ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

MovieClip.hitArea Property

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Example

ball_mc._height = 20; // Set the height of ball_mc to 20 pixels

ball_mc._height /= 2; // Reduce the height of ball_mc by a factor of 2

See Also

MovieClip._width, MovieClip._yscale, Stage.height

MovieClip.hitArea Property

assigns the hotspot for a button-enabled movie clip

Flash 6

read/write

mc.hitArea

Description

The hitArea property is used only with movie clips that define button event handlers (e.g.,

onPress(), onRelease(), etc.). It sets

mc’s button hit area—the physical region that must be

under the mouse pointer in order for the button to be activated by a mouseclick. When the

value of

hitArea is null or undefined, the shape of mc’s content is used as the hit area. When

the value of

hitArea is a reference to a movie clip, the shape of that clip’s content is used as

mc’s hit area. The hitArea clip can move, be invisible, or even be reassigned at any time,

allowing great flexibility for dynamically generated buttons. For example, an animated

button can have a hit area that changes size with the animation, or a button can have a

different hit area for its Over, Up, and Down states.

The movie clip used as the

hitArea for mc can reside on any clip’s timeline, including mc’s.

For example:

// Set button_mc's hit area to a clip ...