Question

Is there a way to pass an object reference to a component directly from the property/component parameter window? Using the [Inspectible] tag only allows me to input strings and not actual object references.

For example, I have a custom component called “knob” which should hold a reference to a door on the stage which it opens. I know this can be easily done in code with “knob.door = someDoor;” but since there are many objects in the scene I would prefer if I could do it visually trough the properties window.

Answer 1

I don’t think you can do this. Your best bet is to pass in a string identifier (perhaps a whole dot-separated path if your clips are deeply nested), and then implement code inside your custom component to find that item by name.

I’ve got a custom component which lays itself out relative to horizontal and vertical predecessor components, so I do this:

protected var horizontalPredecessor:String = "";

[Inspectable(name = "HorizontalPredecessor", type = String, defaultValue="")]
public function set HorizontalPredecessor($value:String):void 
{ 
    horizontalPredecessor = $value;
    drawNow();
}

override protected function draw():void
{
    if (parent)
    {
        if (horizontalPredecessor != "")
        {
            var hp:DisplayObject = parent.getChildByName(horizontalPredecessor);
            if (hp)
            {
                x = hp.y + hp.height + horizontalSpacing;
            }
        }
    }
}

… which is made easy because all these components share the same parent.

Alternatively, if there’s only one door, you could make it a singleton, and give it a static reference, like this:

public class Door
{
     private static var _singleton:Door;

     public static function get Singleton():Door
     {
         if(!_door) _door = new Door();
         return _door;
     }

}

Then your handle can just refer to Door.Singleton and you don’t have to worry about passing anything in. Alternatively, you could have a static array of Doors in the Door class, and give your handle an index number to link it to a specific Door.