Button Events by Date

Hi There

I have designed an advent calendar with buttons that open the windows.

Is it possible to control the action of the button dependant on day e.g on Dec 1st door 1 opens, Dec 2nd door 2 opens etc?

How would i go about getting this functionality to work?

The script i have used for my buttons is:

<code>
on(rollOver){
button1.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
on(rollOut){
button1.gotoAndPlay(16);
}
on (press) {
getURL("javascript:show('images/img1.jpg','IMAGE CAPTION');");
}
</code>


Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks

This should work as long as your images are named according to the day...

Code:

---

on(rollOver){
    button1.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
on(rollOut){
    button1.gotoAndPlay(16);
}
on (release) {
        var today_date:Date = new Date();
        var date_str:Number = today_date.getDate();       
        getURL("javascript:show('images/img"+date_str+".jpg','IMAGE CAPTION');");
}

---

Hope that helps!

Hi flashpipe

thanks for getting back to me. When you say images named according to the day what do you mean?

Is it the button, movie clip or image itself because i have named my buttons in numerical sequence each representing a day in december.

I just meant that I set the code up to load the representative image based on the date...

So,

Code:

---

'images/img"+date_str+".jpg'

---

will load "images/img1.jpg", "images/img2.jpg", "images/img3.jpg", etc.

If you have a bunch of buttons (actual Button symbols), there is a much easier way to code ALL of them in one chunk of code, but you would have to convert them to movieclips. If they're already movieclips, let me know and I'll send you the code to use...

Yes they are all button symbols (each day that is). Each window is a movie clip and has an invisible button layer on top. I hope it makes sense :(

Cool...I try to avoid using buttons whenever possible (and just use movieclips for everything), but you can still do it this way...

I'm not sure why each day has a button and you still needed a way to tell each button to display the image based on the day, but this should help make the code centralized and easier to update.

First, make a copy of your file (in case you decide to go back to how you currently have it)

Remove all the scripts from your buttons, then, give each of your buttons an instance name, use sequential numbers, for instance, day1_btn, day2_btn, day3_btn, etc.

Put the following script in a frame (not on a button):

Code:

---

var today_date:Date = new Date();
var date_str:Number = today_date.getDate();
//replace the number below with however many buttons you have
var numBtns:Number = 30;
for (i=1; i<=numBtns; i++) {
        daySelected = this["day"+i+"_btn"];
        daySelected.i = i;
        daySelected.onRelease = function() {
                //put the code here to display an image based on the date
                getURL("javascript:show('images/img"+date_str+".jpg','IMAGE CAPTION');");
                //put the code here to do something based on the "number" of this button
                trace("hit "+this.i);
        };
}

---

Hope that helps!

Hi flashpipe1

I have tried your approach but dont seem to be getting anywhere :( I have followed your instruction but the weird thing is the action script doesnt have any effect on my fla.

I am not sure what i am doing wrong. Would it help if i posted an example of what I have done so far. Its completed except for the actionscript controlling which window on what day. At the moment all the doors open at the moment.

Thanks.

Absolutely, being able to see what you're talking about will make it much easier to tell you what to change. :)

Hi again

I have attached a basic example, couldnt attach the whole project as it exceeds atttachment file size.

I have just four caledar windows on the stage, hopefully you can make sense of what i have done.

Really appreciate your help?

Regards
:)

Hmm...well, a few things. If you're going to set this up to us one piece of code, you can't use sequential numbers and do "1st.jpg", "2nd.jpg", etc. since the final few characters are different. You can use whatever names you want if you set up an array with the names in there (like I did with the descriptions), or you can just use 1.jpg, 2.jpg, etc.

Not sure why the code I sent didn't work for you...works fine here...I attached your file with the code in there...

Also, still don't know where getting the current date comes into play??

Hope that helps!

Thanks for that.

I have looked at what you did and can make sense of it. I think i have not explained myself properly and do apologise for that - in a nutshell the end user should be able to click on whatever day it is in december at that moment in time, the window curls up and on press the product is displayed.

On the example you have sent across all the windows are still clickable but the window that should be the only one to open is window 3 as today is the 3rd November. Thats where getting the current date comes in.

Is this feasible?

Ah, so, the only button that should be active is the one for the current day?

In that case, just put the following if statement right after the onRelease function and wrap the whole block of code for that function inside it:

Code:

---

if(this.i == date_str){

---

flashpipe1 thank you so much we have lift off it works! Cant beleive it!

Last question I had an animation on there so that when you hover over the window peels open. How come you took it out? Can i put it back in or will it disrupt what we have come to now?

I just didn't add it in there...you can put it back by adding the onRollOver and onRollOut to the function.

Code:

---

daySelected.onRollOver = function() {
        this._parent["sticker"+this.i].gotoAndPlay(2);
};
daySelected.onRollOut = function() {
        this._parent["sticker"+this.i].gotoAndPlay(16);
};

---

Hi flashpipe1 Thanks for your help.

It all works now. There is only one glitch. When my image loads up the image description says undefined - this after uploading the swf/html file on the server, however when i test it in flash and put a trace statement in it displays the image description fine.

Is there any reason as to why that is please?

Try changing the code from:

Code:

---

getURL("javascript:show('img/img"+this.i+".jpg',"+descriptionArray[date_str-1]+");");

---

to:

Code:

---

getURL("javascript:show('img/img"+this.i+".jpg','+descriptionArray[date_str-1]+');");

---

Change the double quote to single quote.

That might do it...

I changed it to single quote and the image description text says -
+descriptionArray[date_str-1]+

What could it be?

Hmm...try this:

Code:

---

getURL("javascript:show('img/img"+this.i+".jpg','"+descriptionArray[date_str-1]+"');");

---

Just have to get the formatting right to pass the variable through the flash string into the javascript call correctly...I think this will do it. :)

Thanks for your help flashpipe1 really appreciate it! :)

I am just getting started in flash and action script just findind the actionscript side of things a little tricky to grasp. In terms of learning shall i begin with as2 or start with as3?

Hi Flashpipe

The image description we have got it to work but it always displays the same image description no matter what window you select. I went back to the original file you uploaded to try and see where i have gone wrong but it seems to do the same thing as well. Any ideas?

Hi flashpipe

I have managed to fix the image description now. This is how i did it:

<code>
getURL("javascript:show('img/img"+this.i+".jpg','"+descriptionArray[this.i-1]+"');");
</code>

Thanks again for your help.

Glad you figured it out. Yes, the date_str just returns the current date while the this.i returns the number of the current button...

As far as which version of AS to start with, I'd say AS3 is the "right" way to go, but there are some things that are more difficult to do than they were in AS2 and the Object Oriented end of things add a whole new level of complexity, but, in order to be able to re-use code, build a repository of functions, etc. it's really the right way to go. And, if you start with AS3, you won't have to un-learn things you learned when you make the jump to AS3 (which you eventually will). Just my 2 cents.

Hope that helps!!

Thanks for your advice.

I am currently researching on SEO for swf files.

Incase I dont speak to you soon merry christmas! :)