User Guide

Using the ActionScript editor 147

For information on using code hints when they appear, see “Using code hints” on page 147.

Using comments to trigger code hints

You can also use ActionScript comments to specify an object’s class for code hinting. The

following example tells ActionScript that the class of the instance

theObject is Object, and so on.

If you were to enter

mc followed by a period after these comments, a code hint would display the

list of MovieClip methods and properties; if you were to enter

theArray followed by a period, a

code hint would display a list of Array methods and properties; and so on.

// Object theObject;

// Array theArray;

// MovieClip mc;

However, Macromedia recommends that, instead of this technique, you use strict data typing (see

“Strictly typing objects to trigger code hints” on page 145) or suffixes (see “Using suffixes to

trigger code hints” on page 145) because these techniques enable code hinting automatically and

make your code more understandable.

Using code hints

Code hints are enabled by default. By setting preferences, you can disable code hints or determine

how quickly they appear. When code hints are disabled in preferences, you can still display a code

hint for a specific command.

To specify settings for automatic code hints:

Do one of the following:

• Select Edit > Preferences, and then enable or disable Code Hints on the ActionScript tab.

• In the Actions panel, select Preferences from the Options pop-up menu (at the upper right of

the panel) and enable or disable Code hints on the ActionScript tab.

If you enable code hints, you can also specify a delay in seconds before the code hints should

appear. For example, if you are new to ActionScript, you might prefer no delay so that code hints

always appear immediately. However, if you usually know what you want to type and need hints

only when you use unfamiliar language elements, you can specify a delay so that code hints don’t

appear when you don’t plan to use them.

XMLNode _xmlnode

XMLSocket _xmlsocket

Object type Variable suffix