Adds numeric expressions. If both expressions are integers, the sum is an integer; if either or both expressions are floating-point numbers, the sum is a floating-point number.

If one expression is a string, all other expressions are converted to strings and concatenated instead of summed. Otherwise, if an expression is not a number, Flash^® Player converts it to a number.

trace(2 + 3); // 5

trace(2.5 + 3.25); // 5.75

trace("Number " + 8 + 0); // Number 80

var oldBalance:Number = 1345.23; 
var currentBalance = deposit_txt.text + oldBalance; 
trace(currentBalance); 

var oldBalance:Number = 1345.23; 
var currentBalance:Number = Number(deposit_txt.text) + oldBalance;
trace(currentBalance);

See also

Assigns expression1 the value of expression1 + expression2. For example, the following two statements have the same result:

x += y; 
x = x + y; 

var x:Number = 5; 
var y:Number = 10; 
x += y; 
trace(x); // 15 

See also

myArray = [a0, a1,...aN]
myArray[i] = value 
myObject[propertyName]

Initializes a new array or multidimensional array with the specified elements (a0, and so on), or accesses elements in an array. The array access operator lets you dynamically set and retrieve instance, variable, and object names. It also lets you access object properties.

Usage 1: An array is an object whose properties are called elements, which are each identified by a number called an index. When you create an array, you surround the elements with the array access ([]) operator (or brackets). An array can contain elements of various types. For example, the following array, called employee, has three elements; the first is a number and the second two are strings (inside quotation marks):

var employee:Array = [15, "Barbara", "Jay"]; 

var ticTacToe:Array = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]; 
			
/* Select Debug > List Variables in test mode 
to see a list of the array elements.*/ 

var my_array:Array = new Array(); 
my_array[0] = 15; 
my_array[1] = "Hello"; 
my_array[2] = true; 

my_array[3] = "George"; 

var ticTacToe:Array = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]; 
trace(ticTacToe[1][2]); // 6 

var obj:Object = new Object();
obj.prop1 = "foo";
trace(obj["prop" + 1]); // foo
obj.prop2 = "bar";
for (j in obj) {
	trace(obj[j]);
} 
/* Output of for loop: 
foo
bar */

var my_array:Array = []; 
var my_array:Array = new Array(); 

The following example creates an array called employee_array with three elements and changes the third element in the array.

var employee_array = ["Barbara", "George", "Mary"]; 
trace(employee_array); // Barbara,George,Mary 
employee_array[2] = "Sam"; 
trace(employee_array); // Barbara,George,Sam 

var obj:Object = new Object();
obj.prop1 = "foo";
obj.prop2 = "bar";

for (var i:int = 1;i < 3;i++) {
    trace(obj["prop"+i]);
}
/* Output of for loop:
foo
bar */ 

See also

Evaluates whether an expression specified by the first operand is a member of the data type specified by the second operand. If the first operand is a member of the data type, the result is the first operand. Otherwise, the result is the value null.

The expression used for the second operand must evaluate to a data type.

public var myArray:Array = ["one", "two", "three"];
trace(myArray as Array);  // one,two,three
trace(myArray as Number); // null
trace(myArray as int);    // null

See also

Assigns the value of expression2 (the operand on the right) to the variable, array element, or property in expression1. Assignment can be either by value or by reference. Assignment by value copies the actual value of expression2 and stores it in expression1. Assignment by value is used when expression2 is a primitive value, which means that its data type is either Boolean, Number, int, uint, or String. Assignment by reference stores a reference to expression2 in expression1. Assignment by reference is commonly used with the new operator. The new operator creates an object in memory, and a reference to that location in memory is assigned to a variable.

