Flash CS3: The Missing Manual

Adding an Action

For an action to work, you must attach it to something in your animation. You add an action to either an object (like a component or symbol) or a frame, depending on when you want Flash to perform the action.

In this section, you see an example of adding an action to an instance of a button symbol (Button Symbols), but the technique's the same no matter where you're putting the action. Just remember to select the object on the Stage—or a frame in the Timeline—and then create the action.

Note

Chapter 10 describes the differences between frame-and object-based actions and when you want to choose one over the other.

To add an action:

1. Open the document hotspot_drag_begin.fla.

   You can download this example file from the "Missing CD" page at www.missingmanuals.com/cds. It has a drawing all ready for you to practice on. (For a working copy, download hotspot_drag.fla.)

2. Choose Window → Properties → Properties to display the Property Inspector. On the Stage, click Smiley's left eye (see Figure 9-4).

   Flash highlights the instance of the leftEye button symbol and displays instance-related properties in the Properties tab of the Property Inspector.

   

   Figure 9-4. Because many ActionScript statements require you to refer to a symbol instance by name, you want to get in the habit of always typing in a short, meaningful instance name every time you drag an instance to the Stage. You may not ...