ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition

Copyright © 2007 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

The ActionScript Statements

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Many developers find the variable approach easier to read and work with than the

with statement, but both are valid. We’ll learn more about treating movie clips as

objects in Chapter 13.

Note that inside a with statement, the value of the

this keyword does not change; it

retains the value it had outside the with statement. For example:

// Place the following code on _level0

// On _level0, create a ball object with a radius property

_level0.ball = { radius: 20 };

// Check the value of 'this' outside of the with statement

trace(this); // Displays: _level0

// Start our with statement

with (_level0.ball) {

// Check the value of 'this' inside the with statement

trace(this); // Still displays: _level0 (not ball!)

// Check the radius of the ball object

trace(radius); // Displays: 20

}

The ifFrameLoaded Statement

The deprecated ifFrameLoaded statement executes its substatements only if the spec-

ified frame has been loaded. Here’s the syntax:

ifFrameLoaded (frame_expression) {

statements

}

where frame_expression must be either the number of a frame or a string indicating a

frame label. If the frame indicated by

frame_expression has downloaded to the

Player,

statements are executed; if not, the statement block is skipped.

Because ifFrameLoaded lacks an else clause, it