Question

AS3: create multiple instances of MovieClip using addChild though Array

Asked by: Dreammonkey

     Dear Experts,

I'm using code below to create multiple instances of a MovieClip called mc.
The problem is that every time the new mc gets added to the display list it replaces the one created before.
How do I get around this problem?

I know I could get around it by avoiding the use of the Array, but my project needs to reference the Array to know which MovieClip to load.

PS: I've just started learning AS3, I used to do this using the attachMovie() method.
Advice on good study books/tutorials are welcome as well.

regards,
dreamMonkey

var A:Array = [];
A.push(new mc());
 
for (var i:uint = 0; i < 300 ; i++) {
	var instance:MovieClip = A[0];
	instance.x = i+2;
	addChild(instance);
}

                                  
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:

Select allOpen in new window

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-12-30 at 16:00:12ID24016955
Tags

Flash AS3 addChild MovieClip Array z-index

Topic

ActionScript

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
8

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. AS3 duplicateMovie
    I have an movieClip with an instance cercle on my stage. I want to duplicate it. I tried: var mc_mc:MovieClip=new MovieClip(); mc_mc.addChild(this.cercle); mc_mc.x=100; this.addChild(mc_mc); var mc2_mc:MovieClip=new MovieClip(); mc2_mc.addChild(this.cercle); mc2_mc.x=100; ...
  2. What is the correct way to check if a Movieclip exists, the…
    Hi there, how would i do this in AS3? if(movieclip exists) { remove that mc } thanks a lot any any help!
  3. AttachMovie in as3
    Hi, I am trying to convert an as2 script to as3. Having never dabbled in as2 i am having trouble with the attachMovie and how to convert this to as3. I know it should be addChild but it is the extra parameters that are confusing me. Can anyone help? The as2 code is below. ...
  4. How to set (or swap) depths of MovieClips in AS3
    I want to ensure the correct movieclip is in front of another. I was using getDepth() and swapDepths(...) functions in AS2 which are not supported in AS3. Could someone please show me a similar version of code that will work the same way in AS3. (ie. Some code that will wor...
  5. as3 movieclip disappears
    Hi There Experts, I'm trying to do something which I thought would be relatively easy but isn't working. In the timer event of my class linked to the fla i'm working on, in my ontick timer event (which is working for other things) I'm trying to update a MovieClip called scor...
  6. Actionscript AS3  tween movieclip on guide
    I'm writing in as3. I want to tween a movieclip along a guide. I have the guide drawn out and made into a guide layer. I have the movieclip linked to the layer beneath it. I want to tween the movieclip via actionscript so I can ease it, and also because it's smoother. How ...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: blue-geniePosted on 2008-12-31 at 06:11:59ID: 23269888

use addChildAt(i, instance)

 

by: blue-geniePosted on 2008-12-31 at 06:12:19ID: 23269890

or rather addChildAt(instance, i);

 

by: DreammonkeyPosted on 2008-12-31 at 07:41:54ID: 23270592

Hi Blue,

Thanks for your suggestion, unfortunately it doesn't seem to do the job.

The problem is, I think, that every time I add the Child I reference the same MovieClip.
So the one created before gets removed (or moved) to the new .x position of the same container.

Basically this function is merely moving 1 MovieClip around the stage instead of dynamically creating multiple instances of the clip.

Maybe I'm going at this the wrong way.
But I need a solid way to do this in my project.

Any ideas?

regards,

dreamMonkey

 

by: ESchleepPosted on 2008-12-31 at 08:53:40ID: 23271228

you're not using your array right.
try this code

var A:Array = new Array();
 
for (var i:uint = 0; i < 300 ; i++) {
        A[i] = new mc();
        A[i].x = i+2;
        addChild(A[i]);
}

                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: DreammonkeyPosted on 2008-12-31 at 09:21:12ID: 23271513

OK, I see what you mean, trouble is my Array looks like this :

varA:Array = new Array();
A.push(new mc1());
A.push(new mc2());
A.push(new mc3());
// and so on ...

I'm using the Array to find out what mc should be added .
I guess this is getting a little bit to abstract  ...

--> allow me : I'm actually rewriting the code done in AS2 to AS3 for this project :
http://www.jazz-band.be/dMonkeyFlash/Terrain/

I need to know what Tile fits and which does not. I can actually let flash generate a terrain where the roads in all the tiles match, but then I have to create a new instance of that tile. I thought best way to do this is using an Array...

Blue, thanks for your help, I'll get back to this thread later because I have to start celebrating New Year's eve, (for some reason...)
Best Wishes !

dreamMonkey

 

by: DreammonkeyPosted on 2008-12-31 at 09:37:58ID: 23271707

Does the Array start at 1 instead of 0 ?????????

var A:Array = [];
function addToArray(what:Number):void {
	trace(what);
	switch(what){
		case 1 :
		A.push(new mc1());
		trace(A[1]);
		break;
		case 2 : 
		A.push(new mc2());
		break;
	}
}
 
A.push(ins);
 
for (var i:uint = 0; i < 200 ; i++) {
	if (i < 200) {
		addToArray(1);
	}
	var ins:MovieClip = A[i+1];
	ins.x = i;
	holder.addChild(ins);
}

                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: ESchleepPosted on 2008-12-31 at 10:00:43ID: 23271893

I don't see any reason why this array would be starting at 1, the switch statement looks like a better solution for getting the MC's on the stage.
try doing this in the addToArray()
trace(A.length);
instead of
trace(A[1]);
also:
A.push(ins);
should probably not be hanging out in between the functions, it is out of the scope of where ins is created.

 

by: DreammonkeyPosted on 2008-12-31 at 10:07:28ID: 23271935

OK, I forgot about the A.push(ins)... should 've been deleted... that's why A[0] is currently null ...

silly me...

Thanks for your suggestion ESchleep !
I think I'll manage from here,
won't be a few days before I do (and close the question though ...)

Best  wishes !

d

PS; the reason why I 'm converting this movie into AS3 is mainly because I have to learn the new AS3,
but also to get better performance, any suggestion are welcome (in regard to the URL posted earlier...)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...