Handle MouseEvent.CLICK, MOUSE_DOWN in subclasses - actionscript-3

Question

I'm building a panel of buttons, that are enclosed in Canvas container. For this purpose I created a MyButton class, which is a subclass of UIComponent. MyButton class has 2 other subclasses: MyRadioButton and MyMenuButton, which have another behavior on MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN. MyMenuButtoncreates and shows a menu, that I build from XML and it builds ok.
I add listeners in the superclass like this:
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, handleClick);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, handleMouse);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, handleMouse);
It's done at the creation stage.
In my subclasses I override handleMouse handler.
override protected handleMouse(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
// subclass specific handling
}
These button objects are added to canvas container as following:
in class MyButtonsContainer.as:
this.rowChildren.addChild(button);
These buttons draw perfectly and in place. The problem is the behavior:
The event doesn't come to handleClick handler of superclass. And that's the question actually - why can it be?
Thanks in advance
EDIT: It appears that MOUSE_DOWN & MOUSE_UP interfere with CLICK event. When I remove listeners to them I get to click handler.How to cause them live together?

Answer 1

I managed to catch CLICK event as timing difference between MOUSE_DOWN & MOUSE_UP.
EDIT: A short/long explanation: For some reason my listeners for MOUSE_DOWN/MOUSE_UP events were interfering with MouseEvent.CLICK. I was suggested by somebody to give up on listening to MouseEvent.CLICK and instead start a timer in MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN and check again the timer in MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP. If the difference less than 0.1 (you can put there another threshold) then it was a click actually.
Now some sample code:
public class MyButton extends UIComponent
{
...
private var _clickTime : Number = 0.;
public function void MyButton()
{
super();
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, handleMouse);
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, handleMouse);
}
protected function checkForClick(event:MouseEvent) : Boolean
{
var down : Boolean = event.type == MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN;
if (down)
_clickTime = getTimer();
else {
var diff : Number = getTimer() - _clickTime;
if (diff/1000. < 1.) {
handleClick();
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
protected function handleClick(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
// handle the click here
}
protected function handleMouse(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
checkForClick(event);
...
// take care of your button graphic state
}
DISCLAIMER: This code works for me and good for me and my application needs. If you disagree with this way or have a better way to suggest, please do it in comments. Since this answer answers my own question and this EDIT was added only because I was asked to do so, please don't downvote it if you don't agree with it.

Answer 2

call the superclass method like so
override protected handleMouse(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
super.handleMouse(event);
// subclass specific handling
}

Answer 3

If I'm understanding you correctly, you just need to make sure that in your overriden handlers you end each one with a call to super -
override protected handleMouse(event:MouseEvent):void {
// my logic here for the subclass
trace("blah blah blah");
//now redispatch up to the superclass.
super.handleMouse(event);
}

Answer 4

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but I'd override click actions like this..
Base class:
public class MyButton extends UIComponent
{
/**
* Constructor
*/
public function MyButton()
{
// listeners
addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, _click);
// ...other listeners
}
/**
* Called on dispatch of MouseEvent.CLICK
*/
private function _click(e:MouseEvent):void
{
doClick();
}
/**
* Override this method and fill with actions to
* do when this is clicked
*/
protected function doClick():void
{
trace("base class was clicked");
}
}
And the extending class:
public class MyOtherButton extends MyButton
{
/**
* Override doClick
*/
override protected function doClick():void
{
super.doClick();
trace("extending class was clicked");
}
}
After closely inspecting your code:
You've added two different listeners to one function for one, shouldn't these have seperate functions as they are called by contrasting events?
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, handleMouse);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, handleMouse);
Also, it seems like you're expecting handleMouse to be fired by a click event judging by the below code, which isn't the case.
override protected handleMouse(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
// subclass specific handling
}
Either that, or you're forgetting to override handleClick as well - which is the method that you're running on a click event. You possibly need to add this code:
override protected handleClick(event:MouseEvent) : void
{
// subclass specific handling for a click
}