Question

New to AS3, long time programmer. Essentially I am creating a myriad of objects, all of which will have the same functionality, although the properties will vary between each object, including the artwork. I believe they will all be movieclips as they will be interactive and I believe they will be moving.

I am wondering what the best way to create these objects are. I am assuming that I create an object class with the functionality and properties, I’m just unsure how to instantiate multiple copies with different properties, if that makes sense.

Sorry for my poor wording, I can help elaborate if necessary, and thank you for your help in advance! 🙂

Answer 1

Create a class.

package {
    import flash.display.MovieClip;

    public class MyMovieClip extends MovieClip {
    }
}

Add properties that may vary.

package {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.MovieClip;

    public class MyMovieClip extends MovieClip {
        private var _borderColor : uint;
        private var _artWork : DisplayObject;
    }
}

Add possibilities to modify the properties. You may use constructor arguments or explicit getter/setter or you could declare your properties to be public.

package {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.MovieClip;

    public class MyMovieClip extends MovieClip {
        private var _borderColor : uint;
        private var _artWork : DisplayObject;

        // using constructor parameters

        public function MyMovieClip(borderColor : uint, artWork : DisplayObject) {
            _borderColor = borderColor;
            _artWork = artWork;
        }

        // using setter/getter

        public function set borderColor(borderColor : uint) : void {
            _borderColor = borderColor;
        }

        public function get borderColor() : uint {
            return _borderColor;
        }

        public function set artWork(artWork : DisplayObject) : void {
            _artWork = artWork;
        }
        public function get artWork() : DisplayObject {
            return _artWork;
        }

    }
}

Create instances of the class and set them up using different values:

package  {
    import flash.display.Shape;
    import flash.display.Sprite;

    public class Main extends Sprite {
        public function Main() {
            var myMc1 : MyMovieClip = new MyMovieClip(0xFF0000, new Shape());
            var myMc2 : MyMovieClip = new MyMovieClip(0x0000FF, new Shape());
            var myMc3 : MyMovieClip = new MyMovieClip(0x00FF00, new Shape());

            myMc1.borderColor = 0xFF0000;
            myMc3.artWork = new Shape();
        }
    }
}