I want to know if it's possible, and if so how, to apply a property of a var to multiple vars at once. I'm making a point-n-click game where i want to apply the buttonMode property to multiple variables (of MovieClips).
I don't know if this is even possible or how simple or advanced this is, but it would be damn handy.
I have searched on Google and this site for a possible answer, with different search terms/keywords, but can't find anything close. I also tried different things with an asterisk such as *.buttonMode = true and movieClip.*.buttonMode = true but no success.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
All you really need to do is bind a specific property of all these movieclips to a bindable variable.
For more information on bindable variables visit :
1. http://www.flexafterdark.com/docs/ActionScript-Bindable
2. http://jacwright.com/blog/54/actionscript-3-bindable-dynamic-objects/
Bindables come in handy whenver you want many objects to refer to a property , and on the change of this property, some property in the object(s) which have binded to this bindable variable will change.
Related
Say I have this specific button class in Flash called cont_button and it's supposed to be used to break out of a loop, but I want to use the class more than once. Is there a way to give every instance of this class some kind of parameter so that it knows which frame it nees to go to?
Example:
I have an instance of cont_button on frame 200 and there's a loop between 200 and 210. This cont_button executes a gotoAndPlay(211). But later on I have another instance of the button on frame 315 and a loop between 315 and 325. Is there a way to make it so each instance knows which frame it specifically needs to go to via the use of a variable? Or am I going to have to make an actionscript file for each individual one?
Pretty new to ActionScript so I appreciate the help and if there are good coding references to AS3 you guys recommend, I'll gladly look those over.
Sure, this is possible. One way you can do this is make the frame numbers class variables and when the button is clicked, they reference whatever value is stored in them, rather then hardcoded numbers. To get a better idea, can you post the relevant parts of your button class?
As you say, you need to pass a parameter to each instance of the button. There are lots of different ways you could do this, but I'd be tempted to just do it via the instance names.
You could name each button loopBreakTo211, loopBreakTo326 and so on, then in your button's class have:
var breakFrame:Number = Number(name.replace("loopBreakTo", ""));
(parent as MovieClip).gotoAndPlay(breakFrame);
Admittedly that's not a very robust way of doing it (for example, it will break if a button is named incorrectly and breakFrame ends up as NaN, so you might want to add a check for that), but it keeps the parameter together with the instance instead of in the timeline somewhere.
I'm currently working on a project that involve a re-implementation of the Array class.
This object needs to be an Array for compatibility reasons, while I also need to keep control of what is written in.
I cannot seem to find any way to check property creation inside of a dynamic object in AS3. Something that would work like the Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE but, like, ClassEvent.PROPERTY_ADDED.
I override methods like push, splice etc, but I cannot control direct assignation : MyArray[i] = ...
Is such a thing even possible ?
Of course, I could make some kind of validations elsewhere, but this would involve accessing a part of the code I cannot modify.
Thanks for your time !
I'm not sure I follow you entirely but you may be looking for the Proxy class:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/utils/Proxy.html
An example at the bottom shows you how you can override direct assignment:
override flash_proxy function setProperty(name:*, value:*):void {
_item[name] = value;
}
Using this you would be able to dispatch a custom event that would be fired any time an item was added to your ProxyArray
I have my own custom component. This component extends from a basic container. I want to be able to access the itemRenderer instances that are being visualized. I know that the component mx:list has an internal getter that provides an array of Arrays containing the itemRenderer instances that render each data provider item. I want the same thing. Any idea how of how to do that?
To be more specific: I am setting the selected property of my dataProvider items to true or false. From the updateDisplayList funcion of my ItemRenderer I check for changes of the property and correct the border color of the selected ones. Unfortunately I have to force the updateDisplayList function. I already did this once on a ItemRenderer from a list. Only with the list it was practical because by making my own list I was able to get the list of items being rendered and therefore visualized (cannot be many). It was no overhead to go trough the rendered Items and updateDisplayList. But in this case I can have 100 items. Imagine checking and changing styles on so many items. Thanks
The Flex architects intentionally made this difficult to do, because they are properly encapsulating the component. In short, to even try to do this is a violation of good OOP principles.
That said, about 90% of the things you are probably trying to do can be done by manipulating the data item, and the remaining 10% can be done by using a ClassFactory for your itemRenderer that sets a custom property on your itemRenderer to a callback where you can look at the data available to the containing context and provide back a value based on that.
If you elaborate a bit more on your end goal, I can give you more specifics.
Edit in light of clarification:
You need to make your data object class dispatch an event when it changes (one way is to make it bindable, or just make the selected property bindable). Then, in your renderer, listen for the change event and take the appropriate action.
A second way to handle this would just be to refresh() the collection, storing the selectedItem first (if you care about that) and resetting it once the refresh has finished.
I believe you can access the itemRenderer instances through getChildAt method. Flex 3's container overrides "getChildAt", "numChildren", given that some children are logical children, while some are decorative children such as background, border and scrollbars.
Keep in mind that itemRenderer may not right away become available upon dataProvider assignment, as they may be created during the next component lifecycle. Check with the underlying container's documentation and find out which event to be listened when the renderers are surely created, so you can reliably access them.
I'm new to coding and AS3. I was reading about adding things to the stage using AS3 and learned about the addChild method. Reading more I found that there are different ways to use it. I also read that some ways are better than others, and that some ways are not good at all and better avoided.
I don't trust those sources though. As a coding newbie I come asking for help, StackOverflow. I'm about to start an addChild heavy project and I want to start it with the right implementations. I trust you, so let me ask you this: What's the correct use of addChild?
I just want to add things to the stage, but I read that it's not good to add them directly to the stage (without further argument though).
stage.addChild()
this.addChild()
addChild()
Are there other ways? Which one should I use?
Thanks for your time. :)
As the top-level container for all display objects in the display list hierarchy, there is only one Stage no matter how many SWF files are loaded into the runtime. So, generally, objects should not be added to the Stage, directly, at all. The only object the Stage should contain is the root object.
Generally, you should not use: stage.addChild()
Adding a DisplayObject to the display list should be performed within the scope of a DisplayObjectContainer.
Each SWF file has an associated ActionScript class, known as the main class of the SWF file which extends a display object. From this class or any child within the hierarchy you may call addChild().
The following are equal, and would add a child within the scope of the current display object container.
this.addChild()
addChild()
The this keyword explicity defines scope; however, is generally implicit when left off.
While a display object added via addChild() is added to the front (top) of all other children, to add a child to a specific index position, use the addChildAt() method.
References:
Display Programming
Basics of display programming
Adding display objects to the display list
Since flex memory management is poor, objects once instantiated dont die very easily (even when they go out of scope), one would need to check on various properties of components. I am using one such thing to know if the screen (which is a display object) is in current view. For this I am turning on a boolean property (currently visible), and I am setting it true on show event of the display object.
What I need to know is, which event (something opposite of show, e.g left?) could be used when the screen is replaced by another display object?
Something like focusIn and focusOut from dotnet.
Or if there is some property which could directly tell me if the display object is currently in view (hasFocus doesnt seem to be giving me expected results).
Thanks.
You can Use PropertyChageEvent check the documentation and base of the newValue and kind property you can do some action :
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/mx/events/PropertyChangeEvent.html
hope this help
Name of the event is: removedFromStage.