Re: FLASH: Call function/ tell target

[Matt Wobensmith]

Hi Olga -


You wrote:


>is there any difference

>between using the call function to run actions on a particular frame of a

>movie clip as opposed to using tell target to run those actions? 


The main differences here:


Call - runs the actions in the frame label you reference.


Tell Target - can send the playback head to a frame in a timeline you

reference.


A Call action does not play the animation in the frame that is being called.

Tell Target will. 


The best way to explain the Call action is a way to "store" actions in

another frame for future use. It's also one of the ways that Flash 4 fakes a

"function" with return values. A Call action references one frame.


Tell Target / movie clip frame actions can be used also as a way to store

actions and routines, and can utilize more than one frame of actions. This

is especially useful for doing things like polling for a value in another

timeline, or making sure that some data is completely loaded before sending

an "OK" signal - of sorts.


Why use one or the other? Call is good for a small routine, like a math

function, that returns a value to the same timeline. The Tell Target movie

clip thing is good for creating a mechanism in another timeline that spans

more than just one frame. If you have any Loop actions that need more than

200000 "actions" (see TechNote below), then it's best to do routines like

this with the movie clip via a frame-based loop. 


They're both useful. :>)


TechNote referenced above:


What causes a "more than 200000 actions" error?

TN 14570

http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/infinite_loop.htm



Matt



---------------

Matt Wobensmith

Macromedia


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