Access a class with the array operator in Actionscript 3

Question

I have a bunch of classes for MovieClips in my library, such as

ship_3000aa
ship_3000ab
ship_3001aa

and so on.

I need to access them like this:

var image_key:String = "3000aa";
var ship:MovieClip = new _root["ship_"+image_key]();

All of this is happens inside a class, and all MovieClips are exported to frame 2, which is where the class in which this happens is instantiated.

root is the base root. "root" without "" is not found. The property is null on _root. The property does not exists on _stage either.

Is there a correct way to instantiate a library MovieClip class using the array access operator from within a class?

Thanks.

david.emilsson · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-08 00:51:55Z

3

Either you can instantiate an object by keeping the classes in an Array:

var classArray:Array = [ship_3000aa, ship_3000ab, ship_3001aa];
var ship:MovieClip = new classArray[2]();

or instantiate an object by the class name by using flash.utils.getDefinitionByName (probably more useful in your case):

var imageKey:String = "3000aa";
var ShipClass:Class = getDefinitionByName("ship_" + imageKey) as Class;
var ship:MovieClip = new ShipClass();

answered Feb 8, 2013 at 0:51

david.emilsson

2,3211 gold badge21 silver badges25 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Answer 1