Foundation Actionscript for Macromedia Flash Mx 2004

by Bhangal, Sham

• ISBN13: 9781590593059
• ISBN10: 1590593057
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc

Summary

With the release of Flash MX 2004, scripting in Flash has moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design and development. ActionScript is, quite simply, the key to real power in Flash. This book is for anyone who has ever looked in awe at a cutting-edge Flash site, then taken a look at some code, and run in the other direction. This book will take you from knowing nothing about ActionScript to a firm knowledge that will allow you to exercise a previously unimaginable amount of power over your Flash movies. It does this with fully worked examples throughout, and a case study that will leave you with a cutting-edge Flash site by the end of the book.

Table of Contents

About the Author	xiv
About the Technical Reviewer	xv
Introduction	xvii
Chapter 1: Interactive Flash	1	(22)
Giving your movies instructions	2	(1)
Working with the Actions panel	3	(2)
Direct typing	5	(4)
Who are you talking to?	9	(5)
Controlling movie clips on the stage	10	(4)
Arguments	14	(1)
Listening to what your movies are telling you	14	(2)
Events in Flash	15	(1)
External events	15	(1)
Internal events	16	(1)
Introducing callbacks	16	(4)
Nesting spiders-argh!	17	(1)
Animating movie clips with ActionScript	18	(2)
Summary	20	(3)
Chapter 2: Making plans	23	(30)
Defining the problem	24	(6)
Keep your ideas in a safer place than your head	25	(1)
Storyboarding	26	(4)
Building your ActionScript	30	(7)
Thinking from the top down	30	(1)
Thinking from the bottom up	31	(6)
Flowcharting	33	(4)
Book project: Introducing the Futuremedia site	37	(14)
Deconstructing the problem	40	(3)
Solving problem 1	43	(2)
Solving problem 2	45	(2)
Solving problems 3 and 4	47	(4)
Parting shots	51	(1)
Summary	51	(2)
Chapter 3: Movies that remember	53	(36)
Introducing variables	54	(18)
Values and types	55	(1)
Creating variables and using them with literals and expressions	56	(6)
Naming variables	56	(2)
Creating variables	58	(1)
Literal values	58	(1)
Expressions	59	(3)
Input and output	62	(5)
Using string expressions	67	(1)
Working with numbers	68	(2)
Other uses for numeric expressions	69	(1)
Working with Boolean values	70	(2)
Logic operators	71	(1)
Arrays	72	(5)
Reasons for using arrays	73	(1)
Arrays let you store related information together	73	(1)
Arrays let you hold information in a specific order	73	(1)
Arrays let you index information	73	(1)
Arrays let you link information	74	(1)
Creating a new array	74	(1)
Typing an array	75	(1)
Using variable values as offsets	75	(2)
Book project: Starting the Futuremedia site design	77	(10)
What you're going to do	77	(1)
What you're going to learn	78	(1)
Choosing and setting the stage size	78	(1)
Setting up the timeline	79	(1)
Creating layout guides	80	(2)
Adding the position and status text	82	(4)
Choosing a font	82	(1)
Adding the text	83	(2)
Embedding the font	85	(1)
Parting shots	86	(1)
Summary	87	(2)
Chapter 4: Movies that decide for themselves	89	(26)
Decision making	90	(8)
Making decisions in ActionScript: The if action	91	(1)
Defining a decision	92	(6)
Alternative actions	98	(14)
Acting on alternatives: The else action	98	(2)
More than one alternative: The else if action	100	(3)
Handling lots of alternatives: The switch action	103	(2)
Switching without breaks	105	(7)
Summary	112	(3)
Chapter 5: More power, less script	115	(38)
Timeline loops	116	(1)
ActionScript loops	117	(1)
while loops	117	(10)
Useful things to do with while loops	118	(7)
for loops	125	(1)
init	126	(1)
condition	126	(1)
next	126	(1)
Some useful examples of for loops	126	(1)
Simple loop	126	(1)
Reverse loop	126	(1)
Two at a time	126	(1)
Looping through elements in an array	127	(2)
Applying an operation to all the elements in an array	127	(1)
Searching an array for a specific value	128	(1)
Cross-indexing a pair of arrays	129	(1)
Hangman	129	(12)
Book project: Creating the static graphics	141	(8)
Setting up the timeline layers for your graphics	143	(1)
Creating the back strip	143	(2)
Adding structure to the Library	145	(1)
Creating the frame cutout	146	(2)
Revealing the frame cutout and finishing the FLA	148	(1)
Parting shots	148	(1)
Summary	149	(4)
Chapter 6: Movies that remember how to do things	153	(22)
Breaking down a task	154	(1)
Bundling actions and running them afterward	154	(4)
Choosing which actions to bundle and where	158	(10)
Arguments and redundancy	159	(1)
Local variables and modular code	160	(2)
Returning values from a function	162	(1)
Typing functions	163	(5)
Nesting functions	168	(4)
Summary	172	(3)
Chapter 7: Objects and classes	175	(28)
Introducing objects and classes	176	(5)
Type and object-oriented programming	177	(1)
Classes, generalization, and abstraction	178	(1)
Seeing arrays in a new light	178	(3)
The Array constructor method	179	(1)
Other Array methods	180	(1)
Array properties	180	(1)
Creating classes and objects (instances) in Flash	181	(5)
Instances	181	(1)
The Object object	181	(1)
Viewing an object in Flash	182	(1)
Constructors	183	(3)
Objects, objects, everywhere	186	(15)
Lurking objects	186	(1)
