ActionScript Reference Guide

ActionScript Reference Guide Trademarks Add Life to the Web, Afterburner, Aftershock, Andromedia, Allaire, Animation PowerPack, Aria, Attain, Authorware, Authorware Star, Backstage, Bright Tiger, Clustercats, ColdFusion, Contribute, Design In Motion, Director, Dream Templates, Dreamweaver, Drumbeat 2000, EDJE, EJIPT, Extreme 3D, Fireworks, Flash, Fontographer, FreeHand, Generator, HomeSite, JFusion, JRun, Kawa, Know Your Site, Knowledge Objects, Knowledge Stream, Knowledge Track, LikeMinds, Lingo, Live Effects, MacRecorder Logo and Design, Macromedia, Macromedia Action!, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia M Logo and Design, Macromedia Spectra, Macromedia xRes Logo and Design, MacroModel, Made with Macromedia, Made with Macromedia Logo and Design, MAGIC Logo and Design, Mediamaker, Movie Critic, Open Sesame!, Roundtrip, Roundtrip HTML, Shockwave, Sitespring, SoundEdit, Titlemaker, UltraDev, Web Design 101, what the web can be, and Xtra are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. and may be registered in the United States or in other jurisdictions including internationally. Other product names, logos, designs, titles, words, or phrases mentioned within this publication may be trademarks, service marks, or trade names of Macromedia, Inc. or other entities and may be registered in certain jurisdictions including internationally. Third-Party Information This guide contains links to third-party websites that are not under the control of Macromedia, and Macromedia is not responsible for the content on any linked site. If you access a third-party website mentioned in this guide, then you do so at your own risk. Macromedia provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link does not imply that Macromedia endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content on those third-party sites. Speech compression and decompression technology licensed from Nellymoser, Inc. (www.nellymoser.com). Sorenson™ Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from Sorenson Media, Inc. Opera ® browser Copyright © 1995-2002 Opera Software ASA and its suppliers. All rights reserved. Apple Disclaimer APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ENCLOSED COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. Copyright © 2003 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without prior written approval of Macromedia, Inc. Part Number ZFL70M400 Acknowledgments Director: Erick Vera Project Management: Stephanie Gowin, Barbara Nelson Writing: Jody Bleyle, Mary Burger, Kim Diezel, Stephanie Gowin, Dan Harris, Barbara Herbert, Barbara Nelson, Shirley Ong, Tim Statler Managing Editor: Rosana Francescato Editing: Linda Adler, Mary Ferguson, Mary Kraemer, Noreen Maher, Antonio Padial, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla Production Management: Patrice O’Neill Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, Christopher Basmajian, Aaron Begley, John Francis, Jeff Harmon First Edition: Septermber 2003 Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94103 3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: Getting Started with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Intended audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Using the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Typographical conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Terms used in this document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 PART I: Welcome to ActionScript CHAPTER 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 New and changed language elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 New security model and legacy SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ActionScript editor changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Debugging changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 New object-oriented programming model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 CHAPTER 2: ActionScript Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Differences between ActionScript and JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Unicode support for ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 About data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Assigning data types to elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 About variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Using operators to manipulate values in expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Specifying an object’s path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Using built-in functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Creating functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 4 Contents CHAPTER 3: Writing and Debugging Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Controlling when ActionScript runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Using the Actions panel and Script window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Using the ActionScript editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Debugging your scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Using the Output panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Updating Flash Player for testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 PART II: Handling Events and Creating Interaction CHAPTER 4: Handling Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Using event handler methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Using event listeners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Using button and movie clip event handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Creating movie clips with button states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Event handler scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Scope of the “this” keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 CHAPTER 5: Creating Interaction with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 About events and interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Controlling SWF file playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Creating interactivity and visual effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Deconstructing a sample script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 PART III: Working with Objects and Classes CHAPTER 6: Using the Built-In Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 About classes and instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Overview of built-in classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 CHAPTER 7: Working with Movie Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 About controlling movie clips with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Calling multiple methods on a single movie clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Loading and unloading additional SWF files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Specifying a root Timeline for loaded SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Loading JPEG files into movie clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Changing movie clip position and appearance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Dragging movie clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Creating movie clips at runtime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Adding parameters to dynamically created movie clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Managing movie clip depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Drawing shapes with ActionScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Using movie clips as masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Contents 5 Handling movie clip events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Assigning a class to a movie clip symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Initializing class properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 CHAPTER 8: Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Using the TextField class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Creating text fields at runtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Using the TextFormat class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Formatting text with Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Using HTML-formatted text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Creating scrolling text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 CHAPTER 9: Creating Classes with ActionScript 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Principles of object-oriented programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Using classes: a simple example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Creating and using classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Instance and class members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Creating and using interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Understanding the classpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Using packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Importing classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Implicit get/set methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Creating dynamic classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 How classes are compiled and exported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 PART IV: Working with External Data and Media CHAPTER 10: Working with External Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Sending and loading variables to and from a remote source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Sending messages to and from Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Flash Player security features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 CHAPTER 11: Working with External Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Overview of loading external media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Loading external SWF and JPEG files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Loading external MP3 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Reading ID3 tags in MP3 files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Playing back external FLV files dynamically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Preloading external media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 6 Contents PART V: Reference CHAPTER 12: ActionScript Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Sample entry for most ActionScript elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Sample entry for classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Contents of the dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Accessibility class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Arguments class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Array class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Boolean class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Button class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Camera class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Color class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 ContextMenu class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 ContextMenuItem class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 CustomActions class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Date class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Error class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Function class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 Key class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 LoadVars class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 LocalConnection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Math class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Microphone class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461 Mouse class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476 MovieClip class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482 MovieClipLoader class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544 NetConnection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555 NetStream class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556 Number class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 Object class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574 PrintJob class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595 Selection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 SharedObject class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 Sound class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 Stage class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640 String class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 System class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661 System.capabilities object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 System.security object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675 TextField class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680 TextField.StyleSheet class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 TextFormat class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715 TextSnapshot object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 Video class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 XML class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 XMLNode class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773 XMLSocket class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774 Contents 7 APPENDIX A: Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783 APPENDIX B: Operator Precedence and Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787 APPENDIX C: Keyboard Keys and Key Code Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 Letters A to Z and standard numbers 0 to 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 Keys on the numeric keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 Function keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 Other keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792 APPENDIX D: Writing Scripts for Earlier Versions of Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . 795 About targeting older versions of Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795 Using Flash MX 2004 to create content for Flash Player 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796 APPENDIX E: Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 799 About ActionScript 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807 8 Contents 9 INTRODUCTION Getting Started with ActionScript Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004 are the professional standard authoring tools for producing high-impact web experiences. ActionScript is the language you use when you want to develop an application within Flash. You don’t have to use ActionScript to use Flash, but if you want to provide user interactivity, work with objects other than those built into Flash (such as buttons and movie clips), or otherwise turn a SWF file into a more robust user experience, you’ll probably want to use ActionScript. Intended audience This book assumes that you already have Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX Professional 2004 installed and know how to use it. You should know how to place objects on the Stage and manipulate them in the Flash authoring environment. If you have written programs before, ActionScript will feel familiar. But even if you haven’t, ActionScript isn’t hard to learn. It’s easy to start with very simple commands and build more