LiveDocs Comments - flash - 9.0 - main - 00000035.html

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

graylensman — 2008-10-09T06:59:40

Actually, this worked like gangbusters for me on my Mac. The few problems I had were due to errors I made inputting the code. Found and fixed those, and it works perfectly.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

Todays Past — 2008-08-01T10:50:06

Pet peeve. When teaching a subject to someone the first time, the naming convention you choose can help or hurt. In particular I find that until I'm up to speed, using the same name for more then one item or task can be maddening.

In this example, which almost worked the first time for me (hooray), the choice of using "validName(s)" for both a variable name and a function name just makes it harder to understand the first time around.

Imagine trying to teach someone 2 + 2 = 4, except instead of the operator "+" our language lets us substitute the number "2", and the reader should simply read it as (+) when it appears between two numbers. This gives us the convenience of not needing to print an additional symbol "+".

Now try to teach someone 2 2 2 = 4 instead of 2 + 2 = 4

Good luck

now apply that logic to the code presented and remember you're teaching 2+2 to someone. What exactly is "validName(s)"?

var validNames:Array = ["Sammy", "Frank", "Dean"];
else if (validName(userName))
public static function validName(inputName:String = ""):Boolean
if (validNames.indexOf(inputName) > -1)

is it a function, a variable or is it some language trick that I missed in the readings?

a simple change and confusion is eliminated

var validNames:Array = ["Sammy", "Frank", "Dean"];
else if (checkifvalidName(userName))
public static function checkifvalidName(inputName:String = ""):Boolean
if (validNames.indexOf(inputName) > -1)

Having written code in a bunch of different languages, the first reaction I'd have is "Aw, com'on, if you don't understand the difference between validName and validNames you shouldn't be programming."

Realize that its not about understanding the difference, its about recognizing the difference. While going through the learning process your brain is dealing with information overload (Package, Public, {, instance name, .as, ...). At this time it is easy to confuse validName and validNames, and that can lead to all kinds of frustration.

Long tirade, because as I said its a pet peeve.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

2008-07-26T20:17:25

I actually fixed mine because there was a boolean error in the Greeter.as
class. I wrote it so that Greeter.as is in a foler path of
com/example/Greeter.as (in relation the the fla).

package com.example
{
public class Greeter
{
//Define the names that should receieve a greeting.
public static var validNames:Array = ["Dan", "Dave", "Molli"];

//Build a greeting string using the given name.
public function sayHello(userName:String = ""):String
{
var greeting:String;
if (userName == null)
{
greeting = "Hello. Please type your name and press
enter.";
}
else if (validNames.indexOf(userName) > -1)
{
greeting = "Hello " + userName + ".";
}
else {
greeting = "Sorry, you're not on the list";
}
return greeting;
}
}
}

***you can do away with the second function and just add it into the else if
statement in sayHello().

Then everything else is the same in the .fla except you have to import the
class you made at the beginning like this...

import com.example.Greeter;

var myGreeter:Greeter = new Greeter();
mainText.text = myGreeter.sayHello("");

mainText.border = true;
textIn.border = true;

textIn.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyPressed);

function keyPressed(event:KeyboardEvent):void
{
if(event.keyCode == Keyboard.ENTER)
{
mainText.text = myGreeter.sayHello(textIn.text);
}
}

Then.. everything should work well.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

d2burke — 2008-05-09T22:21:55

-kalibahlu:

I have a regular macbook and after going through all the steps everything
actually worked just fine. I couldn't think of a reason why its not working for
you, but I figured I'd respond because I hate it when no one responds to my
posts for help :) I'm sure you've figured it out by now anyway.

-Daniel

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

2008-04-17T00:23:36

When I executed the code, I wanted to have a way to clear the text box for another user entry. One thing I noticed is that users had to delete previous name entries, or they would continue to add on to the past attempts. I decided to empty the text box every time an entry was made. It works better, but the problem I'm having now is that after the first attempt, I have to press the delete key once or it will not recognize the input names. Any other ways around this?

My code:

mainText.text = myGreeter.sayHello(userNameText.text); userNameText.text = ""; // set input text to empty string

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

Paul I — 2008-02-27T11:28:49

I've been going insane trying to learn AS3 having huge difficulties JUST ATTACHING A CLASSPATH.

