Flash Kit Community Forums

SWF Base Referencing

kevingent — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:04:06 GMT

Hello,

I'm having issues with references. I'll do my best to explain the problem simply.
I have a website I'm currently working on in flash. I've created the base of the site and most of its content. It functions fine.
I went online and found a decent looking gallery that I wanted to incorporate into the site and it works great also. The gallery is in its own directory.
When I try and load the main .SWF of the gallery into another .SWF within the base directory, the references break.
I understand that this is because its being pulled and the gallery's .SWF looks for its assets based on where its located.
Is there anyway possible to make a .SWF keep its paths relative to where it is pulled from instead of changing when it is pulled into another .SWF from different directories?

Here is a simple model:

-- Base Directory --
site.SWF
- -:gallery
- - - -:images
- - - -:thumbs
- - - -gallery.SWF
- - - -gallery.xml

site.SWF pulls gallery.SWF and then all the references break.

When embeding flash onto a site with swfobject, adding Param.base = "."; causes the .SWF embeded to keep its paths relative to where it is pulled from. Is this not possible in Flash?

I hope this makes sense.

letter spacing in dynamic textfield

mgason — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:02:03 GMT

Hi,
I am trying to apply letter spacing to a dynamic textfield
I set it in the properties panel.
I know that this does not work for newly added text.
I searched the web and nothing I found works.
when I try setNewTextFormat I get the error
Warning Migration issue The method setNewTextFormat is no longer supported. Use the TextField.defaultTextFormat property instead

how do I use that defaultTextFormat, I tried this

PHP Code:


		
			
import typewriter;

var fmt:TextFormat = outputTextBox.getTextFormat()



var newTypewriter:typewriter = new typewriter;

var firstMessage:String = "Do you speak multicultural?";



newTypewriter.writeIt(firstMessage, outputTextBox, 30);

outputTextBox.setTextFormat(fmt); 

outputTextBox.defaultTextFormat(fmt);



//error was

//1195: Attempted access of inaccessible method defaultTextFormat through a reference with static type flash.text:TextField.

the typewriter refers to this class that I am using to add text to the textfield
http://entrance4.net/labs/?p=55

Just in case this also affects how I apply formatting
hope someone can help
seems to be a lot of confusion about this
Mark

object actions panel does not display

rowhiteny — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:14:45 GMT

I cannot seem to get the Object Actions Panel to display or I just cannot see it for some reason. I am trying to add ActionScript for a button. HELP!

Help with AS3:unloading external swf files with mouse click

sas9 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:14:26 GMT

I have external swf files which open in main swf with button click. I want the swf to close on mouse click but having problem with the actionscript. Any ideas about how to do this? here's the code so far:

var img1Request:URLRequest = new URLRequest ("kelly.swf");
var img1Loader:Loader = new Loader();
kelly_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickF);

function clickF(event:MouseEvent):void{
img1Loader.load(img1Request);
img1Loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Even t.COMPLETE,loadNowF);
function loadNowF(event:Event):void{
container_mc.addChild(img1Loader);
}
}

Trying to make a line... textured...

JOhnnyjack777 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:02:11 GMT

Hello all,

I wanted to make something like a spine, (Or like Alien's tail)

and I can curve lines real easy, so wondering if there's a way I could apply some kind of repeating texture, that has spaces (sharp points) missing,

But would still curve where the line did?

(Or ANY alternative, I love the logo I came up with, but don't feel like hand drawing the damn thing : )

Next step from Flash: AIR or Flex?

Jazztronik — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:58:52 GMT

I think I have reached quite an advanced level regarding Flash and Actionscript 2 and 3, and now I'm thinking on taking a further step: either Flex or AIR.

I know they focus on different matters. Flex is still related to the web and browsers, but more programming-oriented than Flash. AIR focuses on desktop applications which require some Internet connection.

Both things look appealing to me, but I'm not sure how much of one of them is recommended to previosuly know before facing the other. In case that before facing AIR it would be highly recommended to familiarize myself with Flex, I would start with Flex, or just the opposite.

What do you think?

