The short answer is, you can invoke the function directly by writing:
this.onPress = function () {
_parent[this._name]();
}
or, if this looks clearer, you can use the call() method
this.onPress = function () {
_parent[this._name].call();
}
However, there are a few issues with this approach.
First, I don't like the fact that there are two things with the same name in
the same scope: a function and a movie clip. This might just be me being
picky, but I'll show you an example of where this breaks in a moment.
Second, it's not best practice to put scripts inside movie clips. It's
easier to assign these functions from the main timeline.
Third, I'm not sure what this gains you. It's easier to copy and paste but,
if you're already going into the movie clip manually, you might as well just
type the function name. Maybe if you reused the clip from movie to movie
this step would already be done and you'd only have to write the function...
Or maybe I'm missing another time saving purpose.
Combining all three of the above issues, you can automatically assign
functions to all your movie clips from the the main timeline by writing
this:
(assumes mcs on stage named "pictures", "help", and "home", and gets around
same-name-in-same-scope by adding a "do_" prefix to the function name)
//
for (var s:String in this) {
if (typeof(this[s]) == "movieclip") {
this[x].onPress = function () {
this._parent["do_" + this._name].call();
}
}
}
function do_pictures() {
trace("pictures");
}
function do_help() {
trace("help");
}
function do_home() {
trace("home");
}
//
This will cause EVERY mc in the main timeline to behave this way, so this
approach may not be what you want, but it's a proof of concept. You could do
this through an array of all mcs you want the function assigned to, or even
do it manually like this:
pictures.onPress = function () {
this._parent["do_" + this._name].call();
}
But, again, without some sort of automation in applying the script, you lose
the benefit. You might as well just write:
pictures.onPress = function () {
do_pictures();
}
If you want to see an example of the same-name-in-same-scope problem, run
the first example above after removing "do_" from everything. The script
will "work" but when it goes through and assigns the onPress event handler,
it will assign it to the function pictures rather than the mc pictures. The
function is seen before the mc in the execution order of the loop.
Finally, if the lowercase string "movieclip" for typeof is confusing, you
can substitute:
if (this[x] instanceof MovieClip) {
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