Printable View
hi, i read senocular's explanation of how setInterval works and thought it was pretty informative. thanks for that.
i was looking for a way to make functions sleep--similar to how threads sleep in java (ie: Thread.sleep(5000);). would setInterval be the best way to do this? or is there another function that can be thrown in to slow down loops and such..
thanks
dw
I have a question along these lines. I have written a Flash file with the setInterval command...if someone tries to load this file with a version of the Player prior to Flash Player 7, will it cause the file to hang on loading?
Just to be safe since there are numerous other things that could cause the same error, you probably want a flash detector running.
http://www.macromedia.com/support/fl...oyment_readme/
I have a question about setInterval.
I have a _root movie that I'm loading movie2.swf into. movie2.swf contains setInterval calls. When I unload movie2.swf and then reload it later (in the same session) the setInterval's seem to be all off. But when I initially loadMovie movie2.swf into the _root the setInterval works as planned.
Do I need to somehow clear the setInterval everytime I unload movie2.swf from my _root? Also, are the setInterval calls global or is it only accessible from a call to the location of movie2.swf ?
Thanks
PS - 1 more question. Is there a way to put an Interval Identifier into a variable and then use it in the clearInterval command?
I've tried this:
But no luck.Code:wait1Interval = setInterval(waiter1, 6000);
_global.myInterval = "wait1Interval";
clearInterval(myInterval);
One problem with setInterval and other object functions is that using "this" or "this._parent" will refer only to the interval object (or onSoundComplete object etc). To solve this problem is important for MX components for example.
Example:
MovieClip.prototype.myFunction=function(){
myInterv = new Object();
myInterv.interval=function(){
this._x +=10;
}
myTimer=setInterval(myInterv,"interval",20);
}
myClip.myFunction();
This function would not execute correctly. To bypass, "this" should be prior loaded into a var:
MovieClip.prototype.myFunction=function(){
mCl=this;
myInterv = new Object();
myInterv.interval=function(){
mCl._x +=10;
}
myTimer=setInterval(myInterv,"interval",20);
}
myClip.myFunction();
This function would now be executed correctly. The bypass is not necessary for "this.onEnterFrame = function(){".
foochuck, I had the SAME problem as you... to quote it:
I have a _root movie that I'm loading movie2.swf into. movie2.swf contains setInterval calls. When I unload movie2.swf and then reload it later (in the same session) the setInterval's seem to be all off. But when I initially loadMovie movie2.swf into the _root the setInterval works as planned.
Do I need to somehow clear the setInterval everytime I unload movie2.swf from my _root? Also, are the setInterval calls global or is it only accessible from a call to the location of movie2.swf ?
I had issues with this for a long time, but I finally found a solution. I had tried almost everything before I realized what the problem was. basically it's this...
I had a _root. movie which I wanted to use as a template of sorts to load 3 different effects which all use setInterval. I was loading them all (one at a time with buttons) into a holder_mc and then unloading them before loading a new one dynamically.
The first time they were each loaded the effect was as expected. BUT when they were loaded again the effect got worse... and worse each time they were loaded. it's like the effect was "stacking" on itself, like the interval from before had not been cleared.
I had tried to put clearInterval(intervalID) inside the movie clips i was calling, but it didn't have any effect. I tried to clear it before loading it, but also no effect. finally, i found the solution...
You HAVE to use something like:
clearInterval(holder_mc.intervalID);
BEFORE the holder_mc is unloaded, or loaded over.
What I ended up having to do was create a function that cleared every intervalID I was using before it unloaded the holder_mc and then it worked as expected. It's kind of sneaky that flash continues to run these intervals that you can't see when the movie is unloaded, so it took a while to find the problem. I hope that helps.
i'm not sure if they are global or not, but they are not called from the _root, rather from the movie clip that you loaded them into, and then the path from there.
shadeth,
Thanks for the response! This was for a project I was working on a couple months ago but it will definitly save me some time in the future if I come across this problem again..I wonder if this is considered a bug in Flash MX (does the same problem happen in Flash MX 2004 I wonder? I'm using Flash MX - considered Flash 6).
