Understanding Flash MX 2004 ActionScript 2

3

Learning about Events and Handlers

Events and Event Handlers

The terms events and event handlers often come up in ActionScript, in fact we have being using both methods in most of the previous exercises. An “event” is an occurrence that triggers an action. An event handler is the thing that can handle the event. Events occur independently of the occurrence of a handler. You need an event to trigger the handler. Events can be grouped into two categories: time-based and user-based. The most common time-based example is that of the playhead entering a frame. Every time the playhead moves to a new frame then an event is generated. All mouse and keyboard activities are described as user events.

The event handlers in Flash are equipped to handle ...