Question

I have a symbol originally created at [-100,-100] coordinate (left top corner). Now I put an instance of this symbol on a stage at [0,0] stage coordinates (by dragging it with a mouse in IDE). Having this instance can I still determine original [-100,-100] position from actionscript somehow? (myInstance.x returns stage coordinate).

What I do:

• create a new symbol in a library located at -100,-100 coordinates during its creation
• put an instance of this symbol on the stage at some different coordinates
• in actionscript try to get original -100 value from instance object, like:

this.myInstance.x (only this returns stage coordinates)

Why I am doing this:

I am trying to put this movieclip into a BitmapData:

var myClip:MovieClip = this.myInstance;
var bmp:BitmapData = new BitmapData(myClip.width, myClip.height);
bmp.draw(myClip);

The problem is BitmapData looks like taking only part of a clip that lies in positive coordinates. To overcome this I would need to provide transform matrix with corresponding offsets:

var m:Matrix = new Matrix();
m.tx = 100;
m.ty = 100;
bmp.draw(myClip, m);

I would be able to calculate this offset if I knew original symbol coordinates before it was dropped on a stage.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Answer 1

// get bounds including strokes
// traces (x=-105, y=-105, w=110, h=110)
trace(myInstance.getBounds(myInstance));

// get bounds excluding strokes
// traces (x=-100, y=-100, w=100, h=100)
trace(myInstance.getRect(myInstance));