MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004 - ACTIONSCRIPT User manual

ActionScript Reference Guide

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Macromedia, Inc. Part Number ZFL70M400
Acknowledgments
Director: Erick Vera
Project Management: Stephanie Gowin, Barbara Nelson
Writing: Jody Bleyle, Mary Burger, Kim Diezel, Stephanie Gowin, Dan Harris, Barbara Herbert, Barbara Nelson, Shirley Ong,
Tim Statler
Managing Editor: Rosana Francescato
Editing: Linda Adler, Mary Ferguson, Mary Kraemer, Noreen Maher, Antonio Padial, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla
Production Management: Patrice O’Neill
Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, Christopher Basmajian, Aaron Begley, John Francis, Jeff Harmon
First Edition: Septermber 2003
Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

3
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: Getting Started with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Intended audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Using the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Typographical conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Terms used in this document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PART I: Welcome to ActionScript
CHAPTER 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
New and changed language elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
New security model and legacy SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ActionScript editor changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Debugging changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
New object-oriented programming model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
CHAPTER 2: ActionScript Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Differences between ActionScript and JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Unicode support for ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
About data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Assigning data types to elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
About variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using operators to manipulate values in expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Specifying an object’s path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Using built-in functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

4 Contents
CHAPTER 3: Writing and Debugging Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Controlling when ActionScript runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Using the Actions panel and Script window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Using the ActionScript editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Debugging your scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Using the Output panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Updating Flash Player for testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
PART II: Handling Events and Creating Interaction
CHAPTER 4: Handling Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Using event handler methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Using event listeners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using button and movie clip event handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Creating movie clips with button states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Event handler scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Scope of the “this” keyword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
CHAPTER 5: Creating Interaction with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
About events and interaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Controlling SWF file playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Creating interactivity and visual effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Deconstructing a sample script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
PART III: Working with Objects and Classes
CHAPTER 6: Using the Built-In Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
About classes and instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Overview of built-in classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
CHAPTER 7: Working with Movie Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
About controlling movie clips with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Calling multiple methods on a single movie clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Loading and unloading additional SWF files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Specifying a root Timeline for loaded SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Loading JPEG files into movie clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Changing movie clip position and appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Dragging movie clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Creating movie clips at runtime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Adding parameters to dynamically created movie clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Managing movie clip depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Drawing shapes with ActionScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Using movie clips as masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Contents 5
Handling movie clip events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Assigning a class to a movie clip symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Initializing class properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
CHAPTER 8: Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Using the TextField class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Creating text fields at runtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Using the TextFormat class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Formatting text with Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Using HTML-formatted text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Creating scrolling text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
CHAPTER 9: Creating Classes with ActionScript 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Principles of object-oriented programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Using classes: a simple example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Creating and using classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Instance and class members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Creating and using interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Understanding the classpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Using packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Importing classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Implicit get/set methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Creating dynamic classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
How classes are compiled and exported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
PART IV: Working with External Data and Media
CHAPTER 10: Working with External Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Sending and loading variables to and from a remote source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Sending messages to and from Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Flash Player security features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
CHAPTER 11: Working with External Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Overview of loading external media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Loading external SWF and JPEG files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Loading external MP3 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Reading ID3 tags in MP3 files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Playing back external FLV files dynamically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Preloading external media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

6 Contents
PART V: Reference
CHAPTER 12: ActionScript Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Sample entry for most ActionScript elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Sample entry for classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Contents of the dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Accessibility class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Arguments class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Array class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Boolean class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Button class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Camera class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Color class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
ContextMenu class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
ContextMenuItem class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
CustomActions class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Date class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Error class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Function class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Key class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
LoadVars class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
LocalConnection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
Math class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Microphone class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Mouse class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
MovieClip class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
MovieClipLoader class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
NetConnection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
NetStream class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Number class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Object class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
PrintJob class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Selection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
SharedObject class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Sound class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
Stage class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
String class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
System class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
System.capabilities object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
System.security object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
TextField class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
TextField.StyleSheet class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
TextFormat class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
TextSnapshot object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Video class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744
XML class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
XMLNode class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
XMLSocket class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Contents 7
APPENDIX A: Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783
APPENDIX B: Operator Precedence and Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
APPENDIX C: Keyboard Keys and Key Code Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Letters A to Z and standard numbers 0 to 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Keys on the numeric keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790
Function keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791
Other keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792
APPENDIX D: Writing Scripts for Earlier Versions of Flash Player. . . . . . . . . . . 795
About targeting older versions of Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795
Using Flash MX 2004 to create content for Flash Player 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
APPENDIX E: Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 799
About ActionScript 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807

