When I add a listener to Main, no events are registered again.
I'm probably misunderstanding something obvious. Maybe I need to dispatch events manually down to the children? But that would be strage, though. Or can it be a bug in FlashDevelop? Please, help.
The constructor of SimpleButton takes 4 optional parameters:
public function SimpleButton(upState:DisplayObject = null,
overState:DisplayObject = null,
downState:DisplayObject = null,
hitTestState:DisplayObject = null)`
of which you supply the first one (upState):
_button = new SimpleButton(new BUTTON); //BUTTON is an embedded bitmap
The others default to null. That includes hitTestState which is the same as property of the class hitTestState:
Specifies a display object that is used as the hit testing object for the button. [...] If you do not set the hitTestState property, the SimpleButton is inactive — it does not respond to user input events.
It also includes a solution to your problem:
For a basic button, set the hitTestState property to the same display object as the overState property.
However, if all you want is to add click functionality to that Bitmap, which it doesn't have on its own, because it's not an InteractiveObject, simply use a Sprite:
// entry point
_button = new Sprite();
_button.addChild(new BUTTON); //BUTTON is an embedded bitmap
addChild(_button);
_button.useHandCursor = true;
_button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, OnClick);
Use SimpleButton only if you want the functionality of its 4 states.
Please be careful with the overloaded term "stage":
I checked that the button is correctly added to stage.
If you mean the "drawing area" that you can see in the Adobe Flash IDE or the main time line with "stage", then yes, you'd be correct that your button is added to that.
The stage property of DisplayObject however is something different. It's the top most element of the display list and the container that the instance of your Main class is added to, which happens at the start of the execution of your .swf in the FlashPlayer.
As your Main class adds the _button to itself by calling its ownaddChild(), the button is added to the instance of Main and not stage, which are two different objects.
I am new to as3 and I recently saw creation of custom events in as3 in a tutorial and I wanted to incorporate in my game. When i did the tutorial, it all seemed well for that project. But it doesnt seem to work with the new project.
Here is my code :
package
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.utils.Timer;
import flash.events.TimerEvent;
public class FashionFrenzy extends MovieClip
{
public var Buyer_mc:Buyer;
public var Buyers:Array;
public var gameTimer:Timer;
public function FashionFrenzy()
{
GameTimeController();
GenerateBuyers();
addEventListener(ReachMallDoorEvent.CHECK, OnReachMallDoor);
}
public function GameTimeController()
{
gameTimer = new Timer( 25 );
gameTimer.start();
}
public function GenerateBuyers()
{
Buyers = new Array ;
Buyer_mc = new Buyer(533.2,0) ;
addChild(Buyer_mc);
gameTimer.addEventListener( TimerEvent.TIMER, BuyerEnter );
if(Buyer_mc.y==377.25)
{
dispatchEvent( new ReachMallDoorEvent( ReachMallDoorEvent.CHECK ) );
}
}
public function BuyerEnter(event:TimerEvent)
{
Buyer_mc.Enter();
}
public function OnReachMallDoor(event:ReachMallDoorEvent)
{
trace("my timer starts now");
}
}
}
Here, OnReachMallDoor never seems to run because there is something wrong. I cant see the output saying "My timer starts now". But there is no error in the code and output doesnt show any runtime errors either. Where have I gone wrong? I want OnReachMallDoor function to run when my y coordinate is in desirable position and the event is dispatched.
The order of commands is wrong.
GenerateBuyers();
addEventListener(Rea...
The first line of these two is the one that could potentially cause the Event to be dispatched. But only after that will you start listening for it. That's simply too late. You have to start listening before the Event is dispatched.
The probability of the Event to be dispatched is very low.
Buyer_mc.y==377.25
Checking floating point values for equality is often not a good idea. It could easily be just slightly off due to rounding errors etc. If this .y property was controlled by the mouse for example, you'd have to position the mouse at exactly that position, which is very unlikely.
You only dispatch the Event at the beginning.
GenerateBuyers();
That function is only called once. The .y position is evaluated.
This only happens once and never again.
But the .y position is subject to change and the condition should be evaluated again, which doesn'T happen
The structure is not helpful.
It doesn't make much sense for an object to listen for its own Events. Simply call the function and be done with it.
Events are for communication between objects.
How this is supposed to be:
The point of the custom Event is to be notified about something.
You want to be notified when this condition
Buyer_mc.y==377.25
is true.
If you are evaluating that condition the way you do it now, then there's no point in receiving a notification about the result thereof. You have it already.
Instead, Buyer_mc should dispatch the Event. The condition should be checked in Buyer class.
What the code looks like
some snippets pointing out what the above means, code untested:
class Buyer
override public function set y(value:Number):void
{
if (value == 377.25)
dispatchEvent(new ReachMallDoorEvent(ReachMallDoorEvent.CHECK)); // I'm at the position, I send out the notification
super.y = value;
}
class FashionFrenzy
buyer = new Buyer(533.2, 0); // variables should start with small letter
buyer.addEventListener(ReachMallDoorEvent.CHECK, OnReachMallDoor);
If you now set the .y position to the value, the object will dispatch the Event. It will figure that out on its own.
Letting the object figure something out on its own and just receive a notification about it is the main reason to use custom events.
