Passing a variable between classes - actionscript-3

Question

I am trying to pass a variable "budget" from my DocumentClass of a flash file, to a class.
Currently I have :
(DocumentClassv5 , this is the code thats attached to the flash file in the properties panel, some code ommited)
package
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.utils.Timer;
import flash.events.TimerEvent;
import flash.events.*;
import flash.ui.Keyboard;
import flash.display.Stage;
import flash.text.TextFieldType;
import flash.media.Sound;
import flash.media.SoundChannel;
import miniGameOne;
import floorTileMC;
import flash.display.Loader;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
public class DocumentClassv5 extends MovieClip
{
/*#################################
## Defining Variables ##
#################################*/
public var budget:int = 0;
var gameOne:miniGameOne = new miniGameOne();
/*#################################
## Constructor ##
#################################*/
public function DocumentClassv5()
{
/*#################################
## Adding Event Listeners ##
#################################*/
trace("Document class loaded");
}
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/*###################################################
## Begins the mini game ##
###################################################*/
public function begin(evt: MouseEvent)
{
beginGame.visible = false;
beginGame.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, begin);
budget = 500;
cleanListeners();
gameOne.loadGame();
trace(gameOne.testVar);
trace(floorTile.testVar2);
/*#################################
## Adding Event Listeners ##
#################################*/
trace("Game started");
}
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
}
Then I have the miniGameOne class file, which at the moment does nothing
I also have another class file, called tileFloorMC. This is attached to a symbol.
package
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import DocumentClassv5;
public class floorTileMC extends MovieClip
{
var propertyA:Number;
//var hackerClass:DocumentClassv5 = new DocumentClassv5;
public var testVar2:int = 50;
public function floorTileMC()
{
this.propertyA = randomRange(100, 500);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, manageMouseOver, false, 0, true);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, manageMouseOut, false, 0, true);
}
private function manageMouseOver(evt: MouseEvent)
{
this.gotoAndStop(2);
//trace(mainClass.budget);
}
private function manageMouseOut(evt: MouseEvent)
{
this.gotoAndStop(1);
//mainClass.budget += 1;
}
private function randomRange(minNum:Number, maxNum:Number):Number
{
return (Math.floor(Math.random() * (maxNum - minNum + 1)) + minNum);
}
}
}
Now, essentially I will need to be able to pass budget from DocumentClassv5 TO floorTileMC, and then BACK to DocumentClassv5. At the moment, I can pass anything from floorTileMC and anything from miniGameOne into DocumentClassv5, but when i try and pass from floorTileMC to DocumentClassv5, I get error
Error #2136: The SWF file file:///yadayada/GameV5.swf contains invalid data.
More specifically, as soon as I uncomment //var hackerClass:DocumentClassv5 = new DocumentClassv5;
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Tiffany

Answer 1

You're trying to instantiate your document class in a subclass:
var hackerClass:DocumentClassv5 = new DocumentClassv5();
You want access to access the existing instance, not create a new one.
One thing you can do, is create a static reference to your document class. (see code sample below)
Static references can get ugly though, and you may just want to pass a reference of your doc class to your other classes when you instantiate them.
Both method below:
In your document class:
//instead of the line below:
var gameOne:miniGameOne = new miniGameOne(); //It's a bad idea to instantiate non primitive objects before the constructor of your document class runs.
//just declare it, and instantiate it in the constructor
var gameOne:miniGameOne;
//if you want to use a static reference:
public static var me:DocumentClassv5;
public function DocumentClassv5()
{
/*#################################
## Adding Event Listeners ##
#################################*/
//if using the static var me, set it's value to this (the instance of the document class):
me = this;
trace("Document class loaded");
gameOne = new miniGameOne(this); //pass a reference to the document class if NOT using the static var me
}
If using the static var me, you access it by doing the following from any class:
DocumentClassV5.me.budget;
Another cleaner alternative (if the values you need access to aren't really directly tied to any class, eg. global preferences), is make a whole new class that is just static (doesn't get instantiated) to hold your preferences.
package {
public class Global {
public static var budget:Number = 50;
}
}
Then you'd access budget by importing your Global class and doing Global.budget = 5