I have read this article about abstracting assets from ActionScript:
Abstracting Assets from Actionscript in AS3.0 – Asset Libraries and DuplicateMovieClip
But it requires to set the Linkage Class name. How can I get the same result without setting the linkage class name?
What I want to do is to cache a loaded asset, and use the cached version every time I request the same URL. A solution is to clone the loaded DisplayObject, but I think it's unnecessary since I only want a new copy.
I think the way to do that is to use byte arrays
here's a quick sample
// once you load your data...
private function loaderComplete(event:Event):void
{
var loaderInfo:LoaderInfo = LoaderInfo(event.target);
var byteArray:ByteArray = loaderInfo.bytes; //<- this will create your byte array
}
you can then use byteArray.readObject(); to generate the new class;
look at senocular's post at http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1897368
where he's got a function like this:
function clone(source:Object):* {
var copier:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
copier.writeObject(source);
copier.position = 0;
return(copier.readObject());
}
//that you use with
newObjectCopy = clone(originalObject);
hope this gets you started
As of Flash 11.3, there's a function named getQualifiedDefinitionNames that tells me exactly what linkage names should I use with getDefinition, so there's no need to know the values beforehand.
Related
I am making an application to test art from a game I volunteered for. Right now the example I am posting will only touch the armors but the loading process is the same throughout the program. I have a movieclip ready to hold the loaded file but it adds it to the container via the class. It works how it should however my issue is that if you use another file with the same classes then it will default to the first file loaded. Even i use loaderr.unloadAndStop() and remove everything from the stage, it will always load the first file that corresponds to the class I am loading by. Since the armor pieces are loaded by class it makes it a hassle to test multiple changes to an armor file without changing the classes on each export. Here is an example of the code that is being used and I am curious if there is any way that I can improve this. `
public class Test extends MovieClip
{
public var mcChar:Display;
public var btnTest:SimpleButton;
public var btnTest2:SimpleButton;
public var ldr:Loader = new Loader();
public var strSkinLinkage:String;
public var strGender:String;
public function Test()
{
btnTest.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, TestP);
btnTest2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, TestP2);
}
public function TestP(e:MouseEvent)
{
mcChar = new Display();
stage.addChild(mcChar);
mcChar.x = 789.6;
mcChar.y = 604.75;
mcChar.width = 667.15;
mcChar.height = 478.55;
strSkinLinkage = "CNC";
strGender = "M"
this.ldr.load(new URLRequest("CNC.SWF"), new LoaderContext(false, ApplicationDomain.currentDomain));
this.ldr.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, this.onLoadSkinComplete);
}
public function TestP2(e:MouseEvent)
{
mcChar = new Display();
stage.addChild(mcChar);
mcChar.x = 789.6;
mcChar.y = 604.75;
mcChar.width = 667.15;
mcChar.height = 478.55;
strSkinLinkage = "CNC";
strGender = "M"
this.ldr.load(new URLRequest("CNC2.SWF"), new LoaderContext(false, ApplicationDomain.currentDomain));
this.ldr.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, this.onLoadSkinComplete);
}
public function onLoadSkinComplete(e:Event):*
{
var AssetClass:Class;
try
{
AssetClass = (getDefinitionByName(((strSkinLinkage + strGender) + "Head")) as Class);
mcChar.head.addChildAt(new (AssetClass)(), 0);
}
catch(err:Error)
{
AssetClass = (getDefinitionByName(("mcHead" + strGender)) as Class);
mcChar.head.addChildAt(new (AssetClass)(), 0);
};
AssetClass = (getDefinitionByName(((strSkinLinkage + strGender) + "Chest")) as Class);
chest.addChild(ldr.content (AssetClass)());
mcChar.chest.addChild(new (chest)());
this.ldr.contentLoaderInfo.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, this.onLoadSkinComplete);
}
}
`
I don't think its well formatted on this site but this is the core code. I have separate removal functions and my imports are all there. Like I said I cant seem to get it to format correctly. This is my test scenario and isn't my full dynamic tester where I can choose the file. Any help in figuring out how to use the most recent file is appreciated. Also for some background I am more of a self taught novice in as3.
When it gets to loading and unloading assets in AS3, there are several things to learn.
ApplicationDomain is a container for class definitions. The getDefinitionByName(...) method is basically the same as calling the ApplicationDomain.getDefinition(...) on the current ApplicationDomain (or maybe on the main ApplicationDomain, I never tried to do it in the loaded content). As the side result, you cannot have two classes with the same names inside the same ApplicationDomain (or rather you can, but one of them is inaccessible, who knows).
When you load another SWF which falls into the "same domain" category (same www domain, or same/nested local folder), AS3 automatically mixes all the definitions from the loaded SWF into the main ApplicationDomain. If you are willing to have some advanced control over loading/unloading stuff, or/and there are "skin" libraries that have similar sets of classes, you need to put the loaded files into separate ApplicationDomains or their definitions will collide and the result will be unpredictable (yet obviously not satisfactory).
