AS3 Dispatch Custom Event from class to class - actionscript-3

Question

I want to dispatch a custom event from the Country() sto the MenuButton();
CountryEvent
package {
import flash.events.Event;
public class CountryEvent extends Event {
public static const COUNTRY_HOVERED:String = "onCountryOver";
private var _countryName:String = "";
public function CountryEvent(type:String, countryName:String, bubbles:Boolean=true, cancelable:Boolean=false) {
super(type, bubbles, cancelable);
_countryName = countryName;
}
public function get countryName():String {
return _countryName;
}
public override function clone():Event
{
return new CountryEvent(type,countryName,bubbles,cancelable);
}
}
}
Country Class
package
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.events.Event;
public class Country extends MovieClip
{
private var countryEvent:CountryEvent;
public function Country()
{
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onMouseOver);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,onMouseOut);
}
private function onMouseOver(e:MouseEvent):void
{
countryEvent = new CountryEvent("onCountryOver",this.name);
dispatchEvent(countryEvent);
}
}
private function onMouseOut(e:MouseEvent):void
{
}
}
}
MenuButton Class
package {
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import CountryEvent;
public class MenuButton extends MovieClip {
public var countryName:String = "";
public function MenuButton() {
this.buttonMode = true;
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onMouseOver);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,onMouseOut);
this.addEventListener(CountryEvent.COUNTRY_HOVERED,onCountryOver);
}
private function onCountryOver(e:CountryEvent):void {
if(e.countryName == countryName) {
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
}
private function onMouseOver(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
private function onMouseOut(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.gotoAndPlay(11);
}
}
}
When a country is hovered a custom event is dispatched which I want the MenuButton to listen and if the parameter passed is the same as its name to get highlighted. The Country Class is the Base Class for my countries movieclips I have on stage and the MenuButton the Base Class for the menu button
It seems that the event never gets through
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

You have to make two modifications:
First, set your event bubbles property to true, so when a Country clip dispatches an event it will go up to the top level.
Then your MenuButtons should listen to stage, not to themselves. So when a Country dispatches an event it goes up to stage and can be caught by the buttons. If you want to listen to the stage you have to do a slight change in your code:
public function MenuButton() {
this.buttonMode = true;
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onMouseOver);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, onMouseOut);
this.addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);
}
private function onAddedToStage(e:Event):void
{
removeEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);
stage.addEventListener(CountryEvent.COUNTRY_HOVERED,onCountryOver);
}

Answer 2

the best and easy way for solving this issue is by simply pass the stage reference as class level parameter and add event to the stage reference and dispatch event to the stage reference.
Country Class
package{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.events.Event;
public class Country extends MovieClip
{
private var countryEvent:CountryEvent;
private var _stageRef:Stage;
public function Country(pStageRef:Stage)
{
_stageRef = pStageRef;
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onMouseOver);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,onMouseOut);
}
private function onMouseOver(e:MouseEvent):void
{
countryEvent = new CountryEvent("onCountryOver",this.name);
_stageRef.dispatchEvent(countryEvent);
}
}
private function onMouseOut(e:MouseEvent):void
{
}
}
MenuButton Class
package {
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import CountryEvent;
public class MenuButton extends MovieClip {
public var countryName:String = "";
private var _stageRef:Stage;
public function MenuButton(pStageRef:Stage) {
_stageRef = pStageRef;
this.buttonMode = true;
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onMouseOver);
this.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,onMouseOut);
_stageRef.addEventListener(CountryEvent.COUNTRY_HOVERED,onCountryOver);
}
private function onCountryOver(e:CountryEvent):void {
if(e.countryName == countryName) {
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
}
private function onMouseOver(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
private function onMouseOut(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.gotoAndPlay(11);
}
}