Flash 8 Documentation

ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference > ActionScript classes > MovieClip > loadMovie (MovieClip.loadMovie method)

loadMovie (MovieClip.loadMovie method)

Loads a SWF, JPEG, GIF, or PNG file into a movie clip in Flash Player while the original SWF file is playing. Support for unanimated GIF files, PNG files, and progressive JPEG files is added in Flash Player 8. If you load an animated GIF, only the first frame is displayed.

Tip: To monitor the progress of the download, use the MovieClipLoader.loadClip() method instead of the loadMovie() method.

Without the loadMovie() method, Flash Player displays a single SWF file and then closes. The loadMovie() method lets you display several SWF files at once and switch between SWF files without loading another HTML document.

A SWF file or image loaded into a movie clip inherits the position, rotation, and scale properties of the movie clip. You can use the target path of the movie clip to target the loaded SWF file.

When you call the loadMovie() method, set the MovieClip._lockroot property to true in the loader movie, as the following code example shows. If you don't set _lockroot to true in the loader movie, any references to _root in the loaded movie point to the _root of the loader instead of the _root of the loaded movie:

myMovieClip._lockroot = true;

Use the MovieClip.unloadMovie() method to remove SWF files or images loaded with the loadMovie() method.

Use the MovieClip.loadVariables() method, the XML object, Flash Remoting, or Runtime Shared Objects to keep the active SWF file and load new data into it.

Using event handlers with MovieClip.loadMovie() can be unpredictable. If you attach an event handler to a button by using on(), or if you create a dynamic handler by using an event handler method such as MovieClip.onPress(), and then you call loadMovie(), the event handler does not remain after the new content is loaded. However, if you attach an event handler to a movie clip by using onClipEvent() or on(), and then call loadMovie() on that movie clip, the event handler remains after the new content is loaded.

When using this method, consider the Flash Player security model.

For Flash Player 8:

• Loading is not allowed if the calling movie clip is in the local-with-file-system sandbox and the loaded movie clip is from a network sandbox.
• Loading is not allowed if the calling SWF file is in a network sandbox and the movie clip to be loaded is local.
• Network sandbox access from the local-trusted or local-with-networking sandbox requires permission from the website by means of a cross-domain policy file.
• Movie clips in the local-with-file-system sandbox may not script movie clips in the local-with-networking sandbox (and the reverse is also prevented).

For Flash Player 7 and later:

• Websites can permit cross-domain access to a resource by means of a cross-domain policy file.
• Scripting between SWF files is restricted based on the origin domain of the SWF files. Use the System.security.allowDomain() method to adjust these restrictions.

For more information, see the following:

• "Understanding Security" in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Flash
• The Flash Player 8 Security white paper at http://www.macromedia.com/go/fp8_security
• The Flash Player 8 Security-Related API white paper at http://www.macromedia.com/go/fp8_security_apis

You can extend the methods and event handlers of the MovieClip class by creating a subclass.

Availability: ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 5 - The ability to load JPEG files is available as of Flash Player 6. The ability to load unanimated GIF files, PNG files, or progressive JPEG files is available as of Flash Player 8.

Parameters

url:String - The absolute or relative URL of the SWF, JPEG, GIF, and PNG file to be loaded. A relative path must be relative to the SWF file at level 0. Absolute URLs must include the protocol reference, such as http:// or file:///.

method:String [optional] - Specifies an HTTP method for sending or loading variables. The parameter must be the string GET or POST. If no variables are to be sent, omit this parameter. The GET method appends the variables to the end of the URL and is used for small numbers of variables. The POST method sends the variables in a separate HTTP header and is used for long strings of variables.

Example

The following example creates a new movie clip, and then creates child inside of it and loads a PNG image into the child. This lets the parent retain any instance values that were assigned prior to the call to loadMovie.

var mc:MovieClip = this.createEmptyMovieClip("mc", this.getNextHighestDepth());
mc.onRelease = function():Void {
    trace(this.image._url); // http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_main.png
}
var image:MovieClip = mc.createEmptyMovieClip("image", mc.getNextHighestDepth());
image.loadMovie("http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_main.png");

The MovieClip.getNextHighestDepth() method used in this example requires Flash Player 7 or later. If your SWF file includes a version 2 component, use the version 2 components DepthManager class instead of the MovieClip.getNextHighestDepth() method.

See also

_lockroot (MovieClip._lockroot property), unloadMovie (MovieClip.unloadMovie method), loadVariables (MovieClip.loadVariables method), loadMovie (MovieClip.loadMovie method), onPress (MovieClip.onPress handler), MovieClipLoader, onClipEvent handler, on handler, loadMovieNum function, unloadMovie function, unloadMovieNum function

Version 8

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