PHP cURL and Flash

cronsystmes — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:21:07 GMT

is it possible to crawl the following page's custom package quote engine using php's cURL function? i want to build a comparison site and need their pricing info for all their products. i'd write a script to loop through the engine's drop down values sending them and the price back to my server's database.

http://www.discmakers.com/products/CD100.asp

PHP Email form half way working

mishiwinks — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:20:34 GMT

I have a basic email form set up with flash and php and it is sending the email but instead of populating the email with the text from the fields I have set up, it is populating the code for the font, text size etc.

This is my php file code:
$sendTo = "mishi@amirabella.com";
$subject = "Let's Create Something Beautiful Together";

$headers = "From: " . $_POST["name"];
$headers .= "<" . $_POST["email"] . ">\r\n";
$headers .= "Reply-To: " . $_POST["email"] . "\r\n";
$headers .= "Return-Path: " . $_POST["email"];
$message = $_POST["message"];

mail($sendTo, $subject, $message, $headers);
?>

And this is what I am getting. The sendTo and subject are correct but

Subject: Let's Create Something Beautiful Together

From: (Add as Preferred Sender)

Date: Fri, Nov 20, 2009 2:14 pm
To: mishi@amirabella.com

From Subject (Thread Messages) Date Size

jljlj

Thanks for any help you may have :crazy:

[RESOLVED] [AS2] Argh, just ONE VARIABLE SAVE!?

Osteel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:04:34 GMT

Seriously, saving is out to kill me.

Sometimes it works, and then when I do the exact same thing another time it decides not to and I'm extremely frustrated. Let me break down this extremely, extremely simple setup:

Basically for a simple game I'm making, I just want to store three (I know I said 'one variable', but it won't even work with one...) things about the top highscore player. Name, Score, and Message. SIMPLE. So, I start by loading it:

Load the Three Existing Variables

PHP Code:


		
			
myData = new LoadVars();
myData.onLoad = function() {
    champName.text = myData.Name;
    champScore.text = myData.Score;
    champMsg.text = myData.Msg;
    
    topScore = myData.Score;
    
};
myData.load("save.txt?"+Math.ceil(random(9999)));

Great, it works fine when I test it and everything. You play the game, you eventually lose, and then it does a highscore check. If you get the highscore, you are asked for you name and a simple message.

When you click submit, the function saveScore() is called and looks like so:

Send Everything to PHP

PHP Code:


		
			
saveScore = function () {
    myData.Name = topName;
    myData.Score = topScore;
    myData.Msg = topMsg;
    
    myData.sendAndLoad("save.php",myData,"POST");
    
    _root.gotoAndStop(1);
};

Any trace done will return the proper value, including trace(myData) will return all three updated variables (Name, Score, Msg). Then it sends it to the PHP for saving.

The PHP is like so:

Write to Text File

PHP Code:


		
			
$saveName = $_POST['Name']; 
$saveScore = $_POST['Score'];
$saveMsg = $_POST['Msg'];


$toSave = "Name=".$saveName."&Score=".$saveScore."&Msg=".$saveMsg

$myfile = fopen("save.txt","w"); 
fwrite($myfile,$toSave); 
fclose($myfile); 
?>

Grab each, store it all in one variable and write it to the text file.

SIMPLE!?

I don't know, it just won't write to the text file! Someone, please save me from my misery so I can continue on with my project.

Adjusting MovieClip height with ActionScript- What am I missing here?

dtone314 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:59:15 GMT

I have a vertical line in a Movie Clip. On my stage the height is 55, but when I compile and trace its _height, it returns 57.

I found that the line's thickness has something to do with this. When the thickness is 2, the height of the line on the stage increases by 2 when I compile the movie, and when the thickness is 5 the height increases by 5, etc. It's as though the line's height is determined using: (Line Height When Compiled) = (Line height on the stage)+(thickness of line).

Am I missing something here? Please let me know what I'm doing wrong. This is bizarre. If I need to explain better let me know. Thanks!

Im sure this is an easy AS3 101 Output error, but how to fix it?

popflier — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:41:45 GMT

I'm trying to learn AS3 and have a test AS3 file to try and learn how to load/unload external swf files into a container on CLICK of 3 different buttons I have. What does this Output error mean and how would I fix it? I don't understand what it means that it has to be a "child of the caller."