complexity as you go along. System requirements ActionScript does not have any system requirements in addition to Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX Professional 2004. However, the documentation assumes that you are using the default publishing settings for your Flash files: Flash Player 7 and ActionScript 2.0. If you change either of these settings, explanations and code samples shown in the documentation may not work correctly. Using the documentation This document provides an overview of ActionScript syntax, information on how to use ActionScript when working with different types of objects, and details on the syntax and usage of every language element. Start by learning the terminology and basic concepts used in the rest of the document (see Chapter 2, “ActionScript Basics,” on page 25). Next, learn the mechanics of writing and debugging Flash scripts (see Chapter 3, “Writing and Debugging Scripts,” on page 55). Before writing your own scripts, you should complete the lessons “Write Scripts with ActionScript” and “Create a Form with Conditional Logic and Send Data,” which provide a hands-on introduction to working with ActionScript. To find these lessons, select Help > How Do I > Quick Tasks. 10 Introduction: Getting Started with ActionScript After you understand the basics, you are ready to use the information in the rest of this document as it applies to the specific effect you are trying to achieve. For example, if you want to learn how to write a script that performs a certain action when a user clicks the mouse, see Chapter 4, “Handling Events,” on page 83. When you find information about a certain command you want to use, you can look up its entry in Chapter 12, “ActionScript Dictionary,” on page 205; every language element is listed there in alphabetical order. Typographical conventions The following typographical conventions are used in this book: • Code font indicates ActionScript code. • Code font italic indicates an element, such as an ActionScript parameter or object name, that you replace with your own text when writing a script. Terms used in this document The following terms are used in this book: • You refers to the developer who is writing a script or application. • The user refers to the person who will be running your scripts and applications. • Compile time is the time at which you publish, export, test, or debug your document. • Runtime is the time at which your script is running in Flash Player. ActionScript terms such as method and object are defined in Chapter 2, “ActionScript Basics,” on page 25. Additional resources Specific documentation about Flash and related products is available separately. • For information about working in the Flash authoring environment, see Using Flash Help. For information about working with components, see Using Components Help. • For information about creating communication applications with Flash Communication Server, see Developing Communications Applications and Managing Flash Communication Server. • For information about accessing web services with Flash applications, see Using Flash Remoting. The Macromedia DevNet website (www.macromedia.com/devnet) is updated regularly with the latest information on Flash, plus advice from expert users, advanced topics, examples, tips, and other updates. Check the website often for the latest news on Flash and how to get the most out of the program. The Macromedia Flash Support Center (www.macromedia.com/support/flash) provides TechNotes, documentation updates, and links to additional resources in the Flash community. [...]... receive a warning message when exporting ActionScript files, you can change the export encoding preference or turn this warning off in ActionScript preferences To select text encoding options for importing or exporting ActionScript files: 1 In the Preferences dialog box (Edit > Preferences), click the ActionScript tab 2 Under Editing Options, do one or both of the following: ■ ■ For Open/Import, select... and Anchor • ActionScript does not completely support all the JavaScript built-in objects • ActionScript does not support some JavaScript syntax constructs, such as statement labels • In ActionScript, the eval() action can perform only variable references 25 Unicode support for ActionScript Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 support Unicode text encoding for ActionScript. .. example, in English, a period ends a sentence In ActionScript, a semicolon ends a statement The following general rules apply to all ActionScript Most ActionScript terms also have individual requirements; for the rules for a specific term, see its entry in Chapter 12, ActionScript Dictionary,” on page 205 Differences between ActionScript and JavaScript ActionScript is similar to the core JavaScript...This part includes basic information on the ActionScript language Chapter 1 includes information on what is new or changed in ActionScript and Flash Player 7 If you have used ActionScript before, be sure to review this information carefully If you are new to ActionScript, read Chapters 2 and 3 to get a good foundation for understanding ActionScript terminology and syntax and for learning how... language ActionScript is based on the ECMA-262 specification Netscape DevEdge Online has a JavaScript Developer Central site (http:// developer.netscape.com/tech/javascript/index.html) that contains documentation and articles useful for understanding ActionScript The most valuable resource is the Core JavaScript Guide Some of the differences between ActionScript and JavaScript are as follows: • ActionScript. .. a significant enhancement to the core ActionScript language, they represent a new version of ActionScript itself: ActionScript 2.0 ActionScript 2.0 is not a new language Rather, it comprises a core set of language elements that make it easier to develop object-oriented programs With the introduction of keywords such as class, interface, extends, and implements, ActionScript syntax is now easier to learn... importing or exporting ActionScript files in UTF-8 format, use the UTF-8 preference If you are importing or exporting files in the traditional code page in use on your system, use the Default Encoding preference If text in your scripts doesn’t look as expected when you open or import a file, change the import encoding preference If you receive a warning message when exporting ActionScript files, you... although Flash will not generate compiler errors For more information on using ActionScript 2.0 to write object-oriented programs in Flash, see Chapter 9, “Creating Classes with ActionScript 2.0,” on page 155 New object-oriented programming model 23 24 Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript CHAPTER 2 ActionScript Basics ActionScript has rules of grammar and punctuation that determine which characters... names of functions and variables in ActionScript code When you publish files for Flash Player 7 or later, Flash implements case sensitivity whether you are using ActionScript 1 or ActionScript 2.0 This means that keywords, class names, variables, method names, and so on are all case sensitive For example: // In file targeting Flash Player 7 // and either ActionScript 1 or ActionScript 2.0 // // Sets properties... files in a directory) by using wildcards Applications developed with ActionScript 2.0 are supported by Flash Player 6 and later Caution: The default publish setting for new files created in Flash MX 2004 is ActionScript 2.0 If you plan to modify an existing FLA file to use ActionScript 2.0 syntax, ensure that the FLA file specifies ActionScript 2.0 in its publish settings If it does not, your file will . ActionScript Reference Guide Trademarks Add Life to the Web, Afterburner, Aftershock,. PART V: Reference CHAPTER 12: ActionScript Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Sample entry for most ActionScript