setMask, multple masks

[emcdoe]

OK so I have a comic creator flash GUI I'm working on. I'm looking for a way to mask the images from on panel to the next. The images are dropped on comicPanelMC, which is a movieClip with 3 MovieClips inside (panel1MC, panel2MC, panel3MC). Once all the images are drug onto the comicPanel I need to find a way to mask each panel so that images from panel1MC don't overlap onto panel2MC, images from panel2MC don't overlap onto panel3MC etc.
So first thing i need to do is find the images specific to each location, then to apply the appropriate mask. The confusing part is that the images are drug onto comicPanelMC, and I do now know a way to identify them by the more specific location, (i.e. comicPanelMC.panel1MC). As soon as I can group images to their appropriate location I can add the appropriate mask. Can I find all movieclip instances with some code like;

for(var z in _root){
    if(_root[z] instanceof MovieClip){
        trace(_root[z])
    }
} 

and then perhaps sort by x and y position, and then apply the appropriate mask? Is there any examples of something simular anyone has come across? Can I, upon adding the images to the stage with attachMovie sort them into some sort of array depending on their x and y position?

[emcdoe]

ok i overlooked the obvious... putting a hittest on the actual panels themselves, and then declaring an independant variable for each;

var mouseListener = new Object();
mouseListener.onMouseUp = function() {
    if (!activeMC.hitTest(comicPanelMC)) {
        removeMovieClip(activeMC);
        activeMC = null;
    } else {
        //        activeMC.setMask(mask1Mc);
        //trace all onstage mcs
    }
    stopDrag();
    if (comicPanelMC.panel1MC.hitTest(activeMC)) {
        var panel1Img1:String = activeMC;
        trace(panel1Img1);
    }
    if (comicPanelMC.panel2MC.hitTest(activeMC)) {
        var panel2Img1:String = activeMC;
        trace(panel2Img1);
    }
    if (comicPanelMC.panel3MC.hitTest(activeMC)) {
        var panel3Img1:String = activeMC;
        trace(panel3Img1);
    }
};
Mouse.addListener(mouseListener); 

now i believe the best solution is to create an array for each (panel1Img1, panel1Img2, panel1Img3) and have the setMask funtion applied to all objects in the array (assuming no more than 5 instances of one character are used per frame).

[emcdoe]

any suggestions on how to organize the array?

[emcdoe]

Okay so i have an array for all the images dropped into the first panel;

firstPanel = new Array(); 

and when an object is dropped into panel 1 it is added to the array

var mouseListener = new Object();
mouseListener.onMouseUp = function() {
    if (!activeMC.hitTest(comicPanelMC)) {
        removeMovieClip(activeMC);
        activeMC = null;
    }
    stopDrag();
    if (comicPanelMC.panel1MC.hitTest(activeMC)) {
        firstImage = firstPanel.push(activeMC);
        trace(firstPanel);

    }
}; 

But the problem now is

a) I am getting duplicate entries in the firstPanel array as activeMC is any object which is selected by the user, even if that object is already on the stage.
b) I need to apply a setMask function to all the objects in the firstPanel array. I am not very familiar with arrays but most of what I've read treats them as collections of number values instead of objects.

[dawsonk]

Perhaps an alternative way to try is to create an empty movie clip inside each of the panels and mask it. And when an object is dropped on a panel attach it to the holder (empty movie clip).

See attached file for a quick and dirty concept...

[emcdoe]

I've got the code working but now the masking has disabled many of the other things I had working previous... I realize this problem is getting beyond the scope of this flashkit and really appreciate all the help so far, any further suggestions would be very welcome.

a) images no longer scale, rotate, change orientation (face left, face right)
b) speech ballon with input text no longer allows text to be input (i'm not sure if this is because the movieClip is masked or because it is in a container)

Anyways see attached file for current progress, thanks again.

-emcdoe

[dawsonk]

Sorry, I only have Flash MX 2004 and can't open the posted file.

(If you are using Flash 8, you can do a file 'Save as' and save it to a different filename and select MX2004 from the file type selector.)

[emcdoe]

here's the flash MX 2004 version... I think if implement the Listener to relate to the "holder" movieclip it will work. Still not 100% on the input text feild

[emcdoe]

i don't think the speech bubble is an issue i've got a work around in mind

[emcdoe]

okay I've gotten the file working with the keys, the problem now is that when scaling the objects, it is interpreting the middle of the object to be in the top right hand corner of the stage. I believe this code is not working because of the container mc, "holder"

        var dX = onstageMC._x-_xmouse;
        var dY = onstageMC._y-_ymouse;
        var dist = Math.sqrt((dX*dX)+(dY*dY));
        if (dist>scaleMIN & dist<scaleMAX) {
            onstageMC._xscale = onstageMC._yscale=dist;
        } 

However I would say the issue is resolved, thanks again!