Topic: Tell-target..... simple actionscript....

It's been a while since using flash.
Trying to get back into it as I'm making up a little menu system with it for my current project...

Here's kind of what I'm shooting for:

<EMBED src="http://www.filter-line.net/other/3.swf" quality=high bgcolor=#000000 WIDTH=377 HEIGHT=387 TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></EMBED>


Now, if you notice...
the buttons can be "tricked" by fast movement.

I'm assuming the problem lies with the fact that each button is on a separate layer which triggers a movie clip on that layer.... THEREFORE.... if all the buttons were on the same layer as well as one movie clip for all the buttons.... this whole thing could be avoided.

I tried it, and I'm stuck.

At present, consider the movie clip that has the actions to the buttons called "total"
Each button I've scripted with...

On (Roll Over)
Begin Tell Target ("/total")
Play
End Tell Target
End On

still with me?
Ok... so now the MC is as such...

On the very first frame... I have...
Go to and Play (/laynext)
then the MC continues and does the animation to where the full word of the section in shown.
Then of course, there is a stop action.
When the animation ends for the button, I have inserted...
Go to and Play (/laynext) again.

And I've repeated this process for each of the buttons.

I've put the "total" MC on the stage with the buttons on the same layer.... there is a stop in the first frame of the movie.... I've identified the instance name of the "total" MC.....yet when I export.....
nothing happens on roll-over of any of the buttons.

I'm a bit stumped here. I've done almost this identical routine with another Flash I had made many months ago.... but it's been that long since I've used it.
I went back and compared the two movies to try to determine where they differ, and I have yet to locate the source of the problem.

Insight here is appreciated...

-Michael

edit: damn slimies gettin in the way....

[This message has been edited by taxon (edited 07-15-2001).]

Okay - I confess I read this early this morning ant the concepts just swam in fron of my eyes. Let's try it again this evening and see if it's bette.

I'm learning ActionScript for the first time with Flash 5, so the slash syntax and tell target function, which have been depreciated in Flash 5, is a little bit foreign. And your explaination, while sounding like it should be entirely coherent, somehow isn't for me.

If I'm reading this correctly: you have a movie clip containing all the buttons; and you have a movie clip with all the animated content; and you have both movie clips on the same layer of the main timeline. Right?

So, the first thought I had - if you have the same code in each button, how does the button code get told which animation clip to play? If the button code essentially says "Go play it", but doesn't specify what "it" is, that could be a problem.

It sems to me that somehow the problem is happening when a new button fires before the previous animation has finished. I'm wondering if lumping everything onto one layer together is wise.

Maybe try this: put each button and it's related animation into separate movie clips, and then put each of those self-contained units into individual layers on the main time line. Maybe that way the actionscript for each button will be more isolated from the other buttons and animations.

Wish I could come up with something more difinitive, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

(BTW - should have said this from the start - that's a neat movie there! I hadn't realized html was enabled in this forum, and that Flash movies could be embedded. Cool!)

Taxon, hadn't had a chance to really get into this, and unfortunately tell target stuff isn't one of my strengths I'll try to give it a shot tonight and figure out what it's doing. Are you in Flash 4 or 5? 5 offers some new syntax that replaces tell target, as Steve mentioned. Might be something for ya to look into...

Chris

KAIROSinteractive

Well... thanks for the responses fellas...

Here's the deal...
The idea that you suggested Steve IS exactly what I posted.
Each button with it's repective movie clip on separate layers.

The other method of grouping everything is what I'm trying on my computer now.... in which case..... absolutely nothing is occurring.
You brought up and obvious point that I had over-looked though....
I'm simply telling it to play.... but with no parameters as to where to start.

I've taken a day off from it... so I'll give it another good look over again this evening.

I think the problem lies in defining the frames in a large movie clip as to which button is being activated (if that makes any sense)

I'm using Flash 4 btw.

oh... and I almost forgot.....

I've been jumping up and down about this for months... but as usual, people ignore me...
I keep saying over and over again... HTML IS ENABLED HERE AND IN THE SIG FORUM...let's see some Flash siggies....

What I'm still confused about...

You obviously have some sort of roll out action that sets things back to neutral when you roll off the button. What I notice happening when you go over the buttons too fast is that the previous one doesn't clear, so you have one on top of another,a nd at that point the "stuck" one is stuck for good.

What does the roll out action tell it to do? This stuck bit wouldn't happen I suppose if every thing was on labeled frames of onelarge movie clip, but the button still needs to tell a specific frame to play, and rolling off the button needs to clear it to a neutral state.

consider frames 1 to 10 a fade in.... then there is a stop on frame 10.
then consider frames 11 to 20 a fade out.

So there is no defining of the states of a button.... just the actionscript of button that calls an MC.
On roll over.... play frames 1 to 10....
On roll out... play frames 11 to 20...

that's basically what has been done here.