Problems adding/removing external SWF

[metaphist]

On my main timeline, I have a list of buttons that each load an external SWF when pressed. When a button is pressed, the SWF loads into a movieclip on the main timeline, and the list dissappears (so only one is loaded at a time). The main timeline moves to a frame with a back button. When the back button is pressed, I'm trying to remove the loaded SWF and make the menu visible again to load another SWF.

This all works, but when I get back to the menu and try to load a new SWF, I get the error:

TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at CrystalBall/PL_LOADING()

CrystalBall being the first SWF I tried to load. The error fires like, four or five times too. I know it has something to do with the code trying to remove the loader before it loads it again, but I'm not sure how to fix it

package {
	import flash.display.*;
	import flash.events.*;
	import flash.text.*;
	import flash.net.*;
	
	public class Splash extends MovieClip {
		var gameLoader:Loader = new Loader();
		
		function Splash() {
			// ensures that games load from top left corner
			gameHolder.x = 0; //gameHolder is already on timeline
			gameHolder.y = 0;			
		}
		
		function loaded() { //called after preloader			
			// game buttons
			game1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, loadGame);
			game2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, loadGame);
			game3.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, loadGame);

			function loadGame(evt:MouseEvent) {
				gameHolder.addChild(gameLoader);
				var gamePath = evt.target.name+".swf";
				var game:URLRequest = new URLRequest(gamePath);
				gameLoader.load(game);
				gameLoader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onGameLoad);
				function onGameLoad() {
					gameLoaded = true;
					gameLoader.contentLoaderInfo.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onGameLoad)
				}
				MovieClip(root).gotoAndStop("play now"); // reveals back button
			}
			
			backBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, backToMenu);
			function backToMenu(evt:MouseEvent):void {
				gameLoader.unload();
				gameHolder.removeChild(gameLoader);
				gameLoaded = false;
				backBtn.visible = false;
                                MovieClip(root).gotoAndStop("start"); // shows menu
			}
		}
	}
}

I've searched the net and found similar problems, but no solutions that seemed to work for me.

[metaphist]

Well, aside from me not removing a few listeners, I've determined that it's a problem with my loaded movie and not the main timeline. I made a test movie that worked prefectly, but as soon as I tried loading in my CrystalBall game it throws the same error. I'll have to check that AS and see what I can find.

edit: forgot I had this preloader on the swf I was embedding. Looks like there is a problem accessing loaderInfo after the game has been unloaded once already from the main timeline. I know the loader info is shared between the child and parent, so I'm guessing when the game unloads and gets reloaded, it can't find the loaderInfo?

//Create a listener to call the loading function as the movie loads
this.loaderInfo.addEventListener (ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, PL_LOADING);

/*This is the main function, basically it grabs the total and loaded bytes,
calculates a percentage, and displays it by stretching the bar and adjusting
the textfield display. If your bar/textbox instancenames are NOT lbar/lpc,
you'll need to adjust this code to match your instance names*/
function PL_LOADING(event:ProgressEvent):void {
	var pcent:Number = event.bytesLoaded/event.bytesTotal*100;
	//Stretch the bar
	lbar.scaleX = pcent/100;
	//Display the % loaded in textfield
	lpc.text = int(pcent)+"%";
	//If the movie is fully loaded, kick to the next frame on the main timeline
	//You may wish to change the gotoAndStop(2) to a gotoAndPlay(2)
	if(pcent == 100){
		this.loaderInfo.removeEventListener (ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, PL_LOADING);
		play();
	} else {
		stop();
	}
}

Don't know a solution off the top, but I might just try loading all the games in separate loader objects at instantiation, and just add/remove the loader objects with the button. Seems it would add a lot of overhead, but I'll try it.

[auzzieb53]

I don't know if anyone is still responding to this post from last year but this is exactly the kind of issue I'm running into at this point with a site I'm building.

I was wondering if there was a resolution with that existing script (preloader in the first frame of the SWF being loaded) or if the solution is using individual loaders in the container SWF.

Thanks - Austin

[metaphist]

Well as you imagine, it's been a while since that project, but if memory server me I did end up loading each SWF into it's own loader, using the preloader for as many SWFs I needed, and then loaded/unloaded the SWFs into the container as needed using button events.

As a matter of fact, you can see the results yourself.

www.mcdtoday.com/arcade

Let me know if you need any specific help, and I should be able to dig up the ActionScript. (it's 3.0 mind you)