User Guide

40 ActionScript language elements
Global Functions
This section contains a set of built-in functions that are available in any part of a SWF file
where ActionScript is used. These global functions cover a wide variety of common
programming tasks such as working with data types (
Boolean(), int(), and so on),
producing debugging information (
trace()), and communicating with Flash Player or the
browser (
fscommand()).
Global Functions summary
Modifiers Signature Description
Array([numElements:N
umber],
[elementN:Object])
Creates a new, empty array or converts specified
elements to an array.
asfunction(function:
String,
parameter:String)
A special protocol for URLs in HTML text fields that
allows an HREF link to call an ActionScript function.
Boolean(expression:O
bject)
Converts the parameter expression to a Boolean
value and returns true or false.
call(frame:Object) Deprecated since Flash Player 5. This action was
deprecated in favor of the function statement.
Executes the script in the called frame without moving
the playhead to that frame.
chr(number:Number) Deprecated since Flash Player 5. This function was
deprecated in favor of String.fromCharCode().
Converts ASCII code numbers to characters.
clearInterval(interv
alID:Number)
Stops the setInterval() call.
duplicateMovieClip(t
arget:Object,
newname:String,
depth:Number)
Creates an instance of a movie clip while the SWF file
is playing.
escape(expression:St
ring)
Converts the parameter to a string and encodes it in a
URL-encoded format, where all nonalphanumeric
characters are replaced with % hexadecimal
sequences.
eval(expression:Obje
ct)
Accesses variables, properties, objects, or movie clips
by name.