Question

I’ve been having a problem with passing variables between classes.

I have one class called GlobeView.as

Within that is a function designed to add markers to a globe

GlobeView.as –

public function addAdventureMarker( latitude:Number, longitude:Number, name:String=null ):void
    {
        var marker:Marker = new Marker();
        marker.name = name;
        placeMarker( marker, latitude, longitude );
    }

This function creates a new instance of a class called Marker. Within Marker.as there is a function that among other things defines the colour of the markers

Marker.as –

public function Marker()
    {
        super();

        var frontMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff7200, 1, true );
        var backMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff7200, 1, true );
        var leftMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff6100, 1, true );
        var rightMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff6100, 1, true );
        var topMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff4f00, 1, true );
        var bottomMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff4f00, 1, true );

        var materials:MaterialsList = new MaterialsList( { front:frontMaterial, back:backMaterial, left:leftMaterial, right:rightMaterial, top:topMaterial, bottom:bottomMaterial } );
        cube = new Cube( materials, width, depth, height );
        cube.addEventListener( InteractiveScene3DEvent.OBJECT_OVER, onCubeOver, false, 0, true );
        cube.addEventListener( InteractiveScene3DEvent.OBJECT_OUT, onCubeOut, false, 0, true );
        cube.addEventListener( InteractiveScene3DEvent.OBJECT_CLICK, onCubeClick, false, 0, true );
        cube.geometry.vertices[0].x -= 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[0].y += 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[1].x -= 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[1].y -= 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[2].x += 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[2].y += 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[3].x += 4;
        cube.geometry.vertices[3].y -= 4;
        addChild( cube );
        cube.moveBackward( depth / 2 );
    }

What I’m trying to do is define a variable in GlobeView.as
e.g. var markerColor:String;

When a marker is added, give the variable a value
e.g.

{
var marker:Marker = new Marker();
marker.name = name;
markerColor = "red";
placeMarker( marker, latitude, longitude );
}

Then add an if statement to the marker class

e.g.

public function Marker()
    {
        super();

        if (markerColor=="red")
        {
            var frontMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff7200, 1, true );
            var backMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff7200, 1, true );
            var leftMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff6100, 1, true );
            var rightMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff6100, 1, true );
            var topMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff4f00, 1, true );
            var bottomMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( 0xff4f00, 1, true );
        }

I hope that makes sense – probably made it a lot more complicated than it needs to be

Answer 1

Why not pass those variables in the constructor for example?

public function Marker( name: String, color: String = "blue" )
{
    super();
    this.name = name;
    if (color == "red")
    {
         // ...
    }
}

By default it would have the color-string set to “blue”. The code does seem that it could use some refactoring though. For example, pass the color-parameter directly (e.g. use a uint and use that variable in the constructor of the ColorMaterial):

public function Marker( name: String, color: uint )
{
    var material: ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial( color, ... );
    // ...
}

Or better yet, have pre-defined material-lists and pass one of those.