Simon Wacker

A little but useful class I use in almost every project that needs visible Objects like MovieClips on stage e.g. in a GUI.

class VisibleObject{
        public var type:String;

        private var container_mc:MovieClip;
        private var mc:MovieClip;

        private var depth:Number;

        private var xPosition:Number;
        private var yPosition:Number;

        private function VisibleObject(){
                type = “VisibleObject“;

                container_mc = _root;

                depth = container_mc.getNextHighestDepth();

                xPosition = 0;
                yPosition = 0;
        }
        public function create():Void{
                mc = container_mc.createEmptyMovieClip(getMCName(), depth);
                mc.master = this;
                setPosition();
        }
        public function remove():Void{
                mc.removeMovieClip();
                delete this; // Does this really work?
        }
        public function draw():Void{
                throw new Error(”The draw function hasn’t been overwritten!“);
        }
        public function clear():Void{
                throw new Error(”The clear function hasn’t been overwritten!“);
        }
        /*public function reset():Void{
        throw new Error(”The reset function hasn’t been overwritten!”);
}*/
        public function getBoundingBox():Void{
                throw new Error(”The getBoundingBox function hasn’t been overwritten!“);
        }
        public function getWidth():Void{
                throw new Error(”The getWidth function hasn’t been overwritten!“);
        }
        public function getHeight():Void{
                throw new Error(”The getHeight function hasn’t been overwritten!“);
        }

        private function setPosition():Void{
                mc._x = xPosition;
                mc._y = yPosition;
        }
        private function getMCName():String{
                return type + “_” + depth + “_mc“;
        }

        public function getMC():MovieClip{
                return mc;
        }

        public function setContainer(aContainer:MovieClip):Void{
                container_mc = aContainer;
                depth = container_mc.getNextHighestDepth();
        }
        public function getContainer():MovieClip{
                return container_mc;
        }

        public function setXPosition(aXPosition:Number):Void{
                xPosition = aXPosition;
        }
        public function getXPosition():Number{
                return xPosition;
        }

        public function setYPosition(aYPosition:Number):Void{
                yPosition = aYPosition;
        }
        public function getYPosition():Number{
                return yPosition;
        }
}

If I want to create a visible Object on stage e.g. a button, I create a Button class and let it inherit from the VisibleObject class. Then I specify all the drawing informations etc. After that steps I’m able to create a visible Button on stage just by writing:

myButton:Button = new Button();
myButton.create();

I’ll upload a real life example where it comes in handy in a few days.

Posted in Flash