User Guide

982 Chapter 2: ActionScript Language Reference
trace()
Availability
Flash Player 4.
Usage
trace(expression)
Parameters
expression
An expression to evaluate. When a SWF file is opened in the Flash authoring
tool (using the Test Movie command), the value of the
expression parameter is displayed in the
Output panel.
Returns
Nothing.
Description
Statement; evaluates the expression and displays the result in the Output panel in test mode.
Use this statement to record programming notes or to display messages in the Output panel while
testing a SWF file. Use the
expression parameter to check whether a condition exists, or to
display values in the Output panel. The trace() statement is similar to the
alert function in
JavaScript.
You can use the Omit Trace Actions command in the Publish Settings dialog box to remove
trace() actions from the exported SWF file.
Example
The following example uses a trace() statement to display in the Output panel the methods and
properties of the dynamically created text field called
error_txt:
this.createTextField("error_txt", this.getNextHighestDepth(), 0, 0, 100, 22);
for (var i in error_txt) {
trace("error_txt."+i+" = "+error_txt[i]);
}
/* output:
error_txt.styleSheet = undefined
error_txt.mouseWheelEnabled = true
error_txt.condenseWhite = false
...
error_txt.maxscroll = 1
error_txt.scroll = 1
*/
CHAPTER 2
ActionScript Language Reference