unpacking possible?

[jameslavis]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding whether or not this idea is feasible. If I have a drag and drop game, with individiual movie clips, could I pack them together so the user would pick up a cluster of mcs, drop them, and they would seperate and become individual again? My thought process on this is to create a holder transparent mc with all the mcs inside of it. Pick it up as a whole, place it and somehow delete the holder mc (parent maybe), and promote the mc's to parent status? If anyone can help direct me that'd be great.

[jameslavis]

hey ken,

I dropped the code in the unpack function area and get a different error in each area I put it in. I did remove the initial event listeners. At what section of the code did you mean?

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

Sorry it's inside while(--i) loop

[jameslavis]

ok you've got much more talent here then I do, I put it here. Now the behavior on the output was odd. When I dragged the pile into the unpack area. the pile container remained in the unpackzone still visible, poverty unpacked and moved, and the other two mcs disappeared.

function unpackpile(e:DisplayObject):void{

if(unpackzone.hitTestPoint(mouseX, mouseY, true)){

var i:uint = pile1.numChildren;

    while (--i) {

var movieclip:MovieClip = addChild(pile1.removeChild(pile1.getChildAt(i))) as MovieClip;

movieclip.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

trace(addChild(pile1.removeChild(pile1.getChildAt(i))));

}

}

}

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

Remove the trace

[jameslavis]

ok I've attached a screenshot. Poverty becomes moveable, but the two other mcs completely disappear, and the container (pile1) remains visible where I let go of the mouse in the unpack zone. I removed the trace as well.

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

...
var i:uint = pile1.numChildren;
while (--i) {
        var movieclip:MovieClip = addChild(pile1.removeChild(pile1.getChildAt(i))) as MovieClip;
        movieclip.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);
}
removeChild(pile1);
...

[jameslavis]

now we have a winner thanks for your help ken. Now if I wanted to create multiple piles, would I use the same code but with new functions and mc name adaptations?

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

You can make the function more generic so that you can use it for any number of piles, i.e.

unpackpile(e.currentTarget as MovieClip);
...
function unpackpile(pile:MovieClip):void {
...
   var i:uint = pile.numChildren;
...
}

[jameslavis]

now heres where it gets messy in theory. So say I have 3 containers, each will have mcs added to them (pile1, pile2, and pile3). So the adding of mcs, no problem. But if I make the code for the unpack generic, how will flash know to only unpack things denoted as pile1-3, not the individual mcs?

now your use of the word "pile" in the code, would that be a class assigned to all mcs pile1, pile2, pile3, etc?

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

You call the function with a parameter (a MovieClip to be "unpacked") so that Flash knows what to unpack.

unpackpile(pile1);

unpackpile(pile2);

etc...

[jameslavis]

hey ken, so with this it looks good, the pile container though will not remove itself, the items though are active. So very close! How would I ensure the container is removed once unpacked? The exercise operates but I do get a stack overlow message in the output tab.

backbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, backclick);

helpbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, helpclick);

answerbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, answerclick);

pile1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

pile2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

import fl.transitions.Tween;

import fl.transitions.easing.*;

import fl.transitions.TweenEvent;

import flash.media.Sound;

import flash.display.StageScaleMode;

import flash.events.Event;

import flash.display.StageDisplayState;

pile1.addChild(cash);

cash.x=0

cash.y=0

pile1.addChild(ineffectiveness);

ineffectiveness.x=0

ineffectiveness.y=10

pile1.addChild(poverty);

poverty.x=0

poverty.y=5

pile2.addChild(sex);

sex.x=0

sex.y=0

pile2.addChild(love);

love.x=0

love.y=10

pile2.addChild(loneliness);

loneliness.x=0

loneliness.y=5

var me:Object;

function grabMe(e:MouseEvent):void{

    me = e.currentTarget;

    me.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

    me.startDrag();

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, dragMe);

    stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, dropMe);

}

function dropMe(e:MouseEvent):void {

    stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, dropMe);

    stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, dragMe);

    me.stopDrag();

    me.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

unpackpile(e.currentTarget as MovieClip);

}

function dragMe(e:MouseEvent):void {

    e.updateAfterEvent();

}

function unpackpile(pile:MovieClip):void {

if(unpackzone.hitTestPoint(mouseX, mouseY, true)){

var i:uint = me.numChildren;

while (--i) {

var movieclip:MovieClip = addChild(me.removeChild(me.getChildAt(i))) as MovieClip;

movieclip.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

}

unpackpile(pile1);

unpackpile(pile2);

}

}

function backclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("main");

}

function helpclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("help");

}

function answerclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("answer");

}

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

Replace the following in your function unpackpile(pile:MovieClip):void

unpackpile(pile1);
unpackpile(pile2);

to

removeChild(pile);

You should also check if the dropped MovieClip is pile1/pile2 before unpacking.

[jameslavis]

With the change to removechild the items still unpack properly but the container pile still remains. In my output I get type error 2007: parameter child must be non-null.

at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer/removeChild()

at As3test_fla::MainTimeline/unpackpile()

at As3test_fla::MainTimeline/dropMe()

I've attached a screenie, the sole black box (in the red area) is the unpacked container still on screen. I attached the modified code below

backbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, backclick);

helpbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, helpclick);

answerbutton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, answerclick);

pile1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

pile2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

import fl.transitions.Tween;

import fl.transitions.easing.*;

import fl.transitions.TweenEvent;

import flash.media.Sound;

import flash.display.StageScaleMode;

import flash.events.Event;

import flash.display.StageDisplayState;

pile1.addChild(cash);

cash.x=0

cash.y=0

pile1.addChild(ineffectiveness);

ineffectiveness.x=0

ineffectiveness.y=10

pile1.addChild(poverty);

poverty.x=0

poverty.y=5

pile2.addChild(sex);

sex.x=0

sex.y=0

pile2.addChild(love);

love.x=0

love.y=10

pile2.addChild(loneliness);

loneliness.x=0

loneliness.y=5

var me:Object;

function grabMe(e:MouseEvent):void{

    me = e.currentTarget;

    me.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

    me.startDrag();

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, dragMe);

    stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, dropMe);

}

function dropMe(e:MouseEvent):void {

    stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, dropMe);

    stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, dragMe);

    me.stopDrag();

    me.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

unpackpile(e.currentTarget as MovieClip);

}

function dragMe(e:MouseEvent):void {

    e.updateAfterEvent();

}

function unpackpile(pile:MovieClip):void {

if(unpackzone.hitTestPoint(mouseX, mouseY, true)){

var i:uint = me.numChildren;

while (--i) {

var movieclip:MovieClip = addChild(me.removeChild(me.getChildAt(i))) as MovieClip;

movieclip.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, grabMe);

}

removeChild(pile)

}

}

function backclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("main");

}

function helpclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("help");

}

function answerclick(event:MouseEvent):void{

gotoAndStop("answer");

}

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

Well you're mixing "me" in - then try removeChild(me); instead

[jameslavis]

i went with "me" as it is utilized in the drag/drop for the active item. When I switch that out for me I get an error, 1118 implicit coercion of a value with static type Object to a possibly unrelated type flash.display:DisplayObject.

I've been messing with different things. The functionality is close just not sure why I get output errors and the container remains...

[Kenneth Kawamoto]

Change the following:

From:

var me:Object;

to:

var me:MovieClip;

from:

me = e.currentTarget;

to:

me = e.currentTarget as MovieClip;

[jameslavis]

that works....thanks for all your help ken. I can retire....