Anyway thanks for your help and I'll have to keep this in mind in the future.
Maybe I have missed something in the previous posts so im still having problem with setInteraval()
This is my first flash script so im really new to this.
I didnt understand much of the previous posts...
Im trying to load a jpg into a mc. I want the image to fade in and when im loading the next image I want the current image to fadeout.
I dont know whats wrong, maybe its not the setInterval() that is causing the problems. It can also be the displayObject(), once its called it never seems to exit.
Here is my code:
PHP Code:
function init(success)
{
if(success)
{
rootHandler=this.firstChild;
currentObject = rootHandler.firstChild;
if(currentObject != null)
displayObject(currentObject);
}
}
function displayObject(obj)
{
if(fadeOut();
targetClip.loadMovie(obj.attributes.imgURL);
if(fadeIn();
btn_next._visible = (currentObject.nextSibling != null)?1:0;
btn_previous._visible = (currentObject.previousSibling != null)?1:0;
}
function fadeOut()
{
return x =(targetClip._alpha--<=0)?true:(setInterval(fadeOut,600));
}
function fadeIn()
{
return x =(targetClip._alpha++>=100)?true:(setInterval(fadeIn,600));
}
function getNext()
{
return currentObject = currentObject.nextSibling;
}
function getPrevious()
{
return currentObject = currentObject.previousSibling;
}
btn_next.onRelease = function() {displayObject(getNext());};
btn_previous.onRelease = function() {displayObject(getprevious());};
What am I doing wrong?
Regards
Matt
Hi Matt,
may be your problem is related to what I have observed. I don't know in MX but in MX2004 when you induce setinterval by a button event it does not work. Only onEnterFrame works. This is probably something to investigate. I was struggling in an application with that. The button works but when I put a trace action inside the interval function, no way!
the twist to my Q is :Quote:
Originally posted by cancerinform
Example:
To bypass, "this" should be prior loaded into a var:
MovieClip.prototype.myFunction=function(){
mCl=this;
myInterv = new Object();
myInterv.interval=function(){
mCl._x +=10;
}
myTimer=setInterval(myInterv,"interval",20);
}
myClip.myFunction();
This function would now be executed correctly. The bypass is not necessary for "this.onEnterFrame = function(){".
how do you clear this kind of interval Object? I tried this code and didnt work:
onClipEvent (load) {
obj = new Object();
obj.interval = function() {
gotoAndPlay(2);
clearInterval(intva);
}
intva = obj.interval;
setInterval(obj, "interval", 4500);
}
(I am trying to create an object to handle selecting 1 of several text tickers to play in an intervalled sequence).
Thanks for any pointers.
I've noticed it's very common for folks to use setInterval in a 'one-shot' format - you want the function that is passed to setInterval to execute only once, so you must call clearInterval() right away when the function executes.
I've created a version of setInterval that has this behavior built-in, it's called setOneInverval. When you use it, you don't have to worry about calling clearInterval.
Here's the code.
code:
//
// This is a shortcut function for when you want a 'setInterval' to only execute once
// It accepts up to 5 arguments for your callback function...
// -- Jim Bumgardner
setOneInterval = function(callbackFunc, interval, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5)
{
var i;
if (_global.soiH == undefined) {
_global.soiH = [];
}
for (i = 0; i < _global.soiH.length && _global.soiH[i] != undefined; ++i)
;
_global.soiH[i] = setInterval(
function(idx, cbf, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5)
{
clearInterval(_global.soiH[idx]);
_global.soiH[idx] = undefined;
cbf(arg1,arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5);
},
interval, i, callbackFunc, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5);
}
setInterval is very useful, but is there a setTimeout equivalent in flash?
E.g.
In frame 1 of my movie I:
stop();
and then use scripts to fire off various events based on forms on the screen.
I want to fire events at given intervals - e.g. at 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 25 seconds, 2 minutes, 12 minutes, etc. Each one of these intervals ties to an event I want to fire.
I don't see a setTimeout method in flash, and I don't know how to do this / fake it with an instanced movie clip.
