createEmptyMovieClip Depth Question

[yanathin]

I'm trying to somewhat emulate an OS X operating system for the layout of my own personal blog, and I'm having a problem.

I need the movie clip depth to increase one every time an empty clip is created. For example, if you open Window B and then open Window A, Window A appears on top of Window B. Opening Window C appears on top of both windows. I can't just have a set depth for each window, because if the user opens them in a different order then they still need to layer eachother.

I know this can be done, I just need to be pointed in the right direction. I'd appreciate any help.. Thanks!

[gomar]

Define your depth as a variable (eg: i) then increase that variable (i++) everytime you create a new movieclip.
I'm sure there are more then a few tutorials on this subject.

g'luck!

[madzigian]

you can use getNextHighestDepth(); to create a clip on top of the others.... then use swapDepths(); after they have been created, to move old windows to the front if a user clicks on it. check your Flash Help files for more detail... but this is sort of the idea:

//create first emptyClip
this.createEmptyMovieClip("my_MC1", this.getNextHighestDepth());
//create second emptyClip
this.createEmptyMovieClip("my_MC2", this.getNextHighestDepth());
//
//now obviously, you have to load something INTO these 2 clips to make this work
//
//but then, you can swap the depths of the 2 mc's / windows with this...
//
my_MC1.onRelease = function() {
  this.swapDepths(my_MC2);
};
my_MC2.onRelease = function() {
  this.swapDepths(my_MC1);
};

//---------

//the two uses of swapDepths are listed below:

my_mc.swapDepths(depth:Number)
//depth : A number specifying the depth level where my_mc is to be placed.

my_mc.swapDepths(target:String)
//target: A string specifying the movie clip instance whose depth is swapped by the
//instance specified by my_mc. Both instances must have the same parent movie clip.