[F8] [AS2, CS3] Variables not updating constantly

I have variables some of which have values derived from dynamic text boxes with instance names, some var = (calculations) and some "if" statments. Finally a final value is derived and passed to a movie. The problem is that my trace statments show that the values are calculated once, then no more. Does this need to be in a onEnterFrame function? I tried that but it didn't work, although I made have made a typo.

Here's the code. If the solution is still obscure I can add the rest, or even a .fla.

Thanks a lot, I'm struggling but moving forward on this project.

PHP Code:
var sunTime = 0;
sunTime = (sunMinutes+(sunHours*60));
trace ("a"+sunTime);
if (ampmthing = true) {
sunTime = sunTime+720;
trace ("b"+sunTime);
}
sunTime = sunTime-300;
trace ("c"+sunTime);
if (sunTime<0) {
sunTime = (sunTime+1440);
trace ("d"+sunTime);
};
trace ("e"+sunTime);
_parent.sun.gotoAndStop(sunTime)

just like you said: put your code inside an onEnterFrame or set an interval, such as:

function calcTime(){
// your code here
}
var inter = setInterval(calcTime, 1000);