Having made the leap of faith that I'm not a complete idiot, I've discovered that if my FLA is in a folder (at any depth / parentage) that has an underscore in the name, then the classpath will simply not connect - or even worse, if the classpath happens to be a correct path in "relative" terms to the FLA, it finds the classes in the relative folder, but fails to import them properly resulting in new even more exciting errors.

The moment I move the FLA and package to folders with underscores - it works. Also, as per a pot above, it will nto work across different drive letters on a PC.

I have wasted hours if not days of my life in these issues, and had all but abandoned plans to learn AS3 as a result.

Have not found this issue mentioned within any documentation, hope this helps somebody else who feels somewhat "up the creek" due to the deficit of classpath info in the documentation.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

ssmithMil — 2008-02-26T10:51:36

Also, random_ke make sure that your actionscript file is named correctly. I had it as "greeter.as" instead of "Greeter.as" and it wouldn't work.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

adbe_paul — 2008-02-07T10:41:05

Those errors mean that Flash isn't able to find the Greeter class definition (the Greeter.as file that you created).

The easiest way to fix this is to make sure that the Greeter.as file is saved in the same folder where your .fla file is saved (you must save the FLA file before testing it in order to use external classes).

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

random_ke — 2008-02-05T14:33:16

when i publish the application, i gave these erors..

1046: type was not found or was not a compile-time constant Greeter
1180: Call to a possibly undefined method Greeter

where is my mistake?

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

2007-12-19T20:34:55

Sorry, I didn't mean to split this comment.

Anyway, you probably assumed this, but be sure to save both these files in the same folder.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

York Gibson — 2007-12-04T05:36:04

An update to my post above.

I have a secondary internal drive in my MacPro - all of my work is done
on this secondary drive. However all apps etc are installed on the
primary (system drive). The default relative '.' (dot) classpath does not
work in this situation - you have to set the classpath to the location of
your working folder.

All examples/tutorials using the relative classpath work perfectly on the
system drive. They don't if you are working on any other drive.

You won't find this documented ANYWHERE other than here, as far as I
can tell.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

York Gibson — 2007-11-29T08:14:05

Sorry I have diligently followed all of the instructions here and have hit
problems, I've been trying to get started with as3 for days and have got
nowhere. When I run the helloWorld.fla I get:

"Error: Error #2136: The SWF file file:///550Gb%20Bay%202/work/
experimental%2Fuseful/actionscript%203.0%20learning/hello%20world
%20test/HelloWorld.swf contains invalid data.
at Greeter/::frame1()"

Also there is no mention here of how to link to the class file - I have
assumed that I should set the Document Class to Greeter in the
properties inspector??

Can anyone help?

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

kalibahlu — 2007-11-27T13:29:33

Has anyone been able to get this to work on a Mac? The first example
works fine, but the "enhanced" app doesn't work. Error says "Type was not
found..." and "call to possibly undefined method", and no text appears in
mainText.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

skinnycatgide — 2007-11-05T20:56:30

It's all about setting "textIn" to "single line in" the properties inspector.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

2007-10-25T05:54:53

Hey guys, you must begin programming this code in this way:

mainText.border = true;
textIn.border = true;

var myGreeter:Greeter = new Greeter();
mainText.text = myGreeter.sayHello("");

textIn.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyPressed);
textIn.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, limpaTextField);

function keyPressed(event:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.ENTER) {
mainText.text = myGreeter.sayHello(textIn.text);
}
}

function limpaTextField(event:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.ENTER) {
textIn.text = "";
}
}

when we set free the button, the textfield yet guards an 'enter' in him because a 'enter' is composed by the whole process of rise and descent of the button. soon, we should clean this in the rise of the button. did understand me? Sorry for my english =]

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

2007-10-12T11:23:30

I do not understand the significance of "static". If I were not to add static in this example, what would happen?

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

try_test — 2007-10-05T21:55:18

Check that you have enterd first letter capital.

means, "Frank "will work,but "frank "is wrong.

flash/9.0/main/00000035.html

texdc — 2007-10-05T14:32:30

It works fine. Just make sure the input text field is set to "Single line", not
"Multiline".