S > setInterval

 

setInterval

Availability

Flash Player 6.

Usage

setInterval( function, interval[, arg1, arg2, ..., argn] )

setInterval( object, methodName, interval[, arg1, arg2, ..., argn] )

Parameters

function A function name or a reference to an anonymous function.

object An object derived from the Object object.

methodName The name of the method to call on the object parameter.

interval The time in milliseconds between calls to the function or methodName parameter.

þarg1, arg2, ..., argn Optional parameters passed to the function or methodName parameter.

Returns

An interval identifier that you can pass to clearInterval to cancel the interval.

Description

Action; calls a function or a method or an object at periodic intervals while a movie plays. You can use an interval function to update variables from a database or update a time display.

If interval is less than the movie frame rate (for example, 10 frames per second (fps) is equal to 100 milliseconds), the interval function is called as close to interval as possible. You must use the updateAfterEvent function to make sure that the screen refreshes often enough. If interval is greater than the movie frame rate, the interval function is only called each time the playhead enters a frame in order to minimize the impact each time the screen is refreshed.

The first syntax example above is the default syntax for the setInterval function in the Actions panel in normal mode. To use the second syntax example, you must use the Actions panel in expert mode.

Example

Usage 1:The following example calls an anonymous function every 1000 milliseconds (every 1 second).

setInterval( function(){ trace("interval called"); }, 1000 );

Usage 2: The following example defines two callback functions and calls each of them. Both calls to the setInterval function send the string "interval called" to the Output window every 1000 milliseconds. The first call to setInterval calls the callback1 function, which contains a trace action. The second call to setInterval passes the "interval called" string to the function callback2 as a parameter.

function callback1() {
	trace("interval called"); 
}

function callback2(arg) { 
	trace(arg);
}

setInterval( callback1, 1000 ); 
setInterval( callback2, 1000, "interval called" );

Usage 3: This example uses a method of an object. You must use this syntax when you want to call a method that is defined for an object. You can only use this syntax in expert mode.

obj = new Object();
obj.interval = function() { 
	trace("interval function called"); 
}

setInterval( obj, "interval", 1000 ); 

obj2 = new Object();
obj2.interval = function(s) { 
	trace(s); 
}
setInterval( obj2, "interval", 1000, "interval function called" ); 

You must use the second form of the setInterval syntax to call a method of an object, as follows:

setInterval( obj2, "interval", 1000, "interval function called" ); 

See also

clearInterval, updateAfterEvent