As a hack (in case I get no reply) I could do this *in* javascript and pass the events back into the flash movie with setVariable and then set an event on the change of that variable!! i do NOT want to do this! :o)
Razmaplaz,
your syntax was wrong. I tested this and it works:
onClipEvent (load) {
obj = new Object();
obj.interval = function() {
_root.gotoAndPlay(2);
clearInterval(intva);
};
intva = setInterval(obj, "interval", 500);
}
intva = obj.interval; was causing a problem.
I have run into a problem I had before and had posted on this post. Here was a reply I got:
I had issues with this for a long time, but I finally found a solution. I had tried almost everything before I realized what the problem was. basically it's this...
I had a _root. movie which I wanted to use as a template of sorts to load 3 different effects which all use setInterval. I was loading them all (one at a time with buttons) into a holder_mc and then unloading them before loading a new one dynamically.
The first time they were each loaded the effect was as expected. BUT when they were loaded again the effect got worse... and worse each time they were loaded. it's like the effect was "stacking" on itself, like the interval from before had not been cleared.
I had tried to put clearInterval(intervalID) inside the movie clips i was calling, but it didn't have any effect. I tried to clear it before loading it, but also no effect. finally, i found the solution...
You HAVE to use something like:
clearInterval(holder_mc.intervalID);
BEFORE the holder_mc is unloaded, or loaded over.
What I ended up having to do was create a function that cleared every intervalID I was using before it unloaded the holder_mc and then it worked as expected. It's kind of sneaky that flash continues to run these intervals that you can't see when the movie is unloaded, so it took a while to find the problem. I hope that helps.
i'm not sure if they are global or not, but they are not called from the _root, rather from the movie clip that you loaded them into, and then the path from there.
I have tried this and no luck. The setInterval still speeds up everytime I unload and the load the movie back in - within the same session. Any help would be appreciated.
I need to create a counter:
every 20 seconds i must show a number 1 to 180
example
i'll show 1, after 20 seconds i'll show 2, after 20 seconds i'll show 3........ after 20 seconds i'll show 180.
How can i creat that with actionscript?
THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!
ALEX
OK, I am trying to make a driving game. The car just moves side to side, I want to beable to control the speed of the track- ie acceleration, on collision with the side of the track speed reduces, etc. I am just trying to get basic control over the speed. this is what I have so far. its all in the first actions frame:
carSpeed = 2000;
track.onRelease = function(){
carSpeed = carSpeed - 500;
}
onEnterFrame = function() {//for (carSpeed > 200) {
trackFrames = function () {
track.nextFrame();
updateAfterEvent();
};
speed = setInterval(trackFrames, carSpeed);
at this point I'm just trying to gain control before I start adding collision and whatnot. The problem with this is that it appears to accelerate on it's own. When I click, it acclerates more quickly.
I have also tried attaching keyPress<"Up"> to the track MC, but it doesn't seem to work.
Any suggestions? Should I attach to the actions to the track MC?
I recently used setInterval objects to control visiblity of movieClips in a timed presentation, synched to audio. When a setInterval object invokes it's function, that function would destroy that setInterval object. Each time the playhead (theSound.position) was reset (changed by the user) all previous setInterval objects are destroyed, and a new group of setInterval objects was created based on a new playhead position (theSound.position). I worked through many methods for making presentations in Flash. The setInterval object method is by far the most efficient way to do this.
I have used setInterval several times and it is mighty useful. I have never set mine up with the functions outside of the setInterval. I always set mine up like this...
myInterval = setInterval(function(){
function stuff here
},1000);
I will certainly try it the other way as it seems to be much cleaner. The way I have done it in the past with the function inside has presented one problem that took me a while to figure out and if there is anyone out there who has run into the same thing this is good information. Any reference to a movie clip or variable or anything outside of the setInterval has to be a direct path. For example _root.myClip.gotoAndPlay("myFrame");
Even if the setInterval is on myClip.
I hope this information helps someone because it took me two days and some serious cusing to figure this out.
marshallhansen,
I have shown how to solve the problem some threads earlier but Î repeat it here again.
One problem with setInterval and other object functions is that using "this" or "this._parent" will refer only to the interval object .
