Flash CS5: The Missing Manual

Choosing the Right Text Formatting System

So far this chapter has described four different ways to format text in Flash animations. How do you choose the right technique for your project? Here are some general guidelines about when to use Flash's Properties panel, ActionScript's Text-Format object, HTML, or CSS to format text in your Flash projects:

• Use the Properties panel for its ease of use and when you make all your formatting decisions as you design the animation.

• Use ActionScript's TextFormat object when you need to make changes to your text while the animation is running.

• Use ActionScript's TextFormat object when you want to work quickly and your project creates TextField objects on the fly.

• Use HTML if you have lots of text already formatted in HTML or your workgroup requires it.

• Use HTML or CSS when you want to embed hyperlinks in dynamic text.

• Use CSS if you're working on a large web-based project that already has established CSS type specs.

• Use CSS if you're working with lots of text and there are timesaving benefits to be gained by separating formatting from content.

Note

When you use HTML and CSS in Flash, you can use only a few of the most common tags and properties. It's not surprising that these are the tags and properties that are matched by TextFormat object. If you're choosing HTML or CSS for a specific feature, make sure that you can use that feature in Flash and ActionScript. You can find a complete list in the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform ...