Question

I am trying to randomly call one of the below mentioned function every one second. here is the code that I have.

counter=Math.floor(1+Math.random()*3); // genertate random number from 1 to 3

setTimeout("startenemy"+counter, 1000); // call one function with a delay of one second

function startenemy1()
{
    trace("1");
    enemy1.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
function startenemy2()
{
    trace("2");
    enemy2.gotoAndPlay(2);
}

function startenemy3()
{
    trace("3");
    enemy3.gotoAndPlay(2);
}

The setTimeout function is not working for me in this scenario.
But if I use a very primitive way of using setTimeout, it works just fine.

setTimeout(startenemy1, 1000); // call one function with a delay of one second

function startenemy1()
{
trace("1");
enemy1.gotoAndPlay(2);
}

this implementation works just fine. So I know that I am using the setTimeout function with incorrect arguments.

Please let me know if there is another way to make this happen.

Answer 1

You could use the bracket syntax to obtain a reference to the function:

var counter=Math.floor(1+Math.random()*3);  
var method:Function = this["startenemy"+counter];
setTimeout( method, 1000);

But it would be more efficient to have a single method that starts an anonymous MovieClip, and reference the enemy movie clips dynamically:

function startEnemy( mc:MovieClip ) : void {
    mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
}

var counter=Math.floor(1+Math.random()*3);  
var mc:MovieClip = this["enemy"+counter];
setTimeout( startEnemy, 1000, mc); // mc will become the first parameter
                                   // passed to startEnemy()