New to AS 3.0 and I seem to have an issue where an external AS file is run when I test an individual scene in Flash Pro but not when I test the entire movie or when I test from Flash Builder. Anyone know what the problem might be?
Here's the code from the AS file:
package {
import flash.display.MovieClip;
public class Level1 extends MovieClip {
public var myplayer:MyPlayer;
public function Level1() {
super();
myplayer.x = 516;
myplayer.y = 371;
if (myplayer.x == 516)
{
trace("player x is 516");
}
else if (myplayer.y == 371)
{
trace("player y is 371");
}
}
}
}
Any ideas?
EDIT
I think I figured out the problem. The swf contained two scenes, and the external AS file started running at the start of Scene 1, but the myPlayer movie clip was not instantiated until Scene2, which, I think was causing the problem I was having, in addition to giving a 1009 null object error.
So I simply deleted the first scene, and now everything works fine. Maybe I will put that first scene in a separate SWF? Or, is there some way to delay a script's execution until a certain scene?
Your problem:
When the constructor of your doucment class runs, myPlayer doesn't yet exist so it throws a 1009 runtime error and exits the constructor at the first reference to myPlayer.
Solutions:
Put all the myPlayer code on the first frame of the MyPlayer timeline. OR use your current document class as the class file for MyPlayer (instead of documentClass). Change all references to myPlayer to this.
Listen for frame changes and check until myPlayer is populated, then run your code.
this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, enterFrameHandler);
function enterFrameHandler(e):void {
if(myPlayer){
//run the myPlayer code
this.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,enterFrameHandler);
}
}
If your frame rate is 24fps, this code though will run 24 times every second (until it finds myPlayer), so it's not the most performant way to go.
Use events. Add an event to the first frame of myPlayer (or to a class file for MyPLayer) that tells the document class that it exists now.
stage.dispatchEvent(new Event("myPlayerReady"));
Then listen for that event on the document class:
stage.addEventListener("myPlayerReady",playerReadyHandler);
playerReadyHandler(e:Event):void {
//your player code
var myPlayer = MyPlayer(e.target); //you can even get the reference from the event object
}
Thanks for your constructive, helpful responses, LDMS. I thought I had found a solution when I hadn't. Your advice worked. What I did was add the following code to the timeline of MyPlayer
this.x = 516;
this.y = 371;
if (this.x == 516)
{
trace("player x is 516");
}
if (this.y == 371)
{
trace("player y is 371");
}
and I removed the code from the document class. Everything seems to be working fine now. Thanks again for your help!
I'm making a dynamic map of France going from Roman times to 2014 and I have a problem.
Most of my interface is working except for one feature that requires a lot of mc inside the main movieclip.
I can't post pictures so i'll try to explain what i did.
I have a main movieclip ("france_map"). Inside it, i have several layers including one called "rulers". In this layer, I have the timeline of every king/president of France.
We'll focus on two of them: Sarkozy (frame 2007 to frame 2012) and Hollande (frame 2013 to frame 2014).
The mc "sarkozy" is only accessible between 2007 and 2012. On frame 2013, it disappears, replaced by the mc "hollande".
When I click on one of them from root, a biography of the one concerned opens.
It works thanks to that code:
france_map.sarkozy_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fl_sarkozy_btn);
function fl_sarkozy_btn(MouseEvent: Event): void {
sarkozy.visible = true;
close_fiches_btn.visible = true;
close_arbre_btn.visible = false;
sarkozy_txt.visible = true;
};
france_map.hollande_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fl_hollande_btn);
function fl_hollande_btn(MouseEvent: Event): void {
hollande.visible = true;
close_fiches_btn.visible = true;
close_arbre_btn.visible = false;
hollande_txt.visible = true;
};
But, I have two button I use to navigate the timeline (controlled by that code:
/* Avancer ou Reculer d'un an */
flecheg_sym.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fl_gotoprev);
function fl_gotoprev(MouseEvent: Event): void {
for each(var item: MovieClip in maps) {
if (item.currentFrame > 0) {
item.prevFrame();
} else {
item.nextFrame();
}
}
fleched_sym.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fl_gotonext);
function fl_gotonext(MouseEvent: Event): void {
for each(var item: MovieClip in maps) {
if (item.currentFrame > 0) {
item.nextFrame();
} else {
item.prevFrame();
}
}
}
When I use these button, all timelines move together. It works.
My problem is that:
when I reach frame 2013 ("sarkozy" disappears, "hollande" appears), the new button ("hollande") doesn't work. And when I go back to 2012 ("hollande" disappears, "sarkozy" appears), "sarkozy" doesn't work anymore either.
I don't understand the problem (i'm fairly new at as3 and flash).
If i wasn't clea enough (english is not my first language), tell me, i'll try to explain more.
Thanks for your help.
Jeryl
And when I go back to 2012, "sarkozy" doesn't work anymore either
If you want to use MovieClip as a navigation instrument you should master it. When you go back from current keyframe that contains new assets and logic, and I assume previous frame isn't keyframe with listeners and logic, you will see graphics without any binded scripts. Briefly speaking, reassign your listeners for the buttons, use constant movieclip names, design your timeline appropriately and all be ok.