Question

How can I return a value from AS3 to javascript. I am calling a AS3 method from JS and want that AS3 method to return back a string:

//javascript
var string = swfObject["abcmethod"](arg1);

The only way I know of is to add a callback method which is called from flash back in JS. Is there a better way?

Answer 1

The communication pipe between AS3 and Javascript does support passing a value back to the Javascript function called. It’s in the docs:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/external/ExternalInterface.html

Using the ExternalInterface class, you can call an ActionScript
function in the Flash runtime, using JavaScript in the HTML page. The
ActionScript function can return a value, and JavaScript receives it
immediately as the return value of the call.

If the code you have isn’t working, try using a different syntax. The following is what I usually use:

var myFlashObject = document.getElementById("theIdYouSuppliedToSwfObject");
var myResult = myFlashObject.abcmethod(arg1);

Your code in actionscript should be something like:

ExternalInterface.addCallback("abcmethod", onAbcMethodCall);
private function onAbcMethodCall(...args:Array):String
{ return "Hello World"; }