User Guide

152 Chapter 5: ActionScript Core Language Elements

eval()

Availability

Flash Player 5.

Usage

eval(expression:String) : Object

Parameters

expression

A string containing the name of a variable, property, object, or movie clip

to retrieve.

Returns

A value, reference to an object or movie clip, or undefined.

Description

Function; accesses variables, properties, objects, or movie clips by name. If expression is a

variable or a property, the value of the variable or property is returned. If

expression is an object

or movie clip, a reference to the object or movie clip is returned. If the element named in

expression cannot be found, undefined is returned.

Example

The following example uses eval() to set properties for dynamically named movie clips. This

ActionScript sets the

_rotation property for three movie clips, called square1_mc, square2_mc,

and

square3_mc.

for (var i = 1; i<=3; i++) {

setProperty(eval("square"+i+"_mc"), _rotation, 5);

}

You can also use the following ActionScript:

for (var i = 1; i<=3; i++) {

this["square"+i+"_mc"]._rotation = -5;

}