Building the Events Components– Lesson 111 Building the Events Components Lesson 11

2 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Objectives Import JPG images into a Flash file dynamically. Create invisible buttons for functionality. Configure the registration point of a movie clip symbol. Import script from a Script file. Use check boxes and input text boxes to create an form.

3 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Import JPG images dynamically You can import images into your document based on user actions. Create a button symbol to contain the image. To do so: Create a new layer (optional) and draw a rectangle shape on the Stage. Set the desired dimensions in the Property inspector. Convert the rectangle to a button symbol and set the registration point to the top left corner. Assign a name for the symbol and click the OK button to close the dialog box. Assign an instance name for the button in the Property inspector.

4 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Set the registration point for movie clip or button symbols The registration point determines where the movie clip or button will begin to load into its specified area. To do so: Create an area for the symbol using the Rectangle or other tool. Double-click the area, click the Modify menu, and then click Convert to Symbol. Click one of the dots in the Registration section of the dialog box. (Most images begin to load from the top left corner.) Click the Movie Clip or Button Behavior option. Assign a name for the symbol and close the dialog box. Assign an instance name for the symbol so it can be referenced by a loadMovie command in an action script.

5 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Setting the registration point The figure below shows the Convert to Symbol dialog box where you set the registration point for symbols. JPG and other images normally begin to load from the top left corner of the area they are inserted into. Setting the registration point anywhere else can cause the image to appear incorrectly. Click one of the circles to set the registration point.

6 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Use ActionScript to load the image dynamically With a button symbol in place to contain the image, you can create ActionScript to load the image. To do so: Create an Actions layer, if necessary. Click the desired frame for the layer and open the Actions-Frame panel. Expand the Browser/Network category (within the Global Functions category) and double-click the loadMovie command. In the parentheses next to the action name, enter the path to the image.

7 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Invisible buttons add functionality to your movie Dynamically loading images into the button symbols makes it difficult to add sound effect and loading commands in script code. Invisible buttons can be added on top of the button symbol to contain the scripting and sound functionality. Invisible buttons have graphic elements only in the Hit state. Invisible buttons appear as semi-transparent, aqua-colored objects on the Stage. (They do not show up in the published file.)

8 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Create an invisible button Create a layer (optional) for the invisible button. Draw a rectangle (or other shape) and convert it to a button symbol. Assign a name to the symbol. Double-click the button in the library to enter editing mode. Click the Up keyframe and drag it to the Hit state. (The other states should all now be empty.)

9 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Add sound and code to the invisible button While still in editing mode for the invisible button, add a new layer to contain the sound effect. Create a keyframe in the Down state of the sound layer. Locate the sound effect from the Sounds panel. Click the Down frame of the sound layer and drag your selected sound onto the Stage to insert the sound into the Down and Hit states. Drag the invisible button over the top of the button symbol for the area to contain the JPG image. Open the Actions panel and add the ActionScript for the invisible button.

10 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Create an form You can use text boxes and check boxes to create an form. Text boxes can be used to create labels to identify an input box and to allow the user to enter input. Use the Text tool in the toolbar to create the text boxes and format them as desired. Drag CheckBox components from the Components panel to add check boxes to the form. Check boxes allow users to select multiple items that they are interested in. Check boxes include a label that can be set in the Property inspector to tell the user the purpose of the box.

11 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 A Flash form The figure below shows an example of an form created in Flash. The form has labels to identify the components, two text boxes for the user to input data, and four check boxes that the user can select. Labels Check boxes Text boxes

12 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Use the information on the form to send You can add a submit button to the form that the user can click when they have entered their data. Your Flash document can extract their data and send them an with the information they requested. You can import a generic script that uses the mailto: command and customize it for your document.

13 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Import generic scripts and customize them You can import preconfigured scripts into your document and edit them as needed. To import a generic script: Click the Options menu of the Actions panel, then click Import Script. Locate the folder containing the script (scripts have an.as extension) and double-click the script to import it. Browse through the script and edit it as needed.

14 Building the Events Components– Lesson 11 Summary In this lesson, you learned: To import JPG images into a Flash file dynamically. How to create invisible buttons for functionality. How to configure the registration point of a movie clip symbol. To import script from a Script file. How to use check boxes and input text boxes to create an form.