Tap into the full power of Flash 5 by learning how and when to employ ActionScripting.

Building a linear animation or moderately interactive Flash movie is relatively simple. With the upgrade from Flash 4 to Flash 5, ActionScripting has become an even more crucial and powerful part of the product. Tapping the vast programming capabilities of Flash, however, requires more than brute programming skill--it requires a keen understanding of how to apply scripting to specific tasks. This book concentrates on practical applications for Flash programming. The book is structured into three parts: Foundation knowledge (general programming theory applied to Flash with short tasks to demonstrate specific concepts); Applied workshop (more involved tasks broken into three parts each--design discussion, the building steps, and analysis with suggestions of variation); and, Reference (which provides a concise listing of some of the more useful elements in ActionScript).

I. Foundation.
Introduction.
1. Flash Basics.

Timeline Hierarchy.

Implications for Animation and Filesize.

Implications for Programming.

Targeting.

Script Locations.

Always Movie Clips.

Coordinate System.

Tricks of the Trade.

Invisible Buttons.

Empty Movie Clips.

Empty Layers and Keyframes.

Summary.
2. What's New in Flash.

Advanced Features Making Programming Easy.

Clip Events.

Smart Clips.

External Scripts.

Custom Functions.

Objects.

HTML Text.

Previous Knowledge Worth Forgetting.

Deprecated ActionScript.

Non-Deprecated ActionScripts That Should Be.

Old Tricks That Are Old News.

Summary.
3. The Programmer's Approach.

Specification.

Prototyping.

Hard Wiring.

Pseudo-Code.

Good Style.

Less Is More.

Comments.

Magic Numbers, Constants, and Variables.

Repeated Code.

Code Data Separation.

Summary.
4. Basic Programming in Flash.

Terminology, Special Characters, and Formatting.

Events.

Results of Events.

Terms.

Special Characters and Formatting.

Data Types and Variables.

Variables' Names and Values.

String and Number Data Types.

Other Data Types.

Using Variables.

Assigning and Accessing Variables.

Comparing and Passing Values.

Scope and Variable Collision.

Dot Syntax.

Summary.
5. Programming Structures.

Statements, Expressions, and Operators.

Writing Expressions.

Using Operators in Expressions.

Types of Statements.

Built-in Statements.

Simple Objects in Statements.

Using the Math Object.

Using the Number Object.

Conditional and Loop Statements.

Conditional Statements: if, if else, if else if.

Loop Statements: for, for in.

while.

Applied Expression Writing.

Summary.
6. Debugging.

General Approaches to a Bug-Free Life.

Finding and Defining Bugs.

Fixing Bugs.

Preventing Bugs.

Using the Debugger.

Viewing and Setting Properties and Variables.

Watching Variables.

Remote Debugging.

Strategies of Debugging.

Summary.
7. The Movie Clip Object.

Properties of Clips.

You Can Get Them All, But You Can't Set Them All.

Anonymous Targeting.

Variables in Clips (or "Homemade Properties").

Methods of Clips.

Referencing Clips and Targeting.

Relative and Absolute Referencing.

Dynamic Referencing.

Summary.
8. Functions.

How to Use Functions.

Using Built-in Functions.

Using Homemade Functions.

Creating Homemade Functions.

Basics.

Functions as Subroutines.

Making Functions That Accept Parameters.

Making Functions That Return Values.

Using Functions as Methods.

Local Variables.

Applying Functions to Previous Knowledge.

Review Built-in Functions.

Things to Remember.

Summary.
9. Selecting Text, Trapping Keys, and Manipulating Strings.

String Object Form.

Esoteric String Object Details.

Methods of the String Object Explored.

Zero-Based System.

Extracting Portions of Strings.

Extracting Characters, Changing Case, and Searching.

String Object Methods Applied.

Using HTML Text.

Selection Object.

Getting and Setting Focus.

Setting and Getting Selections.

Key Object.

Using the Key Object.

Key Object Examples.

Summary.
10. Arrays.

Array Overview.

Array Creation and Manipulation.

Creating and Populating Arrays.

Accessing Array Contents.

Array Object Methods.

Associative Arrays.

Summary.
11. Objects.

Formal Rules of Objects.

Attach Sound.

Sound Object Basics.

Advanced Sound Controls.

Controlling Multiple Sounds.

Color.

Simple Coloring.

Using RGB Values.

Using the Color Transform Method.

Date.

Instantiating a Date.

Manipulating Dates.

Attach Movie Clip.

Summary.
12. Homemade Objects.

Basic Objects.

Using Constructor Function.

Making Methods.

Inheritance.

Practical Example of Homemade Objects.

Summary.
13. Smart Clips.

Standard Smart Clips.

Making Smart Clips.

Advanced Applications for Standard Smart Clips.

Replacing the Clip Parameters Panel with Custom UIs.

Designing Custom UIs.

Building Custom UIs.

Summary.
14. Interfacing with External Data.

External Scripts.

External Data Files.

Waiting for Variables to Load.

Data File Format.

Examples of Using External Data Files.

Server Scripts.

XML.

JavaScript

Quick and Dirty Method.

JavaScript Talking to Flash.

Targeting the Flash Object.

Workarounds.

Director and Authorware.

Flash in Authorware.

Flash in Director.

Summary.
II. Workshop.
Introduction.
IIA. Beginning Workshops.
1. Ensuring That Users Have the Flash 5 Player.
2. Faking Video.
3. Creating Custom Cursors.
4. Creating a Horizontal Slider.

Creating a Quick and Dirty Slider.

Converting the Slider into a Smart Clip.

Summary.
5. Building a Slide Show.
6. Mapping.
7. Working with Odd-Shaped Clickable Areas.
8. Adapting Built-in Smart Clips.
IIB. Intermediate Workshops.
9. Creating a Currency-Exchange Calculator.
10.Creating a ToolTip Smart Clip.
11.Creating a Digital Timer.
12.Creating an Analog Timer.
13.Creating a Countdown Timer.
14.Using Math to Create a Circular Slider.
15.Developing Time-Based Animations.
16.Creating a Multistate Button.
IIC. Advanced Workshops.
17. Offline Production.
18. Creating a Dynamic Slide Presentation.
19. Creating JavaScript Cookies.
20. Writing JavaScript Inter-Movie Communications.
21. Fixing Broken Scripts.

Card Flip.

Hint.

Solution.

Card Snap.

Hint.

Solution.

Circle Move.

Hint.

Solution.

Multiple Choice.

Hint.

Solution.

Rotating Box.

Hint.

Solution.

Word Float.

Hint.

Solution.

Yellow Box.

Hint.

Solution.

Click and Hold.

Hint.

Solution.

Objects.

Hint.

Solution.

Move Multiple.

Hint.

Solution.

Summary.
III. Appendices.
Appendix A. Equivalents.

Alternatives to Deprecated Code.

tellTarget().

call().

ifFrameLoaded().

toggleHighQuality().

eval().

Logical Operators (and, or, and not).

String Comparison Operators (eq, ge, gt, le, lt, and ne).

String Functions.

int().

random().

No More Funkiness.

Two-Frame "Updater" Movie Clips.

Drag Invisible Movie Clip to Ascertain Mouse Position.

Pseudo Arrays.

URL-Encoded Data Instead of XML-Structured.

The Oldest Ones in the Book.

You Can't Set _currentframe.

You Can Jump Only to Integer Frame Numbers.

There's a Big Difference Between = and ==.

For-Loops Use Semicolons, Not Commas.
Appendix B. Making Flash Extensions for the Macromedia Exchange Web Site.

How It Works.

The MXI File Format.
Index.