The Loader.load(...) method has a second argument that allows you to do so:
// If there are no mandatory constructor arguments,
// you are free to omit the () brackets. I like doing so.
var aLoader:Loader = new Loader;
var aRequest:URLRequest = new URLRequest("mylibrary.swf");
// Documentation states that passing no argument here is
// the same as passing ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.
var childDomain:ApplicationDomain = new ApplicationDomain;
var aContext:LoaderContext = new LoaderContext(false, childDomain);
aLoader.load(aRequest, aContext);
Thus, when external SWF library is loaded, you can obtain its classes/definitions as following:
var aClass:Class;
// If you get things from the loaded SWF's Library
// then it is Sprite or MovieClip for the most cases.
var anAsset:Sprite;
aClass = aLoader.contentLoaderInfo.applicationDomain.getDefinition("MyAssetClass") as Class;
anAsset = new aClass;
When you do not longer need some of the loaded libraries, you call the Loader.unloadAndStop(...) method on the relevant Loader instance. Combined with the loading SWF into separate ApplicationDomain you can be sure that all of the loaded content (graphics, classes, sounds) is unloaded, destroyed and removed (that one I actually checked):
// Passing "true" also forces the Garbage Collector
// to actually do its job for a change.
aLoader.unloadAndStop(true);
Can variables be created dynamically without declaration when we write as Document class in AS3?
For example, from a library I'm importing sound files. Some 20 sound files.
If the code is in fla itself, we can assign in for loop like:
this["SOUND"+increasingNumber]
But in documentClass this is not working , since this refers the class here not the stage.
Any method to create variables?
When imported into your library, right click the sound file and go to its properties. Click the actionscript tab and check 'export for actionscript'. Give it a class name which you can then use in your document class to instantiate that sound.
If you named it Sound1:
var sound:Sound = new Sound1();
sound.play();
more detailed info here
[Edit to loxxy's reply] above shows how to create the variables in the document class.
To dynamically create all the sound variables, I'd recommend using an array, like so:
Suppose you named all your sounds in your library Sound1 to Sound20
import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
var sounds:Array = [];
var soundClass:Class;
for(var i:int = 1; i<21; i++){
soundClass = getDefinitionByName("Sound" + i) as Class;
sounds.push(new soundClass());
}
In fla when you add code, you add it into a framescript.
A framescript is a block of code repeated at a regular interval (framerate).
You can achieve that using addFrameScript like this.
However a better approach would be to not mix up framescript & the regular class methods.
You can access the 'stage' from the code but only after the added_to_stage event to be sure.
addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init);
function init(e:Event):void{
// Access 'stage' here
}
I am writing an iOS game in Flash and I need a way to clone polymorphic objects.
I have BaseClass, SubClass1, SubClass2 (and so on...) and I need a clone() method in BaseClass, that will create a copy of the current object, without a conditional such as
var obj:BaseClass;
if(this is SubClass1) {
obj = new SubClass1();
}else if(this is SubClass2) {
obj = new SubClass2();
}else...
I need a way to create an object and create the exact bytes (yes, a shallow copy is enough for my purpose) of the object. I've looked at:
AS3 - Clone an object
As3 Copy object
http://actionscripthowto.com/how-to-clone-objects-in-as3/
But none seem to work. Probably not available in AIR 3.3 for iOS SDK. (they compile, but the code doesn't work in my case)
Is there any other way, or did anybody achieve to clone an object in AIR for iOS?
Thanks,
Can.
Bit-by-bit cloning cannot be done with ActionScript, unless your class only contains primitive values (i.e. a simple data structure). That's what the ByteArray approach you've linked to in this question's answer is used for - but when you're dealing with complex types, especially display objects, you'll soon come to the limits (as, I gather, you have already realized).
So this more or less leaves you with two options:
Create a new object and copy all of its fields and properties.
This is the way to go if you're going to need behavior and field values, and you didn't use any drawing methods (i.e., you can not copy vector graphics this way). Creating a new class instance without knowing its exact type can be done in a generalized way using reflections, getQualifiedClassName() and getDefinitionByName() will help you there, and if you need more than just the name, describeType(). This does have limits, too, though:private fields will not be available (they don't appear in the information provided by describeType()), and in order to not run into performance problems, you will have to use some sort of cacheing. Luckily, as3commons-reflect has already solved this, so implementing the rest of what you need for a fully functional shallow copy mechanism is not too complex.
Create a new instance like this:
var newObject:* = new Type.forInstance( myObject ).clazz();
Then iterate over all accessors, variables and dynamic properties and assign the old instance's values.