Note: In ActionScript 3.0 all values (including primitive values) are objects, and all assignment is done by reference, but primitive objects have special operators that allow them to behave as if they are assigned by value.

var z:Number = 5;

var x:String;
x = "hello";

var moonsOfJupiter:Array = new Array();
moonsOfJupiter[0] = "Callisto";

var mercury:Object = new Object();
mercury.diameter = 3030; // in miles
trace(mercury.diameter); // 3030

var merkur:Object = mercury;
merkur.diameter = 4878;  // in kilometers
trace(mercury.diameter); // 4878

See also

 myXML.@attributeName 

Identifies attributes of an XML or XMLList object. For example, myXML.@id identifies attributes named id for the myXML XML object. You can also use the following syntax to access attributes: myXML.attribute("id"), myXML["@id"], and myXML.@["id"]. The syntax myXML.@id is recommended. To return an XMLList object of all attribute names, use @*. To return an attribute with a name that matches an ActionScript reserved word, use the attribute() method instead of the @ operator.

var myXML:XML = 
    <item id = "42">
        <catalogName>Presta tube</catalogName>
        <price>3.99</price>
    </item>;

trace(myXML.@id); // 42

var xml:XML =<example id='123' color='blue'/>
 var xml2:XMLList = xml.@*;
 trace(xml2 is XMLList); // true
 trace(xml2.length());  // 2
 for (var i:int = 0; i < xml2.length(); i++)
 { 
    trace(typeof(xml2[i]));    // xml
    trace(xml2[i].nodeKind()); // attribute
    trace(xml2[i].name());     // id and color
 } 

var xml:XML = <example class='123'/>
trace(xml.attribute("class"));

See also

Converts expression1 and expression2 to 32-bit unsigned integers, and performs a Boolean AND operation on each bit of the integer parameters. Floating-point numbers are converted to integers by discarding any digits after the decimal point. The result is a new 32-bit integer.

A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

var insert:Number = 13; 
var update:Number = 11; 
trace(insert & update); // 9 (or 1001 binary) 

  1101
& 1011
  ----
  1001

The following examples show the behavior of the return value conversion:

trace(0xFFFFFFFF); // 4294967295 
trace(0xFFFFFFFF & 0xFFFFFFFF); // -1 
trace(0xFFFFFFFF & -1); // -1 
trace(4294967295 & -1); // -1 
trace(4294967295 & 4294967295); // -1 

See also

Assigns expression1 the value of expression1 & expression2. For example, the following two expressions are equivalent:

x &= y; 
x = x & y; 

var x:Number = 15; 
var y:Number = 9; 
trace(x &= y); // 9 

See also

Converts expression1 and shiftCount to 32-bit integers, and shifts all the bits in expression1 to the left by the number of places specified by the integer resulting from the conversion of shiftCount. The bit positions that are emptied as a result of this operation are filled in with 0 and bits shifted off the left end are discarded. Shifting a value left by one position is the equivalent of multiplying it by 2.

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

If the result is a negative integer, a runtime error occurs if you attempt to assign the result to a variable of type uint. Although ActionScript has no "unsigned bitwise left shift" operator, you can achieve the same effect, and avoid the runtime error, by using uint(expression1 << shiftCount):

var num1:uint = 0xFF;
var num2:uint = uint(num1 << 24); // uint() prevents runtime error

x = 1 << 10

   00000000001 binary 
<<          10 decimal
--------------
   10000000000 binary equals 1024 decimal 

In the following example, the integer 7 is shifted 8 bits to the left:

x = 7 << 8

   00000000111 binary 
<<           8 decimal
--------------
   11100000000 binary equals 1792 decimal 

The following trace statement shows that the bits have been pushed three positions to the left:

// 1 binary == 0001 
// 8 binary == 1000 
trace(1 << 3); // 8 

See also

Performs a bitwise left shift (<<=) operation and stores the contents as a result in expression1. The following two expressions are equivalent:

A <<= B
A = (A << B)

var x:Number = 4; 
// Shift all bits one slot to the left. 
x <<= 1; 
trace(x); // 8 
// 4 decimal = 0100 binary 
// 8 decimal = 1000 binary 

See also

Converts expression to a 32-bit signed integer, and then applies a bitwise one's complement. That is, every bit that is a 0 is set to 1 in the result, and every bit that is a 1 is set to 0 in the result. The result is a signed 32-bit integer. This operator is also known as the one's complement operator or the bitwise complement operator.

For example, the hexadecimal value 0x7777 is represented as this binary number:

0111011101110111

The bitwise negation of that hexadecimal value, ~0x7777, is this binary number:

1000100010001000

In hexadecimal, this is 0x8888. Therefore, ~0x7777 is 0x8888.

