Why radioButtonGroup doesn't set its numRadioButons instantaneously? - actionscript-3

Here is my code:
var x : int = 50;
var group : RadioButtonGroup = new RadioButtonGroup();
for (var i : int = 0; i < 5; i++) {
var rb : RadioButton = new RadioButton();
rb.id = i.toString();
rb.group = group;
rb.label = i.toString();
rb.x = x;
x += 40;
cnv_subContent.addElement(rb);//a BorderContainer
}
Alert.show(group.numRadioButtons.toString());
when i run the application, it shows me "0". Why this?

This is due to the flex component lifecycle. When a RadioButton is assigned a group, it doesn't actually get added until its commitProperties runs a frame later.
To get the correct group.numRadioButtons, you'll have to do things asynchronously. Something interesting is spark.components.RadioButtonGroup actually dispatches an undocumented "numRadioButtonsChanged" event whenever radio buttons are added or removed. It works but of course being undocumented use at your own risk.

Related

AS3 reference movieclip by .name property

Yay, another simple noobie as3 question.
How can I reference a movieclip by its ".name" ?
I tried searching for a solution, but I couldn't find anything. Basically I have a set of movieclips added to the stage using a loop, so the way I found to diferentiate them was by giving them a .name of "something" + the Loop's "i". So now they are named something like "something1", "something2", "something3", and so on.
Now, I need to send some to a specific frame. Usually I would do something like:
something1.gotoAndStop(2);
But "something1" isnt the instance name, just the ".name". I cant find a way to reference it.
you want to use getChildByName("name") more info
import flash.display.MovieClip;
// create boxes
for(var i:int = 0 ; i < 4; i++){
var box:MovieClip = new myBox(); // myBox is a symbol in the library (export for actionscript is checked and class name is myBox
box.name = "box_" + i;
box.x = i * 100;
this.addChild(box);
}
// call one of the boxes
var targetBox:MovieClip = this.getChildByName("box_2") as MovieClip;
targetBox.gotoAndStop(2);
Accessing things by name is very prone to errors. It's not a good habit to get into if you're a newbie. I think a safer way to do this would be to store references to the things you're creating in the loop, for example in an array, and reference them by their indexes.
Example:
var boxes:Array = [];
const NUM_BOXES:int = 4;
const SPACING:int = 100;
// create boxes
for(var i:int = 0 ; i < NUM_BOXES:; i++){
var box:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
// You can still do this, but only as a label, don't rely on it for finding the box later!
box.name = "box_" + i;
box.x = i * SPACING;
addChild(box);
// store the box for lookup later.
boxes.push(box); // or boxes[i] = box;
}
// talk to the third box
const RESET_FRAME:int = 2;
var targetBox:MovieClip = boxes[2] as MovieClip;
targetBox.gotoAndStop(RESET_FRAME);
Note, I've also replaced many of the loose numbers with constants and vars which will also help your compiler notice errors.
You can use the parent to get the child by name. If the parent is the stage:
var something1:MovieClip = stage.getChildByName("something1");
something1.gotoAndStop(2);

AS3 removing dynamically created child movieclips

I'm fairly new to AS3. Anyways, I'm try to remove a dynamically created child movieclip when clicked on. When a dirt block is clicked on, which is a child movieclip of 'world' I want to remove it.
I've tried various ways of removing it using removeChild. I've also tried moving the function inside/outside of the for loop that creates the movieclips.
var blockCount:Number = 0;
var blockArray:Array = [];
var world:MovieClip = new World();
world.x = 50;
world.y = 50;
world.name = "world";
addChild(world);
for(var i:Number=1;i<=100;i++){
blockCount++;
var tempGrassBlock:MovieClip = new GrassBlock();
tempGrassBlock.x = i*16;
tempGrassBlock.y = 256;
tempGrassBlock.name = "b"+blockCount;
world.addChild(tempGrassBlock);
tempGrassBlock.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, removeBlock);
function removeBlock(event:Event){
world.removeChild(getChildByName(event.target.name));
}
}
Thanks for the help.
Try this
function removeBlock(event:Event){
world.removeChild(event.currentTarget as DisplayObject);
}
No function definition should be inside a for. I changed that in your code and rewrited a little below:
var blockCount:Number = 0;
var blockArray:Array = [];
var world:MovieClip = new World();
world.x = 50;
world.y = 50;
world.name = "world";
addChild(world);
for(var i:Number=1;i<=100;i++){
blockCount++;
var tempGrassBlock:MovieClip = new GrassBlock();
tempGrassBlock.x = i*16;
tempGrassBlock.y = 256;
tempGrassBlock.name = "b"+blockCount;
world.addChild(tempGrassBlock);
tempGrassBlock.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, removeBlock);
}
function removeBlock(event:MouseEvent){
trace("Is click really working? This target name is " + event.currentTarget.name);
world.removeChild(event.currentTarget));
}

