[RESOLVED] AS 2.0 xml news ticker - scripting problem

[Ameryl]

Hi there!

I'm making a very simple news ticker that uses XML to load four items: copy text, an image, date and a URL. The script was pieced together from tutorials and a bit of self-teaching, so I know it's probably not great. The AS is pasted below. Everything loads just fine, but the button script returns an "undefined" error. I assume this is because the item is no longer found in the array, but I'm not entirely sure. I also think it may be that the loadMovie method isn't working well with a specific item in the array. Also the link does not work. Any ideas?

*Note* I know there are probably more advanced ways to tackle this but I'd like to keep this at my learning level so I can grow with it. :-) Thanks in advance for any advice!



AS2:

function loadXML(loaded) {
    if (loaded) {
        xmlNode = this.firstChild;
        pic = [];
        date = [];
        copy = [];
        link = [];
        total = xmlNode.childNodes.length;
        for (i=0; i<total; i++) {
            pic[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[0].firstChild.nodeValue;
            date[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[1].firstChild.nodeValue;
            copy[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[2].firstChild.nodeValue;
            link[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[3].firstChild.nodeValue;

        }
        first_item();
    } else {
        content = "file not loaded!";
    }
}

var xmlData = new XML();
xmlData.ignoreWhite = true;
xmlData.onLoad = loadXML;
xmlData.load("features.xml");

function first_item() {
    delay = 5000;
    p = 0;
    display(p);
    p++;
}
function timer() {
    myInterval = setInterval(ticker, delay);
    function ticker() {
        clearInterval(myInterval);
        if (p == total) {
            p = 0;
        }
        fadeout();
    }
}
function display(pos) {
    over = new TextFormat();
    over.underline = true;
    // 
    out = new TextFormat();
    out.underline = false;
    // 
    newsMC.newsText._alpha = 100;
    newsMC.image.loadMovie(this.pic[pos]);
    newsMC.post_date.text = date[pos];
    newsMC.newsText.text = copy[pos];
    newsMC.link.onRelease = function() {
        getURL(link[pos], "_parent");
    };
    newsMC.onRollOver = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(over);
    };
    newsMC.onRollOut = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(out);
    };
    timer();
}

function fadeout() {
    this.onEnterFrame = function() {
        if (newsMC.newsText._alpha>=0) {
            newsMC.newsText._alpha -= 5;
        } else {
            display(p);
            p++;
            delete this.onEnterFrame;
        }
    };
}

item1_btn.onRelease = function() {
    newsMC.newsText._alpha = 100;
    newsMC.image.loadMovie(this.pic[1]);
    newsMC.post_date.text = date[0];
    newsMC.newsText.text = copy[0];
    newsMC.link.onRelease = function() {
        getURL(link[0], "_parent");
    };
    newsMC.onRollOver = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(over);
    };
    newsMC.onRollOut = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(out);
    };
    timer();
};

item2_btn.onRelease = function() {
    newsMC.newsText._alpha = 100;
    newsMC.image.loadMovie(this.pic[1]);
    newsMC.post_date.text = date[1];
    newsMC.newsText.text = copy[1];
    newsMC.link.onRelease = function() {
        getURL(link[1], "_parent");
    };
    newsMC.onRollOver = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(over);
    };
    newsMC.onRollOut = function() {
        this.link.setTextFormat(out);
    };
    timer();
};

and here is a piece of the XML:

<news>

<item>
<pic>images/img1.jpg</pic>
<date>2 . 26 . 2010</date>
<copy>This will be our first news item. Hopefully we'll be able to have enough "featured" items to keep a consistent line of news. Updated items are important.</copy>
<link>http://www.google.com</link>
</item>
</news>

[dawsonk]

Can you post a stripped down version of your .fla here?

[Ameryl]

Sorry this took a little while; I was having problems logging into my account. I've attached the .fla file below but couldn't upload the XML. Thank you for any help you can provide!!

[dawsonk]

wrap the 'link' text field, inside a movie clip, give it an instance name of 'more'
so 'newsMC' > 'more' > 'link'

function loadXML(loaded) {
	if (loaded) {
		xmlNode = this.firstChild;
		pic = [];
		date = [];
		copy = [];
		link = [];
		total = xmlNode.childNodes.length;
		for (var i=0; i<total; i++) {
			pic[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[0].firstChild.nodeValue;
			date[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[1].firstChild.nodeValue;
			copy[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[2].firstChild.nodeValue;
			link[i] = xmlNode.childNodes[i].childNodes[3].firstChild.nodeValue;

		}
		first_item();
	} else {
		content = "file not loaded!";
	}
}

var xmlData = new XML();
xmlData.ignoreWhite = true;
xmlData.onLoad = loadXML;
xmlData.load("features.xml");

function first_item() {
	delay = 5000;
	display(p=0);
}
function timer() {
	clearInterval(myInterval);
	myInterval = setInterval(ticker, delay);
	function ticker() {
		clearInterval(myInterval);
		fadeout();
	}
}
//
over = new TextFormat();
over.underline = true;
out = new TextFormat();
out.underline = false;
//
newsMC.more.onRollOver = function() {
	this.link.setTextFormat(over);
};
newsMC.more.onRollOut = function() {
	this.link.setTextFormat(out);
};
newsMC.more.onRelease = function() {
	getURL(link[p], "_parent");
};
//
function display(pos) {
	newsMC.newsText._alpha = 100;
	newsMC.image.loadMovie(pic[pos]);
	newsMC.post_date.text = date[pos];
	newsMC.newsText.text = copy[pos];
	timer();
}

function fadeout() {
	newsMC.onEnterFrame = function() {
		if (newsMC.newsText._alpha>=0) {
			newsMC.newsText._alpha -= 5;
		} else {
			if (++p == total) {
				p = 0;
			}
			display(p);
			delete this.onEnterFrame;
		}
	};
}

item1_btn.onRelease = function() {
	display(p=0);
};
item2_btn.onRelease = function() {
	display(p=1);
};
item3_btn.onRelease = function() {
	display(p=2);
};
item4_btn.onRelease = function() {
	display(p=3);
};

[Ameryl]

dawson:

Thank you - for the solution and the code clean-up! This makes much more sense, and I see how I was being redundant by repeating the rollover function for each button's code. I can also see how the order of operations in the timer function (along with the heavy button code) was causing the problem. You've been a great help! Many thanks!