One way to overcome this is to write the whole path for a movieclip, which is of course inconvenient. Instead package the movieclip into a var as shown below.
PHP Code:MovieClip.prototype.myFunction=function(){
varMoclip=this; //now this varMoclip will refer to the correct movieclip, in this case myClip.
myInterv = new Object();
myInterv.interval=function(){
varMoclip._x +=10; //refers to myClip
}
myTimer=setInterval(myInterv,"interval",20);
}
myClip.myFunction();
thats tricky...
www.surpluspaper.com
Okay, so I've been reading through all of this and I've attempted to alter a slideshow I'm working on to use setInterval. I use Flash MX btw.
I am creating a slideshow where I use two buttons to navigate between the images. The images load via xml and load into a movieclip called myImage then a movieclip called mc_fader plays over top of the image to reveal the image. mc_fader automatically resizes based on the width of the movie. I want have the "next" button set up so that when a user clicks on it, he or she sees a preloader in a text box called progress_txt that shows how much of the next image has loaded. When that image has loaded, I would like to show the image(myImage) with mc_fader overtop and cause mc_fader to play. But when I click on the "next" button, the progress_txt remains "Loading Complete". If I click the "next" button twice very quickly, it works. What gives?
to see an example click here
Code:slides_xml = new XML();
slides_xml.onLoad = startSlideShow;
slides_xml.load("fashion_slideshow.xml");
slides_xml.ignoreWhite = true;
//
// Show the first slide and intialize variables
function startSlideShow(success) {
if (success == true) {
rootNode = slides_xml.firstChild;
totalSlides = rootNode.childNodes.length;
firstSlideNode = rootNode.firstChild;
currentSlideNode = firstSlideNode;
currentIndex = 1;
updateSlide(firstSlideNode);
}else gotoAndStop(10);
}
//
// Updates the current slide with new image and text
function updateSlide(newSlideNode) {
fader = mc_fader;
imagePath = newSlideNode.attributes.jpegURL;
slideText = newSlideNode.firstChild.nodeValue;
loadMovie(imagePath, myImage);
}
checkImageLoadingStatus = function(){
progress_txt.text = "boogabooga";
// var total = 0 ;
var total = myImage.getBytesTotal();
if (isNaN(total) || total == 0){
progress_txt.text = "Loading...";
}else {
var loaded = myImage.getBytesLoaded();
if (total == loaded){
progress_txt.text = "Loading Complete";
mc_fader._width = myImage._width;
mc_fader.gotoAndPlay(1);
// mc_fader._visible = true;
clearInterval(loadingID);
}else{
progress_txt.text = Math.round(loaded/1024) +" kb of "+ Math.round(total/1024); // divide 1024 to get kilobytes
}
}
}
//
// Event handler for 'Next slide' button
next_btn.onRelease = function() {
progress_txt.text = "";
nextSlideNode = currentSlideNode.nextSibling;
if (nextSlideNode == null) {
break;
mc_endfade.gotoAndPlay(2);
} else {
clearInterval(loadingID); // clear any current interval that might be running
loadingID = setInterval(checkImageLoadingStatus, 50); // every 50 milliseconds
mc_endfade.gotoAndStop(1);
currentIndex++;
updateSlide(nextSlideNode);
currentSlideNode = nextSlideNode;
checkImageLoadingStatus();
}
};
//
// Event handler for 'Previous slide' button
back_btn.onRelease = function() {
// removeMovieClip.myImage;
// this._parent.createEmptyMovieClip("myImage",1);
// myImage._x = 87.5;
// myImage._y = 0;
previousSlideNode = currentSlideNode.previousSibling;
if (previousSlideNode == null) {
break;
mc_endfade.gotoAndPlay(2);
} else {
clearInterval(loadingID); // clear any current interval that might be running
loadingID = setInterval(checkImageLoadingStatus, 50); // every 50 milliseconds
checkImageLoadingStatus();
mc_endfade.gotoAndStop(1);
currentIndex--;
updateSlide(previousSlideNode);
currentSlideNode = previousSlideNode;
}
};
looks like its working to me, you just have to wait a sec before the image actually pops up.
