Distributed Multimedia Programming Week - 6 ActionScripts Basics and Behaviors Working with Text

Getting started with ActionScript overview ActionScript is the language you use when you want to develop an application within Flash. You don't have to use ActionScript to use Flash, but if you want to provide user interactivity, work with objects other than those built into Flash (such as buttons and movie clips), or otherwise turn a SWF file into a more robust user experience, you'll probably want to use ActionScript.

The ActionScript editor Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004 provide several tools to help you write syntactically correct code and lets you set preferences for code formatting and other options.

To display the Actions panel, do one of the following: Select Window > Development Panels > Actions. Select Window > Development Panels > Actions. Press F9. Press F9.

To pin a script: Position your pointer on the Timeline so the script appears in a tab at the lower left of the Script pane in the Actions panel. Do one of the following: Click the pushpin icon to the right of the tab. (If the pushpin looks like the icon at the far left, the script is already pinned; clicking that icon unpins it.) Click the pushpin icon to the right of the tab. (If the pushpin looks like the icon at the far left, the script is already pinned; clicking that icon unpins it.) Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) on the tab, and select Pin Script. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) on the tab, and select Pin Script. Select Pin Script from the Options pop-up menu (at the upper right of the panel). Select Pin Script from the Options pop-up menu (at the upper right of the panel).

To use keyboard shortcuts with pinned scripts: Actions Short-Cut Key Pin Script Control-= (equal sign) Unpin Script Control-- (minus sign) Move focus to tab on the right Control-Shift-. (period) Move focus to tab on the left Control-Shift-, (comma) Unpin all scripts Control-Shift-- (minus)

Working with Text Text Field types Text Field Boxes Creating, Modifying and Formatting Text Working with Static Text and Device Fonts Loading a Text File into a Dynamic Text Field Working with Dynamic Text and HTML Dynamic Text and CSS