Specifications

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19
CHAPTER 19
ActionScript: Write
Scripts
The ActionScript language that is part of Macromedia Flash Basic 8 and
Macromedia Flash Professional 8 offers designers and developers a variety
of benefits. With ActionScript you can control document playback in
response to events such as elapsed time and loading data; add interactivity
to a document in response to user actions, such as a button click; use built-
in objects, such as a button object, with built-in associated methods,
properties, and events; create custom classes and objects; and create more
compact and efficient applications than you could create using user
interface tools, all with code that you can reuse.
ActionScript is an object-oriented scripting language that offers control
over how your Flash content plays. In subsequent lessons, you’ll see how
ActionScript has evolved into ActionScript 2.0 to comprise a core set of
language elements that make it easier to develop object-oriented programs.
You can print this tutorial by downloading a PDF version of it from the
Macromedia Flash Documentation page at www.macromedia.com/go/
fl_documentation.
In this tutorial, you will complete the following tasks:
Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Create an instance of a symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Name button instances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Initialize the document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Apply ActionScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Locate ActionScript reference documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Add comments to ActionScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Write a function for a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Copy and modify a button function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Check syntax and test your application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233