Re: FLASH: Is this possible? (html style Menu system)

[Marc Hoffman]

At 03:06 PM 4/20/99 -0500, you wrote:

>>>Is it possible to make a menu system like this work?

>>>

>>>http://www.webstaffing.net/menutest


><SNIP>


>But this is way more than a simple pull down menu.  Notice that here you

>have  *multiple independant selections*, and then go somewhere based on the

>combination of them.  This is trivial in html, but since flash has no

>variable memory it seems daunting.


Flash can have a variable memory by the use of movie clips.  Particularly

if you know the order in which the user will input choices, you can use

nested movie clips to track a series of user choices. A "simple" example,

preparing the way for the user to make a series of yes/no (binary) choices,

follows.  It could be extended to have more than 2 choices per option, however.


Main timeline has movie clip, instance name "1," that has two frames, A and B.

	A holds movie clip, instance name "2," and B also holds a movie clip,

instance name "2" (yes, the identical name).

		These lower level mc's look like their parents, and the mc's they hold

share the instance name "3."

You can go down as many levels as your user has yes/no choices to make.


On the first option or question, if user chooses "yes," tellTarget sends mc

/1 to frame A. "No" sends it to frame B.

Second question, a yes results in a tellTarget that sends mc /1/2 to the

first frame.  A no sends it to the second frame.


After all choices are made, the lowest level nested mc will be a unique

instance, although it will have an identical instance name to all its

cousins (mc's of the same generation).  That instance name will be /1/2/3.

It will have a stop action in its first frame. What will make it unique is

the action it holds in its second frame.  When the final user choice is

made, this mc will be tellTargeted to go to its second frame and carry out

its unique action.


Clear as mud?



Marc Hoffman

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com)

Play a virtual marimba at: <www.dartfrogmedia.com/dartfrog> (featured 

in the book Flash 3 Web Animation by Ken Milburn).

Flash3 samples: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler>.


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