The most common use of bitwise operators is for representing flag bits (Boolean values packed into 1 bit each).

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

var ReadOnlyFlag:int = 0x0001; // defines bit 0 as the read-only flag 
var flags:int = 0; 
trace(flags); 
/* To set the read-only flag in the flags variable, 
   the following code uses the bitwise OR: 
*/
flags |= ReadOnlyFlag; 
trace(flags); 
/* To clear the read-only flag in the flags variable, 
   first construct a mask by using bitwise NOT on ReadOnlyFlag. 
   In the mask, every bit is a 1 except for the read-only flag. 
   Then, use bitwise AND with the mask to clear the read-only flag. 
   The following code constructs the mask and performs the bitwise AND: 
*/ 
flags &= ~ReadOnlyFlag; 
trace(flags); 
// 0 1 0 

See also

Converts expression1 and expression2 to 32-bit unsigned integers, and places a 1 in each bit position where the corresponding bits of either expression1 or expression2 are 1.

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

// 15 decimal = 1111 binary 
var a:Number = 15; 
// 9 decimal = 1001 binary 
var b:Number = 9; 
// 1111 | 1001 = 1111 
trace(a | b); // returns 15 decimal (1111 binary) 

See also

Assigns expression1 the value of expression1 | expression2. For example, the following two statements are equivalent:

x |= y; 
x = x | y; 

// 15 decimal = 1111 binary 
var a:Number = 15; 
// 9 decimal = 1001 binary 
var b:Number = 9; 
// 1111 |= 1001 = 1111 
trace(a |= b); // returns 15 decimal (1111 binary) 

See also

Converts expression and shiftCount to 32-bit integers, and shifts all the bits in expression to the right by the number of places specified by the integer that results from the conversion of shiftCount. Bits that are shifted off the right end are discarded. To preserve the sign of the original expression, the bits on the left are filled in with 0 if the most significant bit (the bit farthest to the left) of expression is 0, and filled in with 1 if the most significant bit is 1. Shifting a value right by one position is the equivalent of dividing by 2 and discarding the remainder.

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

var a:Number = 65535 >> 8; 
trace(a); // 255

    00000000000000001111111111111111 binary (65535 decimal)
>>                                 8 decimal
--------------------
    00000000000000000000000011111111 binary (255 decimal)

var a:Number = -8 >> 1;
trace(a); // -4

    11111111111111111111111111111000 binary (-8 decimal)
>>                                1 decimal
--------------------
    11111111111111111111111111111100 binary (-4 decimal)

See also

Performs a bitwise right-shift operation and stores the result in expression.

The following two statements are equivalent:

A >>= B; 
A = (A >> B);

function convertToBinary(numberToConvert:Number):String { 
    var result:String = ""; 
    for (var i = 0; i < 32; i++) { 
        // Extract least significant bit using bitwise AND. 
        var lsb:Number = numberToConvert & 1; 
        // Add this bit to the result.
        result = (lsb ? "1" : "0")+result; 
        // Shift numberToConvert right by one bit, to see next bit. 
        numberToConvert >>= 1; 
    } 
    return result; 
} 
trace(convertToBinary(479)); 
// Returns the string 00000000000000000000000111011111. 
// This string is the binary representation of the decimal number 479.

See also

The same as the bitwise right shift (>>) operator except that it does not preserve the sign of the original expression because the bits on the left are always filled with 0.

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit unsigned integer, so the result is an integer in the range 0 to 4294967295.

Note: ActionScript has no complementary "bitwise unsigned left shift" operator, but you can achieve the same effect by using uint(expression << shiftCount).

var a:Number = -1 >>> 1; 
trace(a); // 2147483647 

See also

Performs an unsigned bitwise right-shift operation and stores the result in expression. The following two statements are equivalent:

A >>>= B; 
A = (A >>> B); 

var a:Number = -1;
a >>>= 1; 
trace(a); // 2147483647 

See also

Converts expression1 and expression2 to 32-bit unsigned integers, and places a 1 in each bit position where the corresponding bits in expression1 or expression2, but not both, are 1.

