This appendix lists and briefly describes the methods and properties supported by the Flash User Interface (FUI) Components that are installed with Flash MX. The FUI Components provide typical user interface elements, such as radio buttons, checkboxes, and lists. We chose to separate this summary of methods and properties in this appendix for several reasons:
The ActionScript Language Reference is designed for full, detailed coverage of all the methods and properties of a class. Here we only summarize the methods and properties rather than documenting them fully. Full and proper coverage deserves more space (perhaps hundreds of pages) than we can offer within the constraints of this book.
This book documents the core ActionScript language. The FUI Components are actually extensions to Flash and ActionScript and are themselves written in ActionScript. They are important examples of an infinite number of extensions that cannot possibly be covered in one book. For example, see Macromedia's FDataGrid Component available at the Flash Exchange (http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/flash/).
This appendix serves as a quick reference for all the FUI Component methods and properties; you can leave it open while you work so that you won't have to check Flash's online Help or pulldown menus to see if a method or property exists. We've also organized the components differently (such as in Table G-1 and Table G-2) and provided more complete synopses than Macromedia's online Help provides.
We felt it was important to group all the FUI Components together conceptually, rather than alphabetically in the Language Reference where they would be interrupted by other items such as the _focusrect global property and fscommand( ) function.
For complete Flash UI Component documentation, consult the resources listed under Section 14.7 at the end of Chapter 14.
