the basis for all other classes and the basis for generic objects | | Constructornew Object() Properties - constructor
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A reference to the class constructor function used to create the object. - _ _proto_ _
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A reference to the prototype property of the object's constructor function. Class Methods The following method is invoked through the Object class itself, not through an instance of the Object class: - registerClass( )
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Assign a constructor for a movie clip symbol. Methods The following are instance-level methods of the Object class. - addProperty( )
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Define a getter/setter property for an object or class. - hasOwnProperty( )
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Check whether a property is defined directly on an object. - toString( )
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Convert the value of the object to a string. - unWatch( )
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Remove an existing watchpoint. - valueOf( )
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Retrieve the primitive value of the object, if one exists. - watch( )
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Create a watchpoint to filter property assignment. Description The Object class is the base class of the ActionScript object model. Object is used for two general purposes: as a constructor for creating new, generic objects, and as a superclass upon which to base new classes. All classes in ActionScript, whether user-defined or built-in, are descendants of the Object class. All instances of all classes therefore inherit the properties and methods of Object (though some classes override those properties). However, the class method Object.registerClass( ) is accessed directly as a method of the Object class's constructor, Object, not through an instance of the class. To create a generic object of the Object class directly in our code without using a constructor, we can use an object literal just as we might use a string literal or an array literal. An object literal is a series of comma-separated property name/value pairs, enclosed in curly braces. Here's the general syntax: { property1: value1, property2: value2, property3: value3 } The names of properties in an object literal must be legal identifiers, as described in Chapter 15. The values can be any valid expression. For example: // An object literal with two numeric properties myObject = { x: 30, y: 23 }; // Set the x property's value using a complex expression myOtherObject = { x: Math.floor(Math.random() * 50 + 1) }; Because object literals always create generic, anonymous objects, they typically are used when we need object-formatted data temporarily, such as when invoking Sound.setTransform( ), Color.setTransform( ), or MovieClip.localToGlobal( ). See Also Chapter 12 |