8 Contents

9
INTRODUCTION
Getting Started with ActionScript
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004 are the professional standard
authoring tools for producing high-impact web experiences. ActionScript is the language you use
when you want to develop an application within Flash. You don’t have to use ActionScript to use
Flash, but if you want to provide user interactivity, work with objects other than those built into
Flash (such as buttons and movie clips), or otherwise turn a SWF file into a more robust user
experience, you’ll probably want to use ActionScript.
Intended audience
This book assumes that you already have Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX Professional 2004 installed
and know how to use it. You should know how to place objects on the Stage and manipulate them
in the Flash authoring environment. If you have written programs before, ActionScript will feel
familiar. But even if you haven’t, ActionScript isn’t hard to learn. It’s easy to start with very simple
commands and build more complexity as you go along.
System requirements
ActionScript does not have any system requirements in addition to Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX
Professional 2004. However, the documentation assumes that you are using the default
publishing settings for your Flash files: Flash Player 7 and ActionScript 2.0. If you change
either of these settings, explanations and code samples shown in the documentation may not
work correctly.
Using the documentation
This document provides an overview of ActionScript syntax, information on how to use
ActionScript when working with different types of objects, and details on the syntax and usage of
every language element. Start by learning the terminology and basic concepts used in the rest of
the document (see Chapter 2, “ActionScript Basics,” on page 25). Next, learn the mechanics of
writing and debugging Flash scripts (see Chapter 3, “Writing and Debugging Scripts,”
on page 55).
Before writing your own scripts, you should complete the lessons “Write Scripts with
ActionScript” and “Create a Form with Conditional Logic and Send Data,” which provide a
hands-on introduction to working with ActionScript. To find these lessons, select Help >
How Do I > Quick Tasks.

10 Introduction: Getting Started with ActionScript
After you understand the basics, you are ready to use the information in the rest of this document
as it applies to the specific effect you are trying to achieve. For example, if you want to learn how
to write a script that performs a certain action when a user clicks the mouse, see Chapter 4,
“Handling Events,” on page 83.
When you find information about a certain command you want to use, you can look up its entry
in Chapter 12, “ActionScript Dictionary,” on page 205; every language element is listed there in
alphabetical order.
Typographical conventions
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
•Code font indicates ActionScript code.
•Code font italic indicates an element, such as an ActionScript parameter or object name,
that you replace with your own text when writing a script.
Terms used in this document
The following terms are used in this book:
•You refers to the developer who is writing a script or application.
•The user refers to the person who will be running your scripts and applications.
•Compile time is the time at which you publish, export, test, or debug your document.
•Runtime is the time at which your script is running in Flash Player.
ActionScript terms such as method and object are defined in Chapter 2, “ActionScript Basics,”
on page 25.
Additional resources
Specific documentation about Flash and related products is available separately.
•For information about working in the Flash authoring environment, see Using Flash Help. For
information about working with components, see Using Components Help.
•For information about creating communication applications with Flash Communication
Server, see Developing Communications Applications and Managing Flash Communication Server.
•For information about accessing web services with Flash applications, see Using Flash Remoting.
The Macromedia DevNet website (www.macromedia.com/devnet) is updated regularly with the
latest information on Flash, plus advice from expert users, advanced topics, examples, tips, and
other updates. Check the website often for the latest news on Flash and how to get the most out
of the program.
The Macromedia Flash Support Center (www.macromedia.com/support/flash) provides
TechNotes, documentation updates, and links to additional resources in the Flash community.

PART I
Welcome to ActionScript
This part includes basic information on the ActionScript language.
Chapter 1 includes information on what is new or changed in ActionScript and Flash Player 7. If
you have used ActionScript before, be sure to review this information carefully.
If you are new to ActionScript, read Chapters 2 and 3 to get a good foundation for understanding
ActionScript terminology and syntax and for learning how to write and debug your scripts.
Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2: ActionScript Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 3: Writing and Debugging Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
PART I