It seems the reason your seeing "Loading Complete" is because you are displaying it anytime total == loaded. Since you initialize loaded as 0, the first time you check total it will return that 0 bytes are loaded thus making your check true right off the bat. try changing this line
var loaded = myImage.getBytesLoaded();
into this line
var loaded = myImage.getBytesTotal(); //changed getBytesLoaded to getBytesTotal
Thanks for the help jAQUAN. Pretty simple fix, butI had to add a bit more in to get it to work. here's the final code that worked (in case anyone is interested).
Actionscript:
Code:checkImageLoadingStatus = function(){
var total = myImage.getBytesTotal();
if (isNaN(total) || total == 0){
progress_txt.text = "Loading...";
}else {
bytesLoaded = _root.myImage.getBytesLoaded();
bytesTotal = _root.myImage.getBytesTotal();
var loaded = myImage.getBytesTotal();
percent = bytesLoaded/bytesTotal;
if (percent == loaded){
progress_txt.text = "Loading Complete";
mc_fader._width = myImage._width;
mc_fader.gotoAndPlay(1);
// mc_fader._visible = true;
clearInterval(loadingID);
}else{
progress_txt.text = Math.round(loaded/1024) +" kb of "+ Math.round(total/1024); // divide 1024 to get kilobytes
}
}
};
// Event handler for 'Next slide' button
next_btn.onPress = function() {
progress_txt.text = "";
nextSlideNode = currentSlideNode.nextSibling;
if (nextSlideNode == null) {
break;
mc_endfade.gotoAndPlay(2);
} else {
// clearInterval(loadingID); // clear any current interval that might be running
loadingID = setInterval(checkImageLoadingStatus, 50); // every 50 milliseconds
mc_endfade.gotoAndStop(1);
currentIndex++;
updateSlide(nextSlideNode);
currentSlideNode = nextSlideNode;
checkImageLoadingStatus();
}
};
next_btn.onRelease = function() {
clearInterval(loadingID);
};
Ok I've had a small problem up to now with paths when using setinterval.
lets say I have a funtion within movie clip with a path
code:
this.movieClip1.myFunction();
When calling set interval with relative paths I've noticed I have to drop the "this"
code:
clear = setInterval(callFunction, 10);
function callFunction(){
movieClip1.myFunction();
}
but my problem is if I want to call a group of functions
code:
clear = setInterval(callFunction, 10);
function callFunction(){
for (i=0; i<100; i++) {
this["movieClip"+i].myFunction();
}
}
if I use this it doesn't work and if I drop this it doesn't work.. help?? how do I solve this?
have you read the first post?
hi
Yes I have read the article you posted.. I've read it severals time but I can't say that I understand it 100%
So I couldn't really find an answer to my problem. The previous project the probelm I had was that the movie was nested inside another movie clip which also could be variable so absolute addressing wasn't an option. I did manage to do a work around but it seemed very long winded solution.. so I wondered if there was something stupid I was missing.
I apologise if the answer has already been posted but I guess I must be too dum to realise it:p
anyway if you can point out the answer if there is one I'd be grateful
Hi Im wondering if any of you guys who have a better understanding of setInterval could help me out with a problem im having with it. All the info is here:
http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=579706
I've read through the info on this thread but Im still havin trouble understanding what is causing my problem!
Cheers
Rob
I'm making a presentation cd that has a CLIP were inside are frames with stop() action
and a LoadMovie command in each frame for my external SLIDESHOW SWF files
Here's the dilema :
In my External SWF file I have a stop in each frame and a code:
----------------------------------------------
DisplayTime = 5
Countdown = function (message)(displayTime --; if (displayTime == 0){clearinterval(timer);nextFrame();}};
timer=setInterval(countdown,1000);
}
At the end of the slideshow I have one empty slideshow with GotoAndPlay(1)
----------------------------------------------
I have about 30 buttons for each Slideshow
In each frame I also have UnloadMovie.CLIPS.NSlideshow.swf()
It loads the clips but on each new click of another button in Scene
The slideshow becomes faster and faster ...- it pisses me of please
HELP!