I have implemented a method like this myself, for an open source framework I am working on. You can download or fork it at github. There isn't any documentation yet, but its use is as simple as writing:
var myCopy:* = shallowCopy( myObject );
I also have a copy() method there, which creates a true deep copy. This, however, has not been tested with anything but data structures (albeit large ones), so use at your own risk ;)
Create a bitmap copy.
If you do have vector graphics in place, this is often easier than recreating an image: Simply draw the content of the object's graphics to a new Bitmap.
function bitmapCopy( source:Sprite ):Bitmap {
source.cacheAsBitmap = true;
var bitmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData( source.width, source.height, true, 0xFFFFFF );
bitmapData.draw( source, new Matrix(), null, null, null, true );
return new Bitmap( bitmapData, PixelSnapping.AUTO, true );
}
You need to create an abstract clone method in the base class and implement it for each subclass. In the specific implementations, you would copy all of the properties of the object to the new one.
public class BaseClass {
public function clone():BaseClass
{
// throw an error so you quickly see the places where you forgot to override it
throw new Error("clone() should be overridden in subclasses!");
return null;
}
}
public class Subclass1 extends BaseClass {
public override function clone():BaseClass
{
var copy:Subclass1 = new Subclass1();
copy.prop1 = prop1;
copy.prop2 = prop2;
// .. etc
return copy;
}
}
If you wanted to create a generic default implementation of clone, you could use describeType to access the properties and copy them over:
public function clone():BaseClass
{
var defn:XML = describeType(this);
var clsName:String = defn.#name;
var cls:Class = getDefinitionByName(clsName) as Class;
var inst:* = new cls();
for each(var prop:String in (defn.variable + defn.accessor.(#access == 'readwrite')).#name )
{
inst[prop] = this[prop];
}
return inst;
}
The main issue with this is that the describeType XML can get quite large - especially if you are dealing with objects that extend DisplayObject. That could use a lot of memory and be slow on iOS.
This may be a tired old question, but I have yet to find a good answer. Say for instance you have a class that reads in an xml file to get information such as a grocery store items, prices, etc. This class also allows you to retrieve the information about a grocery store item with a get() function.
var grocery:GroceryStore = new GroceryStore(); //create a class that
//reads in xml about
//grocery items
grocery.get("lettuce"); //get some data
In this scenario, I am constantly running into issues because the get() function is being called before the event that loads in the xml file. It wouldn't make sense to place the get() in the onLoad event for the xml file because I want it to be re-usable and dynamic. Also, AS3 doesn't have a wait() function so I can't stall until the file is loaded? Does anyone have an idea on how to read in a file and then be able to safely access the data dynamically and repeatedly? Hopefully this example and my question is thorough enough, if not let me know.
Thanks
You can use events - listen for the complete event to be dispatched.
Add the following code to GroceryStore class
//constructor or a load method
var ldr:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
ldr.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onLoad);
ldr.load(new URLRequest(xmlurl));
function onLoad(e:Event):void
{
//process xml here
dispatchEvent(e);
}
Now use it as:
var grocery:GroceryStore = new GroceryStore();
grocery.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onGroceryLoad);
function onGroceryLoad(e:Event):void
{
grocery.get("lettuce");
}
Should be easy. I have an object. I want to modify it, but before i do I want to save a copy of it that I can go back to. I tried setting copy = original but when i modify the attributes of the original the copy also shows the changes. I am assuming this is because in actionscript any time you assign, it really just stores a reference to the original object. So whats the best way for me to store a copy of the original object for later use?
var newObj:Object = Object(ObjectUtil.copy(oldObj));
"Copies the specified Object and returns a reference to the copy. The copy is made using a native serialization technique. This means that custom serialization will be respected during the copy.
This method is designed for copying data objects, such as elements of a collection. It is not intended for copying a UIComponent object, such as a TextInput control. If you want to create copies of specific UIComponent objects, you can create a subclass of the component and implement a clone() method, or other method to perform the copy."
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/3/langref/mx/utils/ObjectUtil.html#copy()
What you are looking for is a deep copy of the object rather then passing by reference. I found the answer here which uses the new ByteArray class in AS3:
http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1897368
function clone(source:Object):* {
var copier:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
copier.writeObject(source);
copier.position = 0;
return(copier.readObject());
}
Which you then use like this:
newObjectCopy = clone(originalObject);
Cheers!
// duplicate any given Object (not MCs)
Object.prototype.copy = function()
{
ASSetPropFlags(Object.prototype,["copy"],1);
var _t = new this.__proto__.constructor(this) //
for(var i in this){
_t[i] = this[i].copy()
}
return _t
};
Usage
x = ["1","2","3",[4,5],[{a:1,b:2}]]
y = x.copy()
y[0] = 0
y[3][0]="d"
trace(x)
trace(y)