ActionScript 3 - retrieving text values from TexInput created in component

I have a tile layout containing a list of TextInputs and text fields , i have created these fields in a custom component using the following code;
var newTextInputs:Array = [];
var newTextLabels = [];
var space:Number = 30;
var count:Number = 0;
for (var i:String in columnsData)
{
//create text labels
var label:Text = new Text();
label.name = "label" + count;
label.text = i;
newTextLabels[count] = label;
addChild(newTextLabels[count]);
// create text fields
var field:TextInput = new TextInput();
field.name = "field" + count;
field.width = 100;
field.height = 25;
field.text = columnsData[i];
newTextInputs[count] = field;
addChild(newTextInputs[count]);
count++;
}
users are allowed edit the values in each TextInput field, now i need to retrieve the newly udpated values however how can i access these fields? Because the identifiers are created dynamically i cant simply go componentName.InputFieldName, any ideas?
I think what you're looking for is getChildByName
later edit: tested with Flash and TextField and it works:
trace(TextField(getChildByName('textfield')).text);
You can add an event handler for the TileList CHANGE event; when it fires, I think the event.target property will have the specific TextInput field. Alternatively you can look at the TileList.SelectedItem property.
You may also be able to have a DataProvider bound to the TileList instead of your code as shown, which will handle this automatically for you. Try just assigning your NewTextLabels array as the dataProvider.

