Are you happy with the new help file in flash CS3?

[joshchernoff]

I find it really hard now to under stand the new AS3 code because of how different the help file is now.

Example:

in flash 8 and AS2 books you have a question about "gotoAndPlay function"
well then you would hit F1 or got to the help file in the help menu.
Then type "gotoAndPlay" in the search field and look it up likely in the
ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference where you would see something like this.




gotoAndPlay function

gotoAndPlay([scene:String], frame:Object) : Void
Sends the playhead to the specified frame in a scene and plays from that frame. If no scene is specified, the playhead goes to the specified frame in the current scene. You can use the scene parameter only on the root Timeline, not within Timelines for movie clips or other objects in the document.
Availability: ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 2
Parameters

scene:String (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00002157.html#475500) [optional] - A string specifying the name of the scene to which the playhead is sent.
frame:Object (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00002035.html#421878) - A number representing the frame number, or a string representing the label of the frame, to which the playhead is sent.
Example

In the following example, a document has two scenes: sceneOne and sceneTwo. Scene one contains a frame label on Frame 10 called newFrame and two buttons, myBtn_btn and myOtherBtn_btn. This ActionScript is placed on Frame 1, Scene 1 of the main Timeline.
stop();
myBtn_btn.onRelease = function(){
gotoAndPlay("newFrame");
};

myOtherBtn_btn.onRelease = function(){
gotoAndPlay("sceneTwo", 1);
};

When the user clicks the buttons, the playhead moves to the specified location and continues playing.
See also

gotoAndPlay (file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Application%20Data/Adobe/Flash%20CS3/en/Configuration/HelpPanel/Help/ActionScriptLangRefV2/00001925.html#381033) (MovieClip.gotoAndPlay method) (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00001925.html#381033), nextFrame function (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00001198.html#151365), play function (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00001207.html#154486), prevFrame function (http://www.kirupa.com/forum/00001208.html#154669)




In the case of AS3 you would get


Package flash.display
Class public final class Scene
Inheritance Scene Object


Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9



The Scene class includes properties for identifying the name, labels, and number of frames in a scene. The MovieClip class includes a currentScene property, which is a Scene object that identifies the scene in which the playhead is located in the timeline of the MovieClip instance. The scenes property of the MovieClip class is an array of Scene objects. Also, the gotoAndPlay() and gotoAndStop() methods of the MovieClip class use Scene objects as parameters.

See also

MovieClip.currentScene
MovieClip.scenes
MovieClip.gotoAndPlay()
MovieClip.gotoAndStop()


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

Public Properties
Hide Inherited Public Properties
Show Inherited Public Properties
Property Defined by
constructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance. Object
labels : Array
[read-only] An array of FrameLabel objects for the scene. Scene
name : String
[read-only] The name of the scene. Scene
numFrames : int
[read-only] The number of frames in the scene. Scene
prototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object. Object

Public Methods
Hide Inherited Public Methods
Show Inherited Public Methods
Method Defined by
hasOwnProperty(name:String):Boolean
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined. Object
isPrototypeOf(theClass:Object):Boolean
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter. Object
propertyIsEnumerable(name:String):Boolean
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable. Object
setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations. Object
toString():String
Returns the string representation of the specified object. Object
valueOf():Object
Returns the primitive value of the specified object. Object

Property Detail
labels property

labels:Array [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9


An array of FrameLabel objects for the scene. Each FrameLabel object contains a frame property, which specifies the frame number corresponding to the label, and a name property.


Implementation
public function get labels():Array

See also

FrameLabel
name property

name:String [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9


The name of the scene.


Implementation
public function get name():String

numFrames property

numFrames:int [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9


The number of frames in the scene.


Implementation
public function get numFrames():int



I used gotoandplay as an example because it was simple to under stand but, in the AS3 books no where does it show an example of it's use, or the parameters of its use. There is almost no info on it's proper uses at all. So what kinda help it that gonna give me if I don't know any action script at all?

I find the new format of help almost worth less, unless I all ready knew all about that function and even then it's still a question about proper use.

[TheCanadian]

I am not at all familiar with the CS3 help files because I don't own CS3 I know that they would've included a language reference, you just have to look for it. In the excerpt from the Scene class documentation it even says see MovieClip.gotoAndPlay. I never use the search feature of the help files in Flash 8, it's a lot easier just to go straight to the class through the package hierarchy of the language reference.

Here's the online documentation for MovieClip.gotoAndPlay:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/2/langref/flash/display/MovieClip.html#gotoAndPlay()

[sekasi]

Gotta agree here.. the help files are like Apples telephone support. You feel like you are interacting with a person with very limited English capabilities.

[joshchernoff]

I am not at all familiar with the CS3 help files because I don't own CS3 I know that they would've included a language reference, you just have to look for it. In the excerpt from the Scene class documentation it even says see MovieClip.gotoAndPlay. I never use the search feature of the help files in Flash 8, it's a lot easier just to go straight to the class through the package hierarchy of the language reference.

Here's the online documentation for MovieClip.gotoAndPlay:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/2/langref/flash/display/MovieClip.html#gotoAndPlay( (http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/2/langref/flash/display/MovieClip.html#gotoAndPlay%28))

the truth is your right, I should have looked harder to find what I was after before I posted this. Even Still if feels likes it is less intuitive for the new user.

::edit::

I cant belive you dont have CS3 yet, how the hell am I suposted to learn from all your great teachings mr. meogy:chinaman:

[TheCanadian]

Haha well I do know AS3 pretty good and there's lots of other people to help as well. I can't afford CS3, I spent all of my money on motorcycles and ATVs.

[FizixMan]

Umm... don't know what's up with you, but I got a good reference.

Searched "gotoAndPlay" and got a few results, hit the most relevant ("MovieClip.gotoAndPlay()" under "Actionscript 3.0 Language and Components Reference")


gotoAndPlay () method

public function gotoAndPlay(frame:Object, scene:String = null):void

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9


Starts playing the SWF file at the specified frame. This happens after all remaining actions in the frame have finished executing. To specify a scene as well as a frame, specify a value for the scene parameter.

Parameters frame:Object — A number representing the frame number, or a string representing the label of the frame, to which the playhead is sent. If you specify a number, it is relative to the scene you specify. If you do not specify a scene, Flash Player uses the current scene to determine the global frame number to play. If you do specify a scene, the playhead jumps to the frame number in the specified scene.

scene:String (default = null) — The name of the scene to play. This parameter is optional.



Example
How to use examples


The following code uses the gotoAndPlay() method to direct the playhead of the mc1 movie clip to advance five frames ahead of its current location: mc1.gotoAndPlay(mc1.currentFrame + 5);


The following code uses the gotoAndPlay() method to direct the playhead of the mc1 movie clip to the frame labeled "intro" in the scene named "Scene 12": mc1.gotoAndPlay("intro", "Scene 12");


Maybe the problem is that all the help documentation for all the methods in a class are contained in a single page. For me, when I double-clicked the search index item, it automatically sent me to the correct location of the help page. Maybe it doesn't work on yours?

Personally, I prefer the old way, where each class and each function had their own page, and links to relevant articles & methods. But this is just fine anyways.

[SmurfMX]

The Flash help seems to only help if you have an idea of what you're looking for and understand the concepts behind what you're looking for. The documentation is well done but with the new class structure (so god damnd many of them!) and new, well, most everything upon switching to AS3 it can be a challenge to find what you need amongst everything.