upcasting in actionscript 3 - actionscript-3

Question

Hi I have a custom class that extends Sprite, that controls positioning on the stage. I would like the class that manages the stage to be able to take any sprite that is added to the stage and convert it to custom class type, ie wrap it so that the managing class can position a native sprite accordingly.
Does anyone know if it is possible to do something like the following
var managed:managedSprite = new managedSprite(nativeSprite);
where the managedSprite extends the Sprite class? I don't want to have to composite in a reference to the sprite if at all possible in order to prevent the overhead associated with the managedSprite already extending Sprite.
Is there anyway using reflection (perhaps the commons.reflection library)?
Thanks

Answer 1

You can add an event listener to the stage and use Event.ADDED to get a reference to any display object added anywhere in the display list.
Then simply type cast if the added item is a subclass of ManagedSprite (BTW, the convention is to start your class names with an uppercase letter):
stage.addEventListener (Event.ADDED, onAdded);
function onAdded( ev:Event ):void {
if (ev.target is ManagedSprite) {
var managed:ManagedSprite = ManagedSprite( ev.target );
doStuffWith( managed );
}
}
EDIT
I think I only just understood your question: You are not trying to do an actual type cast - which would require your class hierarchy to be already set up, i.e. you'd have to have extended the ManagedSprite class already - but to add functionality at runtime!
I would strongly discourage you from trying to do deep copies or such - it will be heavy on performance, depending on how many sprites you are going to add, and you will no longer have your compiler to help you prevent errors.
Rather, see if you can't favor composition over inheritance: Create a kind of "proxy" class for the sprite, let's call it ManagedSpriteProxy, which implements all the methods you would call on ManagedSprite, but forwards all the actual manipulations to its `managedSprite' property. Then use the event handler I outlined above to create the proxy objects and attach the respective sprites:
public class ManagedSpriteProxy {
private var _managedSprite:Sprite;
public function ManagedSpriteProxy( managedSprite:Sprite ) {
this.managedSprite = managedSprite;
}
public function get managedSprite():Sprite {
return _managedSprite;
}
public function set managedSprite( managedSprite : Sprite ):void {
_managedSprite = managedSprite;
setUpAnyHandlersOrWhatever();
}
private function setUpAnyHandlersOrWhatever():void {
// Many wonderful things happening
}
// Many more wonderful things happening via public API
}
// somewhere else
public class SpriteManager {
private var _managedSprites:Array = [];
public function SpriteManager() {
addEventListener( Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage );
}
private function onAddedToStage( ev:Event ):void {
removeEventListener( Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE );
stage.addEventListener( Event.ADDED, onAdded );
}
private function onAdded( ev:Event ):void {
if( ev.target is Sprite ) {
addWithProxy( ev.target as Sprite );
}
}
private function addWithProxy( sprite:Sprite ) : void {
var proxy:ManagedSpriteProxy = new ManagedSpriteProxy( sprite );
_managedSprites.push( proxy );
}
// Insert here whatever methods used to manage the sprites,
// all of them call the proxies instead of the sprites!
}

Answer 2

You may want to use the 'Decorator' pattern.
It seems a little bit complex at the first sight but it's quite easy to understand and use.
http://www.as3dp.com/2009/04/actionscript-30-easy-and-practical-decorator-design-pattern/