Making a show reel	187	(14)
Summary	201	(2)
Chapter 8: Objects on the stage	203	(18)
Movie clips and buttons as objects	204	(3)
Symbol behavior	206	(1)
Two sides of the same object	206	(1)
Working with Library items	207	(4)
Navigating the timelines	211	(4)
Different place, different variable	211	(11)
Locating variables from inside a callback function	211	(1)
Reusing callbacks	212	(3)
Changing the scope	215	(2)
Global variables	217	(2)
Summary	219	(2)
Chapter 9: Modular ActionScript	221	(38)
Modular ActionScript	222	(1)
Black-box programming	222	(1)
Creating components	223	(8)
Creating a modular set of playback controls	224	(7)
Dark Valentine	231	(2)
Using your component with Dark Valentine	232	(1)
Modular control of movie clips	233	(4)
How to simulate realistic movement	234	(3)
Linear motion	234	(1)
Motion with acceleration	235	(2)
Trailing the pointer (a mouse follower)	237	(8)
Understanding the inertial code	242	(1)
Fine-tuning the component	242	(3)
Modular code and functions	245	(4)
Swarming behavior	245	(3)
Taking the swarming effect forward	248	(1)
Book project: Starting to code	249	(7)
The Futuremedia code style	249	(1)
Making it modular	249	(1)
Writing the code to set up the events and function hierarchy	250	(1)
Sanity check #1	251	(2)
Setting up the event handler callbacks	253	(1)
Invoking the color change	253	(1)
Sanity check #2	254	(1)
Running the FLA: The results	254	(2)
Parting shots	256	(1)
Summary	256	(3)
Chapter 10: Sprites	259	(50)
What is a sprite?	260	(1)
Control	261	(3)
External and local data	261	(3)
Movement	264	(1)
Collision	264	(7)
Planning zapper	269	(2)
The game world (the main timeline)	271	(4)
gSCREEN_TOP, gSCREEN_BOTTOM, gSCREEN_RIGHT, and gSCREEN_LEFT	272	(1)
score	272	(1)
level, skill, and accel	273	(1)
speed	273	(1)
shipDead, fired, and gSHIP_HEIGHT	273	(1)
The timeline	273	(2)
The code	275	(15)
Global constants	275	(1)
The "start game" trigger	276	(2)
The player (the ship)	278	(4)
The SwarmAlien	282	(2)
alienSpawn()	283	(1)
onEnterFrame	283	(1)
alienBrain()	283	(1)
alienReincarnate()	283	(1)
The SwarmAlien code	284	(4)
The bullet	288	(1)
The debris of war	289	(1)
Book project: Navigation event handling	290	(17)
Sanity check #1	292	(1)
Adding the basic UI animation	292	(7)
navigate and posTransition	295	(4)
Adding typing	299	(1)
Sanity check #2	299	(1)
Creating a smooth transition	299	(7)
Parting shots	306	(1)
Summary	307	(2)
Chapter 11: Drawing API	309	(34)
Turtle graphics	310	(1)
Drawing lines	311	(2)
Drawing curves	313	(4)
How the sketching code works	317	(1)
Filling shapes	317	(3)
Creating a kaleidoscope	320	(8)
Kaleidoscope math	320	(2)
Building the kaleidoscope engine	322	(6)
Book project: Color transition event handling and data	328	(13)
Wiring the colTransition function	328	(3)
The game plan	328	(2)
Fading color	330	(1)
Coding the color transition	331	(1)
Finishing the text transition	332	(1)
Reviewing the code so far	333	(1)
Data-driven sites (and why you need to understand them)	334	(7)
Defining data for Futuremedia	335	(6)
Parting shots	341	(1)
Summary	341	(2)
Chapter 12: Sound	343	(50)
Adding sound to Flash movies	344	(2)
Using the Sound class	346	(12)
Playing sounds from ActionScript	347	(11)
Controlling sound from ActionScript	358	(8)
setVolume()	358	(1)
setPan()	358	(8)
Dealing with large sound files: Compression and streaming	366	(4)
Compression	366	(1)
External sound files	367	(3)
Book project: Adding data to the Futuremedia site	370	(21)
Creating the data structure	371	(1)
Defining your data	372	(6)
Page type pType	372	(1)
Page links pLink	372	(1)
Page titles title	372	(2)
Setting the content linkage identifier and URL	374	(1)
Populating the data with default values	374	(1)
Populating the actual data values	375	(3)
Creating the Futuremedia configuration	378	(12)
Populating the configuration file	381	(3)
Getting Flash to read the data	384	(3)
Populating the events	387	(1)
Reading content pages	388	(2)
Parting shots	390	(1)
Summary	391	(2)
Chapter 13: Advanced ActionScript	393	(53)
Components	394	(14)
Components and ActionScript	397	(1)
Using component properties and methods	398	(2)
Components and event handling	400	(3)
A Flash UI	403	(4)
Forms	404	(3)
Removing components	407	(1)
Removing listeners	408	(1)
Components and bandwidth	408	(1)
Revisiting classes, objects, methods, and properties	408	(2)
Prototypes	410	(5)
ActionScript 2.0 classes	415	(6)
How class-based coding works	416	(5)
Book project: Finishing the Futuremedia site	421	(24)
Going backward	421	(1)
Adding the backward path	421	(7)
Create each icon as new pages are added	422	(1)
Delete icons as they're used to navigate backward	422	(1)
Display a new animation transition that shows the effects of backward navigation	422	(1)
Make sure that the UI knows where it needs to return	422	(6)
Tidying up the UI	428	(4)
Tidying up the graphics	429	(3)
Adding sound and interface status messages	432	(1)
A great big sanity check	432	(2)
Adding sound	434	(3)
Adding the status text messages	437	(1)
Another sanity check	437	(1)
Forward path	438	(1)
Backward path	438	(1)
Testing the site	439	(2)
Adding a preloader	441	(2)
Parting shots	443	(2)
Summary	445	(1)
Index	446