Flash 8 Cookbook

13.4. Adding a Checkbox Form Control

Problem

You want to add a checkbox to your Flash application.

Solution

Add an instance of the CheckBox component and set the parameters.

Discussion

The checkbox is one of the simplest of the form controls. All you need to do is drag an instance of the CheckBox component from the Components panel to the stage, give it an instance name via the Property inspector, and set some parameters.

The checkbox allows you to set three parameters using the Component Inspector panel or the Property inspector. In just about every case, you’ll want to set the label parameter. The label parameter determines what text is displayed along with the checkbox. The labelPlacement parameter allows you to specify how the text should be displayed relative to the checkbox. And the selected parameter allows you to specify whether the checkbox is selected by default.

If you add a label that extends beyond the bounding box of the checkbox component, it will get cut off. You can adjust the dimensions of the checkbox to accommodate a longer label if that happens. Just select the instance and adjust the width property with the Property inspector. Or, if you prefer, you can use the tools to transform or scale the instance.