Flash CS3 Documentation

Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash > Classes > Compiling and exporting classes > Using ASO files

Using ASO files

During compilation, Flash sometimes creates files with .aso extensions in the /aso subdirectory of the default global classpath directory (see About setting and modifying the classpath). The .aso extension stands for ActionScript object (ASO). For each ActionScript 2.0 file that is implicitly or explicitly imported and successfully compiled, Flash generates an ASO file. The file contains the bytecode that's produced from the associated ActionScript (AS) file. Therefore, these files contain the compiled form (the bytecode) of a class file.

Flash needs to regenerate an ASO file only when the following scenarios occur:

• The corresponding AS file has been modified.
• ActionScript files that contain definitions imported or used by the corresponding ActionScript file have been modified.
• ActionScript files included by the corresponding ActionScript file have been modified.

The compiler creates ASO files for caching purposes. You might notice that your first compilation is slower than subsequent compilations. This is because only the AS files that have changed are recompiled into ASO files. For unchanged AS files, the compiler reads the already-compiled bytecode directly out of the ASO file instead of recompiling the AS file.

The ASO file format is an intermediate format developed for internal use only. It is not a documented file format and is not intended to be redistributed.

If you experience problems in which Flash appears to be compiling older versions of a file you have edited, delete the ASO files and then recompile. If you plan to delete ASO files, delete them when Flash is not performing other operations, such as checking syntax or exporting SWFs.

To delete ASO files:

If you are editing a FLA file, and you want to delete an ASO file, select one of the following in the authoring environment:

• Select Control > Delete ASO Files to delete ASO files and continue editing.
• Select Control > Delete ASO Files and Test Movie to delete ASO files and test the application.

If you are editing an ActionScript document in the Script window:

• Select Control > Delete ASO Files to delete ASO files and continue editing.
• Select Control > Delete ASO Files and Test Project to delete ASO files and then test the application.

There is a limit to how much code you can place in a single class: the bytecode for a class definition in an exported SWF file cannot be larger than 32,767 bytes. If the bytecode is larger than that limit, a warning message appears.

You can't predict the size of the bytecode representation of a given class, but classes up to 1,500 lines usually don't go over the limit.

If your class goes over the limit, move some of the code into another class. In general, it is good OOP practice to keep classes relatively short.

Flash CS3