Developer Snippets - An Embodiment for Developers

The Sprite class is new in ActionScript 3.0, This class is a basic display list building block, which can display graphics and can also contain childrens. Depending on the Sprite class we can create a Sprite object, this Sprite object is similar to a movie clip, but does not have a timeline. This is an appropriate base class for objects that do not require timelines.

To demonstrate the same, here in this article I am posting one simple application which makes use of Sprite class.

Flash Application: In the first frame, press F9 to open up ActionScript editor window, Copy and paste the code and save it as rotateRectObj.fla

Respective Code:

//Creating an object rectangle of type Sprite
var rectangle:Sprite = new Sprite();
rectangle.graphics.lineStyle(0,0x7B7B7B); //lineStyle(thickness, color)
rectangle.graphics.beginFill(0xA6A6A6); //beginFill(color)
rectangle.graphics.drawRect(0,0,60,60); //drawRect(x,y,width,height)
rectangle.graphics.endFill(); //endfill

var dot:Shape = new Shape(); //dot is a Shape Object
dot.graphics.lineStyle(0,0xFF0000); //lineStyle(thickness, color)
dot.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000); //beginFill(color)
dot.graphics.drawCircle(0,0,2); //drawCircle(x,y,radius)
dot.graphics.endFill(); //endfill

rectangle.addChild(dot); //add the dot object to the Rectangle
dot.x = 1; //x position -> 1
dot.y = 1; //y positin -> 1

this.addChild(rectangle); //adding a rectangle to the stage
rectangle.x = 200; //x position -> 200
rectangle.y = 200; //y position -> 200

/*
adding an EventListener to the stage, and here we are calling 'rotateRectObject'
function on when ENTER_FRAME is fired.
*/
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, rotateRectObject);
function rotateRectObject(evt:Event):void {
//rotation is a property to rotate the respective object
rectangle.rotation+=10;
}

Once done with the saving of the file, then click ctrl+Enter to preview the same.

Explanation of the Code:
My requirement in this application is to rotate an Rectangle Object clock wise. For this I have created an Sprite object named ‘rectangle’ and to this object I have added some additional graphics like ‘lineStyle’, beginFill, drawRect, endFill

Methods and Properties used in this example:

1. linestyle() is a method, Which specifies a line style like thickness , color for the object. In our example we have written like this:rectangle.graphics.lineStyle(0,0x7B7B7B); // Here 0 is the thickness and 0x7B7B7B is the color, I have choosen my own colorActual Syntax for lineStyle is:

   public function lineStyle(thickness:Number, color:uint = 0,  alpha:Number = 1.0, pixelHinting:Boolean = false, scaleMode:String =  "normal", caps:String = null, joints:String = null, miterLimit:Number =  3):void

2. beginFill() is a method, which Specifies a simple one-color fill, Flash Player does not render the fill until the endFill method is called.Actual Syntax for beginFill is:

   public function beginFill(color:uint, alpha:Number = 1.0):void

3. drawRect() is a method, which draws a rectangle. We must set the line style, fill, or both before you call the drawRect() method, by calling the linestyle() , beginFill() method.Actual Syntax for drawRect is:

   public function drawRect(x:Number, y:Number, width:Number, height:Number):void

4. addChild() is a method, which adds a child DisplayObject instance to this DisplayObjectContainer instance.Actual Syntax for addChild is:

   public function addChild(child:DisplayObject):DisplayObject

5. addEventListener() is a method, which adds respective event to the object. Like Event.ENTER_FRAME, MouseEvent.CLICK etc., and when event has fired call a respective function, like in this example I am calling rotateRectObject function.
6. rotation is a property, which indicates the rotation of the target object. Here the target object is ‘rectangle’.

Output: