| Object Class | Flash 5 |
| the basis for all other classes and the basis for generic objects |
new Object()
A reference to the class constructor function used to create the object.
A reference to the prototype property of the object's constructor function.
The following method is invoked through the Object class itself, not through an instance of the Object class:
Assign a constructor for a movie clip symbol.
The following are instance-level methods of the Object class.
Define a getter/setter property for an object or class.
Check whether a property is defined directly on an object.
Convert the value of the object to a string.
Remove an existing watchpoint.
Retrieve the primitive value of the object, if one exists.
Create a watchpoint to filter property assignment.
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( ).
