Introduction to ActionScript Tutorial > View a completed movie > Analyze the puzzle.fla file |
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Analyze the puzzle.fla file
It's helpful to analyze the completed FLA file to determine how the author put it together and where the ActionScript elements are located.
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In Flash, choose File > Open. Within your Flash MX application folder, browse to Tutorials/ActionScript/Finished and open the puzzle.fla file. |
You now see the completed tutorial movie in the authoring environment. |
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To see all the contents on the Stage, choose View > Magnification > Show Frame. |
The movie contains only one frame, displayed in the main Timeline of the puzzle.fla file. You will use ActionScript to show and hide the various dialog boxes and pattern guides that appear in the puzzle. |
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To resize the Timeline and Stage, drag the bar that separates the Stage from the Timeline up and down. Scroll through the Timeline to see how the layers are organized. |
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To see the dialog boxes and guides on the Stage in the authoring environment, click the red X in the Eye column to the right of a layer's name. A red X indicates a hidden layer. |
You click in the Lock column to lock a layer, which prevents it from being selected. This is useful if you are selecting an item on the Stage that is underneath an item in another layer. The Outline column, indicated by a square above the column, turns on outlines of all the elements in a layer; this can make it easier to see shape edges and can cause Flash to work faster. |
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5 |
Select Frame 1 of the Actions layer. |
Frame 1 has a lowercase a, which indicates actions are associated with the frame. |
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To add an ActionScript element to a movie, you must assign it to either a button, a frame, or a movie clip. Frame scripts are indicated by a lowercase a on a frame in the Timeline. To locate button and movie clip scripts, do one of the following: |
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Open the Actions panel and select a script from the Jump barthe pop-up list under the Actions panel title bar. |
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Select buttons and movie clips on the Stage with the Actions panel open. |
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Use the filtering buttons or the Find text box to search for the script in the Movie Explorer. |
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To view the actions, choose Window > Actions. |
The Actions panel opens. Expand the panel, if necessary, to see the actions attached to the frame. |
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The Actions panel has two modes, normal and expert. This tutorial explains how to add actions in normal mode. |
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