Flash Action Script: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating Flash

Using the proven Maran Graphics' Visual Learning System and designed expressly for the professional visual learner. Flash ActionScript: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating Flash Enhanced Web Sites explains advanced tasks using stunning, two-page spreads for easy and focused learning - no flipping back and forth. Consistent placement of information takes the guesswork out of learning, with each step displayed with callouts so the reader can see exactly where the action takes place on the screen. There's also complete coverage of how ActionScript works with Flash, including: actions, objects, properties and functions, operators and variables, Flash movies, and movie debugging. The CD-ROM contains free graphics, fonts and sounds, a trial version of Flash and Flash Player, a trial version of Adobe PhotoShop, a sample of Paint Shop Pro, WinZip and Freehand.

Table of Contents:
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK. 1) GETTING FAMILIAR WITH FLASH. Introduction to Flash and ActionScript. Create a Scene. Create Layers. Create Graphics. Create a Symbol. Create an Instance. Create a Button. Create Animation. Add Sound. Create a Movie Clip. Create Static Text Boxes. Create Input Text Boxes. Create Dynamic Text Boxes. Using the Actions Panel. Assign ActionScript to a Button. Assign ActionScript to a Movie Clip. Assign ActionScript to a Frame. Publish Movies. 2) PROGRAMMING WITH ACTIONSCRIPT. Introduction to ActionScript Syntax. Test a Movie. Enter the Test Environment. Add Comments. Stop a Movie. Play a Movie. Jump to a Frame or Scene. Set Movie Quality. Open a Web Page. Communicate with the Flash Player. Create Objects Users Can Drag. Print a Movie. Check Frame Load. 3) SETTING MOVIE CLIP PROPERTIES. Introduction to Movie Clip Properties. Name an Instance. Adjust Transparency. Make Movie Clips Invisible. Rotate Movie Clips. Change the Width of Movie Clips. Change the Height of Movie Clips. Scale the Width of Movie Clips. Scale the Height of Movie Clips. Move Movie Clips Across the Stage. Move Movie Clips Up and Down. Set Movie Clip Quality. 4) WORKING WITH VARIABLES AND STRINGS. Introduction to Variables and Data Types. Assign a Value to a Variable. Assign an Object or Movie Clip to a Variable. Load Variables. Extract a Character from a String. Extract a Substring from a String. Concatenate Strings. Obtain the Length of a String. Search a String. Change the Case of a String. Convert Strings, Numbers, and Booleans. 5) WORKING WITH OPERATORS. Understand Precedence. Add Numeric Values. Subtract Numeric Values. Multiply Numeric Values. Divide Numeric Values. Find the Modulo. Set Values with the Increment Operator. Set Values with the Decrement Operator. Using Less Than or Greater Than. Using Less Than or Equal to or Greater Than or Equal to. Using Equality and Inequality Operators. Using Compound Assignment Operators. Using Logical Operators. 6) CHANGING THE SCRIPT FLOW. Using if to Test a Condition. Using if with else. Using else if. Create a Conditional Loop. Using for Loops. 7) USING THE MOVIE CLIP AND ARRAY. Introduction to Objects. Using the MovieClip Object. Attach a Movie Clip. Get Bounds. Swap Depths. Check MovieClip Load. Detect Collision. Get the x-- and y--Coordinates. Create an Array. Find the Length of an Array. Add Elements to an Array. Remove Elements from an Array. Extract or Reverse an Array. Convert an Array to a String. 8) WORKING WITH OBJECTS. Change Colors. Work with Color Transform Values. Using the Mouse Objects and Properties. Using the Date Object. Get Date and Time Values. Set the Date. Set Date Values. Set Time Values. Using Mathematical Functions. Raise a Power or Find A Square Root. Round Numbers. Generate Random Numbers. Find Numeric Values. Using the Key Object. Using the Sound Object. Set Volume and Panning. Using the Selection Object. 9) DEMYSTIFYING FUNCTIONS. Get Properties. Using Get Timer and Get Version. Using Eval. Convert a String to a Number. Evaluate for Mathematical Errors. Create a Scrollable Text Box. Create a Custom Function. 10) WORKING WITH MULTIPLE TIMELINES. View the Hierarchy of Multiple Movies. Assign Target Paths. Load and Unload Movies and Movie Clips. Using Tell Target. Using the with Action. Duplicate Movie Clips. 11) CREATING SMART CLIPS. Create Smart Clips. Create a Smart Clip Custom Interface. 12) USING CREATIVE TECHNIQUES. Validate a String. Validate a Date. Search a Text Box. Convert Symbols. Create Rotation Effects. Create a Coloring Book. Emulate Panels. Demystify Trigonometric Functions. Create Trigonometric Special Effects. 13) DEBUGGING ACTIONSCRIPT. Using the Debugger. Using the Output Window. Using List Objects. Using List Variables. Debug Your Script. 14) FLASH ACTIONSCRIPT QUICK REFERENCE. Key Code Values. URL Encoding Characters. List of Keywords. Actions Appended with Num. Hexadecimal Color Codes. Button Handlers. Movie Clip Handlers. Operators. Functions. Actions. Properties. Array Object. Boolean Object. Color Object. Date Object. Key Object. Math Object. Mouse Object. MovieClip Object. Number Object. Object Object. Selection Object. Sound Object. String Object. APPENDIX. What's on the CD--ROM. Using the E--Version of the Book. Hungry Minds, Inc. End--User License Agreement. INDEX.

About the Author :
Denise Etheridge is the president of BayCon Group Incorporated, a consulting firm specializing in software installation, implementation, and training. Prior to founding BayCon Group, she worked in various organizations as a consultant and trainer. The BayCon Group Web site features online tutorials and attracts over 70,000 visitors per month. The BBC has honored the site as among the Best of the Web in the education category. Denise is the author of several of the site's tutorials, including Flash 5, Paint Shop Pro, Scalable SQL, Windows 98, Excel, and Word.