A floating-point number is converted to an integer by discarding any digits after the decimal point. A positive integer is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value with a maximum value of 4294967295 or 0xFFFFFFFF; a value larger than the maximum has its most significant digits discarded when it is converted so the value is still 32-bit. A negative number is converted to an unsigned hexadecimal value using the two's complement notation, with a minimum value of -2147483648 or 0x800000000; a number less than the minimum is converted to two's complement with greater precision before the most significant digits are discarded.

The result is interpreted as a 32-bit two's complement number, so the result is an integer in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647.

// 15 decimal = 1111 binary 
// 9 decimal = 1001 binary 
var a:Number = 15 ^ 9; 
trace(a); 
// 1111 ^ 1001 = 0110 
// returns 6 decimal (0110 binary) 

See also

Assigns expression1 the value of expression1 ^ expression2. For example, the following two statements are equivalent:

x ^= y 
x = x ^ y 

// 15 decimal = 1111 binary 
var a:Number = 15; 
// 9 decimal = 1001 binary 
var b:Number = 9; 
trace(a ^= b); // returns 6 decimal (0110 binary) 

See also

/* comment */

/* comment

   comment */

Delimits one or more lines of script comments. Characters that appear between the opening delimiter (/*) and the closing delimiter (*/) are interpreted as a comment and ignored by the ActionScript compiler. Use these delimiters to identify comments on multiple successive lines; for single-line comments, use the // delimiter.

You will receive an error message if you omit the closing block comment delimiter (*/), or if you attempt to nest comments. After an opening delimiter (/*) is used, the first closing delimiter (*/) ends the comment, regardless of the number of opening delimiters placed before it.

/* records the X and Y positions of 
the ball and bat movie clips */ 
var ballX:Number = ball_mc._x; 
var ballY:Number = ball_mc._y; 
var batX:Number = bat_mc._x; 
var batY:Number = bat_mc._y; 

/* This is an attempt to nest comments. 
/* But the first closing tag will be paired 
with the first opening tag */ 
and this text will not be interpreted as a comment */ 

See also

 myXML = <{tagName} {attributeName} = {attributeValue}>{content}</{tagName}>

Evaluates an expression that is used in an XML or XMLList initializer. An XML or XMLList initializer is a literal value that is assigned to a variable of type XML or XMLList. An expression that is delimited by the XML { and } operators can be used in an XML or XMLList initializer instead of literal names or values. An expression can be used in place of tagName, attributeName, attributeValue, and content.

var tagname:String = "item"; 
var attributename:String = "id"; 
var attributevalue:String = "5"; 
var content:String = "Chicken"; 
var x:XML = <{tagname} {attributename}={attributevalue}>{content}</{tagname}>; 
trace(x.toXMLString()); // <item id="5">Chicken</item>

See also

 myXML[expression]

Accesses a property or attribute of an XML or XMLList object. The brackets operator allows you to access property names that are not accessible with the dot (.) operator.

var myXML:XML = <a><foo-bar>44</foo-bar></a>;
trace(myXML["foo-bar"]);

See also

Evaluates expression1, then expression2, and so on. This operator is primarily used with the for loop statement and is often used with the parentheses () operator.

for (i = 0, j = 0; i < 3 && j < 3; i++, j+=2) { 
    trace("i = " + i + ", j = " + j); 
} 
// output: 
// i = 0, j = 0 
// i = 1, j = 2

var v:Number = 0; 
v = 4, 5, 6; 
trace(v); // 4 

var v:Number = 0; 
v = (4, 5, 6); 
trace(v); // 6 

var v:Number = 0; 
var z:Number = 0; 
v = v + 4 , z++, v + 6; 
trace(v); // 4 
trace(z); // 1 

var v:Number = 0; 
var z:Number = 0; 
v = (v + 4, z++, v + 6); 
trace(v); // 6 
trace(z); // 1 

See also

Concatenates (combines) strings. If one expression is a string, all other expressions are converted to strings and concatenated.

