User Guide

534 Chapter 2: ActionScript Language Reference
MovieClip.hitTest()
Availability
Flash Player 5.
Usage
my_mc.hitTest(x:Number, y:Number, shapeFlag:Boolean) : Boolean
my_mc.hitTest(target:Object) : Boolean
Parameters
x
The x coordinate of the hit area on the Stage.
y The y coordinate of the hit area on the Stage.
The x and y coordinates are defined in the global coordinate space.
target The target path of the hit area that may intersect or overlap with the instance specified
by
my_mc. The target parameter usually represents a button or text-entry field.
shapeFlag A Boolean value specifying whether to evaluate the entire shape of the specified
instance (
true), or just the bounding box (false). This parameter can be specified only if the hit
area is identified using
x and y coordinate parameters.
Returns
A Boolean value of true if my_mc overlaps with the specified hit area, false otherwise.
Description
Method; evaluates the instance specified by my_mc to see if it overlaps or intersects with the hit
area identified by the
target or x and y coordinate parameters.
Usage 1: Compares the
x and y coordinates to the shape or bounding box of the specified
instance, according to the
shapeFlag setting. If shapeFlag is set to true, only the area actually
occupied by the instance on the Stage is evaluated, and if
x and y overlap at any point, a value of
true is returned. This is useful for determining if the movie clip is within a specified hit or
hotspot area.
Usage 2: Evaluates the bounding boxes of the
target and specified instance, and returns true if
they overlap or intersect at any point.
Example
The following example uses hitTest() to determine if the movie clip circle_mc overlaps or
intersects the movie clip
square_mc when the user releases the mouse button:
square_mc.onPress = function() {
this.startDrag();
};
square_mc.onRelease = function() {
this.stopDrag();
if (this.hitTest(circle_mc)) {
trace("you hit the circle");
}
};