Question

I have some code in ActionScript 2 similar to the below snippet (Item being a MovieClip):

_root.createEmptyMovieClip("Temp",_root.getNextHighestDepth());
_root.Item.swapDepths(_root.Temp);  
_root.Temp.removeMovieClip(); // This doesn't work ! 

I think the question is clear. I’m unable to remove Temp after swapping the depth (works fine otherwise).

I also tried the following (but to no avail):

depth = Item.getDepth();
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("Temp",_root.getNextHighestDepth());
_root.Item.swapDepths(_root.Temp);  
_root.getInstanceAtDepth(depth).removeMovieClip(); // Doesn't work ! 

Any thoughts on how to get rid of Temp?

Answer 1

I figured out the hidden reason behind the immortality of Temp MovieClip.
The MovieClip Item with which it is swapped was created manually in the timeline. So after swapping, Temp is within the zone of depths for which Flash doesn’t support dynamic removal of symbols.

If I’d swapped depths between Temp and Item1 = Item.duplicateMovieClip("Item1", someDepth);, the removeClip() would’ve worked!