If both expressions are numbers, this operator behaves as an addition operator.

var lastName:String = "Cola"; 
var instrument:String = "Drums"; 
trace(lastName + " plays " + instrument); // Cola plays Drums 

trace("Number " + 8 + 0); // Number 80

var a:String = 3 + 10 + "asdf"; 
trace(a); // 13asdf 
var b:String = "asdf" + 3 + 10; 
trace(b); // asdf310 

See also

expression1 + expression2

Concatenates (combines) XML or XMLList values into an XMLList object. An XMLList object results only if both operands are XML or XMLList values.

var x1:XML = 
        <employee id = "42">
            <firstName>Joe</firstName>
            <lastName>Smith</lastName>
        </employee>;

var x2:XML = 
        <employee id = "43">
            <firstName>Susan</firstName>
            <lastName>Jones</lastName>
        </employee>;

var myXMLList:XMLList = x1 + x2;
    
trace(myXMLList.toXMLString()); 

The trace statement produces the following output:

<employee id = "42">
    <firstName>Joe</firstName>
    <lastName>Smith</lastName>
</employee>
<employee id = "43">
    <firstName>Susan</firstName>
    <lastName>Jones</lastName>
</employee>
    

See also

Assigns expression1 the value of expression1 + expression2. For example, the following two statements have the same result:

x += y; 
x = x + y;

var x1:String = "My name is "; 
x1 += "Gilbert"; 
trace(x1); // My name is Gilbert 

See also

expression1 += expression2

Assigns expression1, which is an XMLList object, the value of expression1 + expression2. For example, the following two statements have the same result:

x += y; 
x = x + y; 

var x1:XML = <location>Athens</location>;    
var x2:XML = <location>Paris</location>;        
myXMLList = x1 + x2;

var x3:XML = <location>Springfield</location>;
myXMLList += x3;
            
trace(myXMLList.toXMLString());

The trace statement produces the following output:

<location>Athens</location>
    
<location>Paris</location>    

<location>Springfield</location>

See also

expression1 ? expression2 : expression3

Evaluates expression1, and if the value of expression1 is true, the result is the value of expression2; otherwise the result is the value of expression3.

var x:Number = 5; 
var y:Number = 10; 
var z = (x < 6) ? x: y; 
trace(z); // returns 5

var timecode:String = (new Date().getHours() < 11) ? "AM" : "PM"; 
trace(timecode); 

if (new Date().getHours() < 11) { 
    var timecode:String = "AM"; 
} else { 
    var timecode:String = "PM"; 
}
trace(timecode); 

See also

--expression

expression--

Subtracts 1 from the operand. The operand can be a variable, element in an array, or property of an object. The pre-decrement form of the operator (--expression) subtracts 1 from expression and returns the result. The post-decrement form of the operator (expression--) subtracts 1 from expression and returns the initial value of expression (the value prior to the subtraction).

var x:Number = 3; 
var y:Number = --x; // y is equal to 2

var x:Number = 3; 
var y:Number = x--; // y is equal to 3

for (var i = 10; i > 0; i--) { 
    trace(i); 
}

See also

 delete reference

Destroys the object property specified by reference; the result is true if the property does not exist after the operation completes, and false otherwise. The delete operator returns true if it is called on a nonexistent property or a dynamic property not defined in a class.

The delete operator can fail and return false if the reference parameter cannot be deleted. You cannot delete fixed properties or variables that are declared with the var statement. A fixed property is a variable or method defined in a class definition.

The delete operator cannot be used to destroy a property of a class, unless that class is a dynamic class added at runtime. Properties of sealed classes cannot be destroyed using delete. Set the property to null instead.

Note: You cannot delete an object, but you can make an object eligible for garbage collection by removing all references to the object. The most common reference to an object is a variable that points to it. You can remove such a reference by setting the variable to null. The garbage collector removes any object that has no references.

