i have a button on the stage. the document class loads two sub classes. how do
you get the sub class to access/work with a stage item that is already on the
display list?

as3.0 is killing me!!! grrrr...

thanks!

In AS3 there is no global reference to the stage. If a class is not a
DisplayObject(or subclass), then it does not have a built in way to access the
stage.

To get a reference to the stage from inside a non-DisplayObjet class, you
usually pass in a reference to the stage in the subclass constructor.

That's what I can't find anywhere. I've look for 11 days now. Everyone is
drawing crap and using the add Child. My stuff is already on the stage. I even
spent 75 bucks on a book and can't find out how to access a stage movie clip.

I can't find the code to do this, create a new displayObject and how to get it
to find something on the root...

What can't you find? I'm not following... your stuff is already on the stage?
So then they have a 'stage' and a 'root' property already.

However, you said you have a document class which is loading two subclasses.
How are you loading those subclasses? If those subclasses are not
DisplayObjects then you will need to pass them a reference to stage or root in
some way, usually through the constructor.

the document class imports mapTools and moveMap. the document class is mapDC. i
can access stage items from the mapDC because it's the document class. each
class is imported and then an instance to the constructor is create. So I know
all classes are loaded and initialized.

However the loaded custom classes can't get to the display list because I
don't know how. How do I write the code for the loaded classes to access a
movie clip on the main timeline?

From in mapDC:

new mapTools(stage)

In mapTools:

private var stage:Stage;
function mapTools(targetStage){
stage = targetStage;
}

this project is going to have over 100 classes so i need them broke up. i've
tried importing the display class in my sub classes and using

stage.root.mapSectionMC...

and it doesn't referece the mapSectionMC on the root.

The document class mapDC:

package com.main{
// this is the main document class for the rextag map appllication
// import movie clip to extend to use on stage
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import com.main.tools.mapTools;
//
public class mapDC extends MovieClip {
// instance of class
public function mapDC() {
trace("MainMap initialized");
new mapTools(stage);
}
public function test() {
trace("here at test");
}
}
}




The mapTools Class:


package com.main.tools{
// import
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.display.*;
// this class will contain all the move methods and functions
public class mapTools {
private var stage:Stage;
function mapTools(targetStage) {
trace("Map tools initialized");
stage = targetStage;

stage.root.mapSection.eastArrow.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,testOut
put);
}
//---------- test output function
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
public function testOutput(evt:MouseEvent) {
trace("worked");

}
}
}

didn't work. it initializes the mapTools class. but then i can't get the code to actually access the item to work.

stage.root.mapSection... // errors
stage.mapSection..... //errors

What error do you get? Is mapSection a timeline MovieClip? In that case you need:

When this is the code for the movieClip access:

MovieClip(stage.root).mapSection.eastArrow.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER
,testOutput);

this is the error:
MainMap initialized
Map tools initialized
TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert
flash.display::Stage@171aa1e9 to flash.display.MovieClip.
at com.main.tools::mapTools$iinit()
at com.main::mapDC$iinit()


thanks for all your help so far!

I'm sorry, that was mistake. Stage.root is a reference to stage. Don't know
why. So I think you'll need to pass in a reference to root instead of stage.

Anything you create in the IDE on the timeline will be inside of root.

From in mapDC:

new mapTools(root)

In mapTools:

private var root:MovieClip;
function mapTools(targetTimeline){
root = targetTimeline as MovieClip;
}

AHHHHH! Hell yeah! That's what I needed! Thank-you sooooo much, you just saved me from going crazy. Thanks a lot....