Combine Multiple Variable Names Together to Target New Variable

[Lauren_Reynolds]

Heya

I'm still learning flash and actionscript 3 and i am having trouble with variable and object names. I need to be able to combine variable names together (in the same way as php can combine by doing var1.var2).

My swf contains 4 loaders (image1_loader, image2_loader etc..) which are a child of (image1_content, image2_content etc.....)
I then have 4 buttons which load an image into the loader and while doing so they define the currently active loader.
Finally i have 4 control buttons - scale up/down and rotate clockwise/anticlockwise which should only control the currently active loader (as set by the buttons above)

So my buttons as well as loading the image have the event listener:

    image1_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setCurrentSelection);
    image2_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setCurrentSelection); 
(and so on..) 

    function setCurrentSelection(e:MouseEvent):void {
	    if (e.currentTarget===image1_btn){activeLoader='image1';}
	    if (e.currentTarget===image2_btn){activeLoader='image2';}
	    if (e.currentTarget===image3_btn){activeLoader='image3';}
	    if (e.currentTarget===image4_btn){activeLoader='image4';}
    }

So after setting my activeLoader as the string 'imageX' i have a control functions as in this rotate one:

    rotateClock_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, rotateClockwise);
    rotateAnti_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, rotateAntiClockwise);

    function rotateClockwise(event:Event):void {
	    rotateAroundCenter(imageX_content, 10, ptR);
    }

    function rotateAntiClockwise(event:Event):void {
	    rotateAroundCenter(imageX_content, -10, ptR);
    }

So within the rotateClockwise and rotateAntiClockwise functions i need to be able to recognise which is the currently active loader and have that number instead of the X - so if it is image1_loader - it needs to be image1_content, if 4 - image4_content...
I had tried to do it as this but it doesn't like it being a string:

    rotateAroundCenter((activeLoader+'_content'), 10, ptR);

Please could anyone help me understand how to solve (sorry if i havent explained it clearly!) and please go easy on me - i'm learning as i go myself

Lauren

[Baby Minion]

well, i think you are looking for bracket notation access.

var image1_content:Sprite;
var activeImageNum:Number = 1;
var activeImage = this["image" + activeImageNum + "_content"];

[5TonsOfFlax]

That is what she actually asked for, but there's no reason to actually use string concatenation to identify the active object here.

Just save a reference to the object you want, not its name (or some portion of its name).

    var activeContent:DisplayObject;

    image1_btn.content = image1_content;
    image2_btn.content = image2_content;
    //and so on.  

    image1_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setCurrentSelection);
    image2_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, setCurrentSelection); 
(and so on..) 

    function setCurrentSelection(e:MouseEvent):void {
            activeContent = MovieClip(e.currentTarget).content;
    }

    rotateClock_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, rotateClockwise);
    rotateAnti_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, rotateAntiClockwise);

    function rotateClockwise(event:Event):void {
	    rotateAroundCenter(activeContent, 10, ptR);
    }

    function rotateAntiClockwise(event:Event):void {
	    rotateAroundCenter(activeContent, -10, ptR);
    }

Generally, when you find yourself thinking "why can't I do this the way I would in php?" the answer is "because php is an abomination."