// create the new object "account" 
var account:Object = new Object(); 
// assign property name to the account 
account.name = "Jon"; 
// delete the property 
delete account.name; 
trace(account.name); // undefined

// delete a nonexistent property
var fooDeleted:Boolean = delete account.foo;
trace(fooDeleted); // true

The following example deletes the value of an array element, but the value of the length property is not changed:

var my_array:Array = new Array(); 
my_array[0] = "abc"; // my_array.length == 1 
my_array[1] = "def"; // my_array.length == 2 
my_array[2] = "ghi"; // my_array.length == 3 
// my_array[2] is deleted, but Array.length is not changed 
delete my_array[2]; 
trace(my_array.length); // 3 
trace(my_array); // abc,def,

The following example shows how the returned Boolean from delete can be used as a condition for future code execution. Note that if an item has already been deleted, calling delete on the item again will return false.

var my_array:Array = [ "abc", "def", "ghi" ];
var deleteWasSuccessful:Boolean

deleteWasSuccessful = delete my_array[0];
if(deleteWasSuccessful) delete my_array[1];
deleteWasSuccessful = delete my_array[0];
if(deleteWasSuccessful) delete my_array[2];

trace(my_array) // outputs: undefined,undefined,ghi

See also

 delete reference

Deletes the XML elements or attributes specified by reference.

When used with an XMLList operand, the result of the delete operator is always true because the XMLList operand always refers to a valid (though possibly empty) XMLList object.

 
var x1:XML = <x1>
                <a id = "52">AYY</a>
                <a>AYY 2 </a>
                <b>BEE</b>
                <c>CEE</c>
            </x1>;

trace(x1.toXMLString());
trace("___________");

delete x1.a.@id;

trace(x1.toXMLString());
trace("___________");

delete x1.b;

trace(x1.toXMLString());
trace("___________");

delete x1.a;

trace(x1.toXMLString());

The output is as follows:

<x1>
  <a id="52">AYY</a>
  <a>AYY 2</a>
  <b>BEE</b>
  <c>CEE</c>
</x1>
___________
<x1>
  <a>AYY</a>
  <a>AYY 2</a>
  <b>BEE</b>
  <c>CEE</c>
</x1>
___________
<x1>
  <a>AYY</a>
  <a>AYY 2</a>
  <c>CEE</c>
</x1>
___________
<x1>
  <c>CEE</c>
</x1>

 
var xml:XML = 
            <order>
                <item id="121">hamburger</item>
                <item id="122">fries</item>
                <item id="123">chocolate shake</item>
            </order>;
delete xml.item[1].*;
delete xml.item[1].@*;
trace(xml);

The output for this example is the following:

<order>
  <tem id="121">hamburger</item>
  <item/>
  <item id="123">chocolate shake</item>
</order>

 myXML..childElement1..@attributeName 

Navigates to descendant elements of an XML or XMLList object, or (combined with the @ operator) finds matching attributes of descendants. The matching elements or attributes need not be direct children of the XML or XMLList object; they can be lower in the tree (for example, grandchildren). The result is an XMLList object, because more than one child element or attribute can match.

The order of nodes in the XMLList object returned is the result of a depth-first traversal. For example, consider the following:

var myXML:XML = <a>
			<b>one
				<c> 
					<b>two</b> 
				</c> 
			</b>
			<b>three</b>
		</a>;

trace(myXML..b[0].toXMLString());
trace("______________");
trace(myXML..b[1].toXMLString());
trace("______________");
trace(myXML..b[2].toXMLString());

The following output would result:

<b>
  one
  <c>
    <b>two</b>
  </c>
</b>
______________
<b>two</b>
______________
<b>three</b>

To return descendants with names that match ActionScript reserved words, use the XML.descendants() method instead of the descendant (..) operator, as the following example shows:

var xml:XML = 
<enrollees>
	<student id="239">
		<class name="Algebra" />
 		<class name="Spanish 2"/>
	</student>
	<student id="206">
		<class name="Trigonometry" />
 		<class name="Spanish 2" />
	</student>
 </enrollees>;
 trace(xml.descendants("class")); 
 

var myXML:XML = 
    <employees>
        <employee id = "42">
            <firstName>Billy</firstName>
            <lastName>Einstein</lastName>
        </employee>
        <employee id = "43">
            <firstName>Sally</firstName>
            <lastName>Shostakovich</lastName>
        </employee>
    </employees>
    
trace(myXML..firstName); 
    // <firstName>Billy</firstName>
    // <firstName>Sally</firstName>
                
trace(myXML..@id); //4243

See also

Divides expression1 by expression2. The result of the division operation is a double-precision floating-point number.