User Guide

5
Introduction
As a Macromedia Flash user, you may be familiar with ActionScript, which lets you create
scripts that execute at runtime in Macromedia Flash Player. The Flash JavaScript application
programming interface (JavaScript API) is a complementary programming tool that lets you
create scripts that run in the authoring environment.
This document describes the objects, methods, and properties available in the JavaScript API.
It assumes that you know how to use the documented commands when working in the
authoring environment. If you have a question about what a particular command does, use
other documents in Flash Help, such as Using Flash, to find that information.
This document also assumes that you are familiar with JavaScript or ActionScript syntax and
with basic programming concepts such as functions, parameters, and data types.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Overview of the Macromedia Flash JavaScript API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What’s new in the JavaScript API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Flash Document Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Sample implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Overview of the Macromedia Flash
JavaScript API
The ActionScript language lets you write scripts to perform actions in the Flash Player
environment (that is, while a SWF file is playing). The Flash JavaScript API lets you write
scripts to perform several actions in the Flash authoring environment (that is, while a user has
the Flash program open). These scripts can be used to help streamline the authoring process.
For example, you can write scripts to automate repetitive tasks, add custom tools to the Tools
panel, or add timeline effects.