Closure problem? - passing current value of a variable

I'm trying to pass the current value of a variable when an a dynamically generated navigation 'node' is clicked. This needs to just be an integer, but it always results in the last node's value.. have tried some different methods to pass the value, a custom event listener, a setter, but I suspect it's a closure problem.. help would be appreciated ;-)
function callGrid():void {
for (var i:Number = 0; i < my_total; i++) {
var gridnode_url = my_grid[i].#gridnode;
var news_category= my_grid[i].#category;
var newstitle = my_grid[i].#newstitle;
var news_content = my_grid[i]..news_content;
var news_image = my_grid[i]..news_image;
var gridnode_loader = new Loader();
container_mc.addChild(gridnode_loader);
container_mc.mouseChildren = false;
gridnode_loader.load(new URLRequest(gridnode_url));
gridnode_loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, gridLoaded);
gridnode_loader.name = i;
text_container_mc = new MovieClip();
text_container_mc.x = 0;
text_container_mc.mouseEnabled = false;
var textY = text_container_mc.y = (my_gridnode_height+18)*y_counter;
addChild(text_container_mc);
var tf:TextSplash=new TextSplash(newstitle,10,0,4 );
container_mc.addChild(tf);
tf.mouseEnabled = false;
tf.height = my_gridnode_height;
text_container_mc.addChild(tf);
var text_container_mc_tween = new Tween(text_container_mc, "alpha", Strong.easeIn, 0,1,0.1, true);
gridnode_loader.x = (my_gridnode_width+5) * x_counter;
gridnode_loader.y = (my_gridnode_height+15) * y_counter;
if (x_counter+1 < columns) {
x_counter++;
} else {
x_counter = 0;
y_counter++;
}
}
}
function gridLoaded(e:Event):void {
var i:uint;
var my_gridnode:Loader = Loader(e.target.loader);
container_mc.addChild(my_gridnode);
_xmlnewstarget = my_gridnode.name;
//||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
//when a particular grid node is clicked I need to send the current _xmlnewstarget value to the LoadNewsContent function...
//||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
my_tweens[Number(my_gridnode.name)]=new Tween(my_gridnode, "alpha", Strong.easeIn, 0,1,0.1, true);
my_gridnode.contentLoaderInfo.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, gridLoaded);
my_gridnode.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, loadNewsContent);
}
function loadNewsContent(e:MouseEvent):void {
createNewsContainer();
getXMLNewsTarget();
news_category = my_grid[_xmlnewstarget].#category;
var tfnews_category:TextSplash=new TextSplash(news_category,20,16,32,false,false,0xffffff );
tfnews_category.mouseEnabled = false;
newstitle = my_grid[_xmlnewstarget].#newstitle;
var tftitle:TextSplash=new TextSplash(newstitle,20,70,24,false,false,0x333333 );
news_container_mc.addChild(tftitle);
tftitle.mouseEnabled = false;
news_content = my_grid[_xmlnewstarget]..news_content;
var tfnews_content:TextSplash=new TextSplash(news_content,20,110,20,true,true,0x333333,330);
news_container_mc.addChild(tfnews_content);
tfnews_content.mouseEnabled = false;
news_image = my_grid[_xmlnewstarget].#news_image;
loadNewsImage();
addChild(tfnews_category);
addChild(tftitle);
addChild(tfnews_content);
var news_container_mc_tween = new Tween(news_container_mc, "alpha", Strong.easeIn, 0,1,0.3, true);
news_container_mc_tween.addEventListener(Event.INIT, newsContentLoaded);
}
I'm not going to try to read your code (try to work on your formatting, even if it's just indenting), but I'll provide a simplified example:
for (var i = 0; i < my_total; i++) {
var closure = function() {
// use i here
}
}
As you say, when closure is called it will contain the last value of i (which in this case would be my_total). Do this instead:
for (var i = 0; i < my_total; i++) {
(function(i) {
var closure = function() {
// use i here
}
})(i);
}
This creates another function inside the loop which "captures" the current value of i so that your closure can refer to that value.
See also How does the (function() {})() construct work and why do people use it? for further similar examples.
Umm, as mentioned above, the code is a bit dense, but I think you might have a bit of type conversion problem between string and integers, is the "last value" always 0? try making these changes and let me know how you get on.
// replace this gridnode_loader.name = i;
gridnode_loader.name = i.toString();
// explictly type this as an int
_xmlnewstarget = parseInt(my_gridnode.name);
// replace this: my_tweens[Number(my_gridnode.name)] = new Tween(......
my_tweens[parseInt(my_gridnode.name)] = new Tween();
Oh and I think it goes without saying that you should massively refactor this code block once you've got it working.
Edit: after further study I think you need this
//replace this: my_gridnode.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, loadNewsContent);
var anonHandler:Function = function(e:MouseEvent):void
{
loadNewsContent(_xmlnewstarget);
};
my_gridnode.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, anonHandler);
Where your loadNewsContent has changed arguements from (e:MouseEvent) to (id:String)
Firstly, you do not need to call addChild for the same loader twice (once in callGrid) and then in (gridLoaded). Then you can try putting inside loadNewsContent: news_category = my_grid[int(e.target.name)].#category;instead of news_category = my_grid[_xmlnewstarget].#category; As _xmlnewstarget seems to be bigger scope, which is why it is getting updated every time a load operation completes.

Creating multiple TextInput fields in for loop

I need to loop through an array and for each element create a textfield. My problem is how to create a new identifier for each new TextInput
this is my code;
var count:Number = 0;
for (var i:String in columnsData)
{
var myTI:TextInput = new TextInput();
myTI.width = 70;
myTI.height = 25;
myTI.text = columnsData[i];
myTI.name = "myTI" + count;
addChild(myTI);
count++;
}
all this does however is overwrite the previously created TextInput field, any ideas?
Try this:
var count:uint = 0,
textInputs:Array /* of TextInputs */ = [];
for(var i:String in columnsData){
textInputs[count] = new TextInput();
// Customize textInput[count] instead of myTI
addChild(textInputs[count]);
count++;
}
Outside of this loop, you should be able to look inside the textInputs array for references to each of your new TextInputs. Note that, inside the loop, you probably want to change the x/y coordinates for each TextInput so they don't overlap.