[MX] LOAD A swf into a symbol as a background?

[Alan Robotkin]

I have a red 50*50 SYMBOL cube called "RedCube" and i would like to load a swf into it called "A.swf" whilst still retaining the shape of the red cube.I dont want the newly loaded .swf to replace the cube but to appear as a background inside it.Can anyone help?
ALAN

[dawsonk]

One way to do this, would be to make two new layers inside 'redCube', below the existing content. On the bottom layer, create an empty movie clip inside redCube, positioned in the upper left corner. Give it an instance name 'holder'. On the upper layer, create a filled shape. Change this layer to a mask. Then load the movie 'A.swf' into 'redCube.holder'.

HTH

[Alan Robotkin]

HI Dawsonk-long time no hear!!
Hope u r well .I domt know if u remember me but u really helped me out ove my Hangmann script ,last year.I have been really busy so have not visited flashkit in a while.
Any hows thanks again for the mask tip which i had not thought of and shall give it a whirl
--but what i really am desperate to achieve is 2 things


1.To be able to load .swfs into symbols without the need to mask ,but just using scripting.I think this should be possibel.Say i had a 50*50 symbol called
"RedCube" and wanted to place another .swf called "A.swf" into it,
accuratrely then i suppose "A.swf" should be a movie that is the same width and height as the symbol.But i have tried creating an emptyMovie Clip in the symbol on a different layer and loading the .swf into that ,but still it has not worked. Any Ideas
2.And this is a completly seperate question- I wanted to have a script that
could load any quantity of .swfs on to the screen at random locations.The swfs could all come from a particullar folder that is a Holder for these .swfs.
I was wondering if u could help me once again since i have not driven u crazy in a while
Alan

[dawsonk]

1. Are you using Flash MX?

2. If you want the loaded clip to have a different shape, you need to mask it. But if you just want it to be the same size as clip it is being loaded into, the sizing has to be done 'after' the clip has completely loaded. So which are you trying to do?

3. Flash can NOT read the directory. Options are:
a. to use an external text file or XML file.
b. or if you are creating an .exe using a third party tool that enables this capability.
c. or maybe pass in the parameters using javascript.

HTH

[Alan Robotkin]

Dawsonk
1.I am usung flash Mx
2.Regarding ttrying to load a movie into the RedCube Symbol,I did exactly what you suggested and added the two extra layers under the RedCube symbol.I masked the second layer and loaded the A.swf into the layer below.
However all that occured was that the cube retained its 50*50 size and the
movie loaded into it o.k but the actual red cube was still concealed by the movie.
What i am trying to acheive is to have the RedCube still in tact and wholey visible but with the newly loaded movie appearing as a kind of background within it.
3.
With regards to my other issue , I think that I would like the files read in from an external .txt which would be in the same location as the folder which contains all of the .swf,s which are to be loaded into the new movie...
All l am reallly trying to accomplish here is a system wherby I could have a specific Folder named "Alans Loaded " and this folder could possibly contain 1 or 100 .swf,s depending on the project i am working on at the time. Then i need a script that would place all of the .swf,s that are in "Alans Loaded" INTO A MOVIE,AT RANDOM LOCATIONS on the screen. Now i realise that it would be totally inappropriate to load so many swfs into a single movie at one time and in practice i would probably only load a few but the point is that by having a Folder that you could reference as a holder for all of the swfs is better than hard coding the names and numbers of the swf u needed.
Any how what to u reckon????
Alan