actionscript: access now object instance - actionscript-3

Question

my problem is that after I create the new movie clips I don't know how to access them
var numOfBalls:int = 5;
var balls:Array = new Array();
import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
function addBall(instanceName:String) {
var mcIName:String = "ball";
var tMC:Class = getDefinitionByName(mcIName) as Class;
var newMc:MovieClip = new tMC() as MovieClip;
newMc.name = instanceName;
trace("added " + newMc.name);
newMc.x = randRange(10, 300);
newMc.y = randRange(10, 300);
addChild(newMc);
return this.newMc;
}
function randRange(start:Number, end:Number) : Number {
return Math.floor(start +(Math.random() * (end - start)));
}
var i = 0;
while ( i < numOfBalls) {
balls[i] = addBall("ball_" + i);
i++;
}
trace (this.balls[0]); // returnes error
trace (this.balls_0); //returnes error

Answer 1

function addBall(instanceName:String):MovieClip {
var mcIName:String = "ball";
var tMC:Class = getDefinitionByName(mcIName) as Class;
var newMc:MovieClip = new tMC() as MovieClip;
newMc.name = instanceName;
trace("added " + newMc.name);
newMc.x = randRange(10, 300);
newMc.y = randRange(10, 300);
addChild(newMc);
return newMc;
}
That should fixe it. return typed to MovieClip, and the fix bit,
return newMc instead of this.newMc;
newMC doesn't belong to this.
if you had this.newMc = newMC maybe.

Answer 2

you need to specify what the addBall function is returning
function addBall(instanceName:String):MovieClip {
and you may have to push the balls into the balls array, like
balls[i].push(addBall("ball_" + i));

Answer 3

try this, i'm not sure about your problem
The only thing i can see is the index i where you write the name of the new MovieClip, in ActionScript3 you can't pass a numeric value to a String without convert it with toString() method, try to fix it and see if it works
var numOfBalls:int = 5;
var balls:Array = new Array();
import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
function addBall(instanceName:String):MovieClip {
var mcIName:String = "ball";
var tMC:Class = getDefinitionByName(mcIName) as Class;
var newMc:MovieClip = new tMC() as MovieClip;
newMc.name = instanceName;
trace("added " + newMc.name);
newMc.x = randRange(10, 300);
newMc.y = randRange(10, 300);
addChild(newMc);
return this.newMc;
}
function randRange(start:Number, end:Number) : Number {
return Math.floor(start +(Math.random() * (end - start)));
}
var i = 0;
while ( i < numOfBalls) {
// convert i with toString() is requested in as3 or will return ERRORS
balls.push(addBall("ball_" + i.toString ()));
i++;
}
trace (MovieClip(this.balls[0]));