ArgumentError: Error #2025: The supplied DisplayObject must be a child of the caller.
at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer/removeChild()
at test01_loadEXT_swf_fla::MainTimeline/goToHome()

Here's the AS3 that I have:

Code:

var page_loader:Loader = new Loader();



contact_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, Contact);

function Contact(Event:MouseEvent):void {

        var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("contact.swf");

        page_loader.load(request);

        addChild(page_loader);

        removeChild(container_mc);

}



bio_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, Bio);

function Bio(Event:MouseEvent):void {

        var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("bio.swf");

        page_loader.load(request);

        addChild(page_loader);

        removeChild(container_mc);

}



home_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, Home);

function Home(Event:MouseEvent):void {

        var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("home.swf");

        page_loader.load(request);

        addChild(page_loader);

        removeChild(container_mc);

}

CS3 preload css text file

digitalecartoon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:34:56 GMT

I know how to preload an external file using LoadVars. Now I want to combine it with loading a text file containing html tags. For example: I'm loading a text file which contains:

And let's suppose this jpg file is large, like 3 mb. Now when I would load it directly through LoadVars I could use getBytesLoaded/getBytesTotal and I would see the percentage in a textfile go from 0 to 100%.

But when using it on a textfile containing just the img tag (I'm using css in flash), the text file would load almost instantly. It wouldn't preload the jpg but the txt file instead.

Is there a way to show the loading of the file mentioned in the img tag?

Need help tweaking actionscript

lotedifi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:25:11 GMT

I'm trying to create a flash movie that will act as a "player" for a series of external SWF files that are listed by an external XML file.

Someone was able to pass on the following XML:

Quote:

and the following actionscript (to be dropped into the first frame of the "player" SWF:

Quote:

swfArray = new Array();

/* load the xml file into your shell */
var _xml = new XML();
_xml.ignoreWhite = true;
_xml.load("test.xml");

/* parse and add the contents to an array */
_xml.onLoad = function(){
var cNodes = this.firstChild.childNodes;
var len = cNodes.length
for (var i=0; i!=len; i++) {
swfArray[i] = cNodes[i].attributes.swf;
}
/* loading a random file? shuffle the array */
trace("Before shuffling - "+swfArray);
swfArray.sort(function(){return Math.floor(Math.random()*3)-1});
trace("After shuffling - "+swfArray);
/* remove the last element from the array */
swfToPlay = swfArray.pop();
/* use the MovieClipLoader class to load the file */
mcLoader.loadClip(swfToPlay, container);
};

var container:MovieClip = createEmptyMovieClip("container", getNextHighestDepth());
var mcLoader:MovieClipLoader = new MovieClipLoader();
mcLoader.addListener(this);

/* alter any of the properties of the loaded file here */
function onLoadInit(mc:MovieClip) {
trace(swfToPlay+" loaded to "+ mc);
};

However, the above plays the SWFs in a random sequence, rather than sequentially.

Any assistance in changing this to sequential play would be greatly appreciated.

-thanks!

Froogle Work

lefteyewilly — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:24:53 GMT

Anyone have any experience with uploading products to Froogle?

If so, any successes? or is it a waste of time?

[AS3] Super Simple Custom Component in CS4

sirzooass — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:12:26 GMT

In AS2, you could simply add a component definition to a clip in the library, then add a variable, and it would be instantly accessible from within that clip. In AS3, this doesn't work.

I have a variable myNum in the component definition, but my class file can't get to it. I added an ADDED_TO_STAGE listener thinking that maybe it couldn't get to the variable because it wasn't declared yet, but still no dice. And if I don't put var myNum:Number; I get an error. So I'm likely just overwriting the myNum in the component inspector with the myNum in the class definition.

I looked at the Adobe Tutorial on Creating ActionScript 3.0 Components, but if there is a simple solution in the many pages there I can't seem to find it.

Any ideas? All I need to do is access a single variable that is defined via the component inspector.

Code:

package {



        import flash.display.MovieClip;

        import flash.events.Event;



        public class Component extends MovieClip {



                public var myNum:Number;



                public function Component() {

                        trace(this.myNum);

                        addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);

                }

                

                private function onAddedToStage(event:Event):void{

                        trace(this.myNum);

                        removeEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);

                }



        }

        

}