Flash 8 Cookbook

8.8. Resizing Dynamic or Input Text Fields

Problem

You want to resize a dynamic or input text field.

Solution

Use the Text tool to select the text field, and then drag the resize square found in the lower-right corner of the text field. Alternatively, use the Selection tool.

Optionally, you can use ActionScript to resize the text at runtime. Set the autoSize property of the text field to left, right,or center in order that it will automatically resize itself to accommodate the text value:

	tField.autoSize = "left";

Or, you can set the _height and _width properties of the text field to specify the dimensions in pixels:

	tField._height = 200;
	tField._width = 300;

Discussion

Dynamic and input text fields differ from static text fields in several ways when it comes to resizing. When resizing a dynamic or input text field at authoring time, it differs from resizing static text in two ways:

• The Text tool resize square displays in the lower-right corner of the dynamic or input text field.

• You can resize dynamic or input text fields in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

In order to resize the text field at authoring time, select the text field using the Text tool. Then, click and drag the resize square to adjust the dimensions. Optionally, click and drag from any of the resize squares using the Selection tool.

Be careful about adjusting the width and height of a text field using the Property inspector. The actual effect depends on whether you are using device fonts or an embedded font with ...