13
CHAPTER 1
What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 provide several
enhancements that make it easier for you to write more robust scripts using the ActionScript
language. These new features, which are discussed in this chapter, include new language elements,
improved editing and debugging tools (see “ActionScript editor changes” on page 21 and
“Debugging changes” on page 22), and the introduction of a more object-oriented programming
model (see “New object-oriented programming model” on page 22).
This chapter also contains an extensive section that you should read carefully if you plan to
publish any of your existing Flash MX or earlier files to Flash Player 7 (see “Porting existing
scripts to Flash Player 7” on page 15).
New and changed language elements
This section describes the ActionScript language elements that are new or changed in Flash MX
2004. To use any of these elements in your scripts, you must target Flash Player 7 (the default)
when you publish your documents.
•The Array.sort() and Array.sortOn() methods let you add parameters to specify
additional sorting options, such as ascending and descending sorting, whether to consider case
sensitivity when sorting, and so on.
•The Button.menu, MovieClip.menu, and TextField.menu properties work with the new
ContextMenu and ContextMenuItem classes to let you associate context menu items with
Button, MovieClip, or TextField objects.
•The ContextMenu class and ContextMenuItem class let you customize the context menu that
is displayed when a user right-clicks (Microsoft Windows) or Control-clicks (Macintosh) in
Flash Player.
•The Error class and the throw and try..catch..finally commands let you implement
more robust exception handling.
•The LoadVars.addRequestHeader() and XML.addRequestHeader() methods add or change
HTTP request headers (such as Content-Type or SOAPAction) sent with POST actions.
•The MMExecute() function lets you issue Flash JavaScript API commands from ActionScript.
•(Windows only) The Mouse.onMouseWheel event listener is generated when the user scrolls
using the mouse wheel.

14 Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript
•The MovieClip.getNextHighestDepth() method lets you create MovieClip instances at
runtime and be guaranteed that their objects render in front of the other objects in a parent
movie clip’s z-order space. The MovieClip.getInstanceAtDepth() method lets you access
dynamically created MovieClip instances using the depth as a search index.
•The MovieClip.getSWFVersion() method lets you determine which version of Flash Player
is supported by a loaded SWF file.
•The MovieClip.getTextSnapshot() method and the TextSnapshot object let you work with
text that is in static text fields in a movie clip.
•The MovieClip._lockroot property lets you specify that a movie clip will act as _root for
any movie clips loaded into it, or that the meaning of _root in a movie clip won’t change if
that movie clip is loaded into another movie clip.
•The MovieClipLoader class lets you monitor the progress of files as they are being loaded into
movie clips.
•The NetConnection class and NetStream class let you stream local video files (FLV files).
•The PrintJob class gives you (and the user) more control over printing from Flash Player.
•The Sound.onID3 event handler provides access to ID3 data associated with a Sound object
that contains an MP3 file.
•The Sound.ID3 property provides access to the metadata that is part of an MP3 file.
•The System class has new objects and methods, and the System.capabilities object has several
new properties.
•The TextField.condenseWhite property lets you remove extra white space from HTML text
fields that are rendered in a browser.
•The TextField.mouseWheelEnabled property lets you specify whether a text field’s contents
should scroll when the mouse pointer is positioned over a text field and the user rolls the
mouse wheel.
•The TextField.StyleSheet class lets you create a style sheet object that contains text formatting
rules such as font size, color, and other formatting styles.
•The TextField.styleSheet property lets you attach a style sheet object to a text field.
•The TextFormat.getTextExtent() method accepts a new parameter, and the object it
returns contains a new member.
•The XML.addRequestHeader() method lets you add or change HTTP request headers (such
as Content-Type or SOAPAction) sent with POST actions.
New security model and legacy SWF files
Rules for how Flash Player determines whether two domains are the same have changed in Flash
Player 7. In addition, rules that determine whether and how a SWF file served from an HTTP
domain can access a SWF file or load data from an HTTPS domain have changed. In most cases,
these changes won’t affect you unless you are porting your existing SWF files to Flash Player 7.
However, if you have SWF files published for Flash Player 6 or earlier that load data from a file
stored on a server, and the calling SWF is playing in Flash Player 7, the user might see a dialog
box that didn’t appear before, asking whether to allow access. You can prevent this dialog box
from appearing by implementing a policy file on the site where the data is stored. For more
information on this dialog box, see “About compatibility with previous Flash Player security
models” on page 191.

Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7 15
You might also need to implement a policy file if you are using runtime shared libraries. If either
the loading or loaded SWF file is published for Flash Player 7 and the loading and loaded files
aren’t served from the exact same domain, use a policy file to permit access. For more information
on policy files, see “About allowing cross-domain data loading” on page 190.
Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7
As with any new release, Flash Player 7 supports more ActionScript commands than previous
versions of the player; you can use these commands to implement more robust scripts. (See “New
and changed language elements” on page 13.)However, if you used any of these commands in
your existing scripts, the script might not work correctly if you publish it for Flash Player 7.
For example, if you have a script with a function named Error, the script might appear to compile
correctly but might not run as expected in Flash Player 7, because Error is now a built-in class
(and thus a reserved word) in ActionScript. You can fix your script by renaming the Error
function to something else, such as ErrorCondition.
Also, Flash Player 7 implements a number of changes that affect how one SWF file can access
another SWF file, how external data can be loaded, and how local settings and data (such as
privacy settings and locally persistent shared objects) can be accessed. Finally, the behavior of
some existing features has changed.
If you have existing scripts written for Flash Player 6 or earlier that you want to publish for Flash
Player 7, you might need to modify the scripts so they conform with the implementation of Flash
Player 7 and work as designed. These modifications are discussed in this section.
ECMA-262 Edition 4 compliance
Several changes have been implemented in Flash Player 7 to conform more closely to the
ECMA-262 Edition 4 proposal (see www.mozilla.org/js/language/es4/index.html). In addition to
the class-based programming techniques available in ActionScript 2.0 (see “New object-oriented
programming model” on page 22), other features have been added and certain behaviors have
changed. Also, when publishing for Flash Player 7 and using ActionScript 2.0, you can cast one
object type to another. For more information, see “Casting objects” on page 39. These capabilities
don’t require you to update existing scripts; however, you may want to use them if you publish
your scripts to Flash Player 7 and then continue to revise and enhance them.

16 Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript
Unlike the changes mentioned above, the changes listed in the following table (some of which
also improve ECMA compliance) may cause existing scripts to work differently than they did
previously. If you used these features in existing scripts that you want to publish to Flash Player 7,
review the changes to make sure your code still works as intended or to determine whether you
need to rewrite your code. In particular, because undefined is evaluated differently in certain
cases, you should initialize all variables in scripts that you port to Flash Player 7.
SWF file published for Flash Player 7 SWF file published for earlier versions of
Flash Player
Case sensitivity is supported (variable names that
differ only in capitalization are interpreted as being
different variables). This change also affects files
loaded with #include and external variables loaded
with LoadVars.load(). For more information, see
“Case sensitivity” on page 29.
Case sensitivity is not supported (variable
names that differ only in capitalization are
interpreted as being the same variable).
Evaluating undefined in a numeric context returns
NaN.
myCount +=1;
trace(myCount); // NaN
Evaluating undefined in a numeric context
returns 0.
myCount +=1;
trace(myCount); // 1
When undefined is converted to a string, the result is
undefined.
firstname = "Joan ";
lastname = "Flender";
trace(firstname + middlename + lastname);
// Joan undefinedFlender
When undefined is converted to a string, the
result is "" (an empty string).
firstname = "Joan ";
lastname = "Flender";
trace(firstname + middlename + lastname);
// Joan Flender
When you convert a string to a Boolean value, the
result is true if the string has a length greater than
zero; the result is false for an empty string.
When you convert a string to a Boolean value,
the string is first converted to a number; the
result is true if the number is nonzero, false
otherwise.
When setting the length of an array, only a valid
number string sets the length. For example, "6"
works but " 6" or "6xyz" does not.
my_array=new Array();
my_array[" 6"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 0
my_array["6xyz"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 0
my_array["6"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 7
When setting the length of an array, even a
malformed number string sets the length:
my_array=new Array();
my_array[" 6"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 7
my_array["6xyz"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 7
my_array["6"] ="x";
trace(my_array.length); // 7

Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7 17
Domain-name rules for settings and local data
In Flash Player 6, superdomain matching rules are used by default when accessing local settings
(such as camera or microphone access permissions) or locally persistent data (shared objects).
That is, the settings and data for SWF files hosted at here.xyz.com, there.xyz.com, and xyz.com
are shared, and are all stored at xyz.com.
In Flash Player 7, exact-domain matching rules are used by default. That is, the settings and data
for a file hosted at here.xyz.com are stored at here.xyz.com, the settings and data for a file hosted
at there.xyz.com are stored at there.xyz.com, and so on.
A new property, System.exactSettings, lets you specify which rules to use. This property is
supported for files published for Flash Player 6 or later. For files published for Flash Player 6, the
default value is false, which means superdomain matching rules are used. For files published for
Flash Player 7, the default value is true, which means exact-domain matching rules are used.
If you use settings or persistent local data and want to publish a Flash Player 6 SWF file for Flash
Player 7, you might need to set this value to false in the ported file.
For more information, see System.exactSettings on page 662.
Cross-domain and subdomain access between SWF files
When you develop a series of SWF files that communicate with each other—for example, when
using loadMovie(), MovieClip.loadMovie(), MovieClipLoader.LoadClip(), or Local
Connection objects—you might host the movies in different domains, or in different subdomains
of a single superdomain.
In files published for Flash Player 5 or earlier, there were no restrictions on cross-domain or
subdomain access.
In files published for Flash Player 6, you could use the LocalConnection.allowDomain handler
or System.security.allowDomain() method to specify permitted cross-domain access (for
example, to let a file at someSite.com be accessed by a file at someOtherSite.com), and no
command was needed to permit subdomain access (for example, a file at www.someSite.com
could be accessed by a file at store.someSite.com).
Files published for Flash Player 7 implement access between SWF files differently from earlier
versions in two ways. First, Flash Player 7 implements exact-domain matching rules instead of
superdomain matching rules. Therefore, the file being accessed (even if it is published for a Player
version earlier than Flash Player 7) must explicitly permit cross-domain or subdomain access; this
topic is discussed below. Second, a file hosted at a site using a secure protocol (HTTPS) must
explicitly permit access from a file hosted at a site using an insecure protocol (HTTP or FTP);
this topic is discussed in the next section (see “HTTP to HTTPS protocol access between SWF
files” on page 19).

18 Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript
Because Flash Player 7 implements exact-domain matching rules instead of superdomain
matching rules, you might have to modify existing scripts if you want to access them from files
that are published for Flash Player 7. (You can still publish the modified files for Flash Player 6.)
If you used any LocalConnection.allowDomain() or System.security.allowDomain()
statements in your files and specified superdomain sites to permit, you must change your
parameters to specify exact domains instead. The following code shows an example of the kinds of
changes you might have to make:
// Flash Player 6 commands in a SWF file at www.anyOldSite.com
// to allow access by SWF files that are hosted at www.someSite.com
// or at store.someSite.com
System.security.allowDomain("someSite.com");
my_lc.allowDomain = function(sendingDomain) {
return(sendingDomain=="someSite.com");
}
// Corresponding commands to allow access by SWF files
// that are published for Flash Player 7
System.security.allowDomain("www.someSite.com", "store.someSite.com");
my_lc.allowDomain = function(sendingDomain) {
return(sendingDomain=="www.someSite.com" ||
sendingDomain=="store.someSite.com");
}
You might also have to add statements like these to your files if you aren’t currently using them.
For example, if your SWF file is hosted at www.someSite.com and you want to allow access by a
SWF file published for Flash Player 7 at store.someSite.com, you must add statements like the
following to the file at www.someSite.com (you can still publish the file at www.someSite.com for
Flash Player 6):
System.security.allowDomain("store.someSite.com");
my_lc.allowDomain = function(sendingDomain) {
return(sendingDomain=="store.someSite.com");
}
To summarize, you might have to modify your files to add or change allowDomain statements if
you publish files for Flash Player 7 that meet the following conditions:
•You implemented cross-SWF scripting (using loadMovie(), MovieClip.loadMovie(),
MovieClipLoader.LoadClip(), or Local Connection objects).
•The called SWF file (of any version) is not hosted at a site using a secure protocol (HTTPS), or
the calling and called SWF files are both hosted at HTTPS sites. (If only the called SWF file is
HTTPS, see “HTTP to HTTPS protocol access between SWF files” on page 19.)
•The SWF files are not in same domain (for example, one file is at www.domain.com and one is
at store.domain.com).

Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7 19
You have to make the following changes:
•If the called SWF file is published for Flash Player 7, include System.security.allowDomain
or LocalConnection.allowDomain in the called SWF file, using exact domain-
name matching.
•If the called SWF file is published for Flash Player 6, modify the called file to add or change a
System.security.allowDomain or LocalConnection.allowDomain statement, using exact
domain-name matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in this section. You can publish
the modified file for either Flash Player 6 or 7.
•If the called SWF file is published for Flash Player 5 or earlier, port the called file to
Flash Player 6 or 7 and add a System.security.allowDomain statement, using exact
domain-name matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in this section.
(LocalConnection objects aren’t supported in Flash Player 5 or earlier.)
HTTP to HTTPS protocol access between SWF files
As discussed in the previous section, rules for cross-domain and subdomain access have changed
in Flash Player 7. In addition to the exact-domain matching rules now being implemented, you
must explicitly permit files hosted at sites using a secure protocol (HTTPS) to be accessed by files
hosted at sites using an insecure protocol. Depending on whether the called file is published for
Flash Player 7 or Flash Player 6, you must implement either one of the allowDomain statements
(see “Cross-domain and subdomain access between SWF files” on page 17), or use the new
LocalConnection.allowInsecure Domain or System.security.allowInsecureDomain()
statements.
Warning: Implementing an allowInsecureDomain() statement compromises the security offered
by the HTTPS protocol. You should make these changes only if you can’t reorganize your site so that
all SWF files are served from the HTTPS protocol.
The following code shows an example of the kinds of changes you might have to make:
// Commands in a Flash Player 6 SWF file at https://www.someSite.com
// to allow access by Flash Player 7 SWF files that are hosted
// at http://www.someSite.com or at http://www.someOtherSite.com
System.security.allowDomain("someOtherSite.com");
my_lc.allowDomain = function(sendingDomain) {
return(sendingDomain=="someOtherSite.com");
}
// Corresponding commands in a Flash Player 7 SWF file
// to allow access by Flash Player 7 SWF files that are hosted
// at http://www.someSite.com or at http://www.someOtherSite.com
System.security.allowInsecureDomain("www.someSite.com",
"www.someOtherSite.com");
my_lc.allowInsecureDomain = function(sendingDomain) {
return(sendingDomain=="www.someSite.com" ||
sendingDomain=="www.someOtherSite.com");
}
You might also have to add statements like these to your files if you aren’t currently using them.
A modification might be necessary even if both files are in same domain (for example, a file in
http://www.domain.com is calling a file in https://www.domain.com).

20 Chapter 1: What’s New in Flash MX 2004 ActionScript
To summarize, you might have to modify your files to add or change statements if you publish
files for Flash Player 7 that meet the following conditions:
•You implemented cross-SWF scripting (using loadMovie(), MovieClip.loadMovie(),
MovieClipLoader.LoadClip(), or Local Connection objects).
•The calling file is not hosted using an HTTPS protocol, and the called file is HTTPS.
You must make the following changes:
•If the called file is published for Flash Player 7, include
System.security.allowInsecureDomain or LocalConnection.allowInsecureDomain in
the called file, using exact domain-name matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in
this section. This statement is required even if the calling and called SWF files are in
same domain.
•If the called file is published for Flash Player 6 or earlier, and both the calling and called files
are in same domain (for example, a file in http://www.domain.com is calling a file in https://
www.domain.com), no modification is needed.
•If the called file is published for Flash Player 6, the files are not in same domain, and you don’t
want to port the called file to Flash Player 7, modify the called file to add or change a
System.security.allowDomain or LocalConnection.allowDomain statement, using exact
domain-name matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in this section.
•If the called file is published for Flash Player 6 and you want to port the called file to Flash
Player 7, include System.security.allowInsecureDomain or
LocalConnection.allowInsecureDomain in the called file, using exact domain-name
matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in this section. This statement is required even
if both files are in same domain.
•If the called file is published for Flash Player 5 or earlier, and both files are not in the same
domain, you can do one of two things. You can either port the called file to Flash Player 6 and
add or change a System.security.allowDomain statement, using exact domain-name
matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in this section, or you can port the called file
to Flash Player 7, and include a System.security.allowInsecureDomain statement in the
called file, using exact domain-name matching, as shown in the code examples earlier in
this section.
Server-side policy files for permitting access to data
A Flash document can load data from an external source by using one of the following data
loading calls: XML.load(), XML.sendAndLoad(), LoadVars.load(),
LoadVars.sendAndLoad(), loadVariables(), loadVariablesNum(),
MovieClip.loadVariables(), XMLSocket.connect(), and Macromedia Flash Remoting
(NetServices.createGatewayConnection). Also, a SWF file can import runtime shared
libraries (RSLs), or assets defined in another SWF file, at runtime. By default, the data or RSL
must reside in the same domain as the SWF file that is loading that external data or media.
To make data and assets in runtime shared libraries available to SWF files in different domains,
you should use a cross-domain policy file. A cross-domain policy file is an XML file that provides a
way for the server to indicate that its data and documents are available to SWF files served from
certain domains, or from all domains. Any SWF file that is served from a domain specified by the
server’s policy file is permitted to access data or RSLs from that server.