User Guide

Global Functions 107
Example
The following example traces the target path of a movie clip as soon as it loads:
this.createEmptyMovieClip("myClip_mc", this.getNextHighestDepth());
trace(targetPath(myClip_mc)); // _level0.myClip_mc
See also
eval function
tellTarget function
tellTarget(target:String) {
statement(s);
}
Deprecated since Flash Player 5. Macromedia recommends that you use dot (.) notation and
the
with statement.
Applies the instructions specified in the
statements parameter to the Timeline specified in
the
target parameter. The tellTarget action is useful for navigation controls. Assign
tellTarget to buttons that stop or start movie clips elsewhere on the Stage. You can also
make movie clips go to a particular frame in that clip. For example, you might assign
tellTarget to buttons that stop or start movie clips on the Stage or prompt movie clips to
jump to a particular frame.
In Flash 5 or later, you can use dot (.) notation instead of the
tellTarget action. You can use
the
with action to issue multiple actions to the same Timeline. You can use the with action to
target any object, whereas the
tellTarget action can target only movie clips.
Availability: ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 3
Parameters
target:String - A string that specifies the target path of the Timeline to be controlled.
statement(s) - The instructions to execute if the condition is true.
Example
This tellTarget statement controls the movie clip instance ball on the main Timeline. Frame 1
of the ball instance is blank and has a stop() action so it isn't visible on the Stage. When you
click the button with the following action, tellTarget tells the playhead in ball to go to Frame
2, where the animation starts:
on(release) {
tellTarget("_parent.ball") {
gotoAndPlay(2);
}
}