Flash CS3 Documentation

Extending Flash > Introduction > Overview of the Adobe Flash JavaScript API

Overview of the Adobe Flash JavaScript API

The Flash JavaScript API lets you write scripts to perform several actions in the Flash authoring environment (that is, while a user has the Flash program open). This functionality is different from the ActionScript language, which lets you write scripts to perform actions in the Flash Player environment (that is, while a SWF file is playing). This functionality is also different from JavaScript commands that you might use in pages displayed in a web browser.

Using the JavaScript API, you can write Flash application scripts to help streamline the authoring process. For example, you can write scripts to automate repetitive tasks, add custom tools to the Tools panel, or add timeline effects.

The Flash JavaScript API is designed to resemble the Adobe® Dreamweaver® and Adobe® Fireworks® JavaScript API (which were designed based on the Netscape JavaScript API). The Flash JavaScript API is based on a Document Object Model (DOM), which allows Flash documents to be accessed using JavaScript objects. The Flash JavaScript API includes all elements of the Netscape JavaScript API, plus the Flash DOM. These added objects and their methods and properties are described in this document. You can use any of the elements of the native JavaScript language in a Flash script, but only elements that make sense in the context of a Flash document will have an effect.

The JavaScript API also contains a number of methods that let you implement extensibility using a combination of JavaScript and custom C code. For more information, see C-Level Extensibility.

The JavaScript interpreter in Flash is the Mozilla SpiderMonkey engine, version 1.5, which is available on the web at www.mozilla.org/js/spidermonkey/. SpiderMonkey is one of the two reference implementations of the JavaScript language developed by Mozilla.org. It is the same engine that is embedded in the Mozilla browser.

SpiderMonkey implements the core JavaScript language as defined in the ECMAScript (ECMA-262) edition 3 language specification and it is fully compliant with the specification. Only the browser-specific host objects, which are not part of the ECMA-262 specification, are not supported. Similarly, many JavaScript reference guides distinguish between core JavaScript and client-side (browser-related) JavaScript. Only core JavaScript applies to the Flash JavaScript interpreter.

Flash CS3