User Guide

30 Chapter 2: ActionScript Basics
Slash syntax
Slash syntax was used in Flash 3 and 4 to indicate the target path of a movie clip or variable. This
syntax is still supported by Flash Player 7, but its use is not recommended, and slash syntax is not
supported in ActionScript 2.0. However, if you are creating content intended specifically for
Flash Player 4, you must use slash syntax. For more information, see “Using slash syntax”
on page 321.
Curly braces
ActionScript event handlers, class definitions, and functions are grouped together into blocks
with curly braces (
{}). You can put the opening brace on the same line as your declaration or on
the next line, as shown in the following examples. To make your code easier to read, it’s a good
idea to choose one format and use it consistently. For recommended guidelines on formatting
code, see Chapter 3, “Formatting code,” on page 76.
The following examples show the opening brace on same line as the declaration:
// Event handler
my_btn.onRelease = function() {
var myDate:Date = new Date();
var currentMonth:Number = myDate.getMonth();
};
// Class Circle.as
class Circle(radius) {
}
// Function
circleArea = function(radius:Number){
return radius * radius * Math.PI;
}
The following examples show code with opening brace on the next line:
//Event handler
my_btn.onRelease = function()
{
var myDate:Date = new Date();
var currentMonth:Number = myDate.getMonth();
};
//Class Square.as
class Square(side)
{
}
//Function
squareArea = function(side:Number)
{
return side * side;
}
You can check for matching curly braces in your scripts (see “Checking syntax and punctuation”
on page 150).