ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

MovieClip.onData () Event Handler

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ActionScript Language Reference

MovieClip.onData () Event Handler

handler executed when the clip receives variables, or a portion of a loaded movie

Flash 5; callback form introduced in Flash 6

mc.onData()

onClipEvent (data) {

statements

}

Description

The onData() event handler is the callback form (and more modern analogue) of the legacy

onClipEvent (data) event handler. The onData() handler executes when external data is

loaded into a movie clip. It can be triggered by two quite different circumstances, according

to the kind of data being loaded—either external variables, or a .swf or .jpg file. Note that as

a variable loader, the onData() event is made obsolete in Flash 6 by the LoadVars class’s

download monitoring methods. As a movie loader, the onData() event is (in my experience)

too buggy to use in Flash 5, though it appears to be working properly in Flash 6.0.29.0.

When we request a series of variables from a server using loadVariables(), we must wait for

them to load completely before using their information. When a movie clip receives the

end of a batch of loaded variables, the onData() event is triggered, telling us it’s safe to

execute code that relies on the variables.

For example, suppose we have a guest book movie in which visitors enter ...